Shane Torres [Interview]

Ohhh great! Here we are again!

Welcome to another amazing interview here at Trainwreck’d Society for our crazy fun Comedy Showcase. We have another interview with an absolutely brilliant stand up comedian who is a treasure of the modern times. His name is Shane Torres, and he is just about as good as it gets in the world of stand up comedy. He is just so damn funny, and honest, and as real as you can get these days. I seriously cannot say enough great things about this cat. His album, Established 1981, was on our list of great comedy albums last tuesday, and I would add to that by saying that it is one of the greatest comedy albums I have ever heard. I seriously love this guy so much. Although, Shane….please get a haircut. For you, for everyone!

As many of you who follow the in’s and out’s and in’s again of all things TWS, I am a huge fan of the podcast known as All Fantasy Everything. Shane has been a frequent guest on the show, and is a dear friend (or “enemy”) of the show that features our dear friends and past guests Sean Jordan and David Gborie, and frequent guest of the pod, Amy Miller (*cough* Ian, what the fuck? answer my e-mails! Corden won’t care! *fake cough again*). This is actually where I discovered the glory of Shane Torres. And I am so happy that I have. So many of my favorite folks in the world of comedy have had Conan sets, and we have talked with a lot of them in the past including some of aforementioned comedians in this very piece. Hell, we even spoke with current Conan writer, Laurie Kilmartin! But, I will make a stand right now and say that Shane Torres as officially had the greatest nine-ish minutes in Late Night comedy history when he has appeared on two different Conan sets. He’s just so amazing at what he does, and we are so excited to have him on the site today. It’s such a blessing to have him in our digital presence.

Also, it is worth noting that there is currently a large bounty out on Shane’s pony tail by the folks at All Fantasy Everything. And I would like to reiterate what the host and co-host of the show would say….DO NOT DO THIS! Please, do not find a way to sneak up on Shane, cut his pony tail off, and hand deliver it to the Good Vibes Gang at the Roost in L.A. to receive your reward. DO NOT do this. If you are even contemplating do this…please purchase Established 1981 first, go to a his live shows if you can, and decide if you really thing this is a good idea.

Alright, all jokes aside (or are they?), please enjoy some amazing words from one of the finest stand up comedians of this generation, the amazing Shane Torres!!

When did you first realize that you were a hilarious human being, and you wanted to make people laugh for a living? What drew you to the world of stand up comedy?

Thank you, I don’t know if it was the first time I did stand up that I thought I was funny, but I did know after I did it that I wanted to do it for a living. Fell in love with right away.

You will forever been embedded into the legendary Portland comedy royalty alongside our past guests like Matt Braunger, Sean Jordan, and Amy Miller, and (hopefully future guests) Ian Karmel, Ron Funches, & more. What was the PDX scene like at that time? Did you realize at the time that you were a part of something special?

I think what I would say about the Portland scene at the time is that it was drunk and we were all trying so hard and we made it each other better. Just by trying to be good at comedy. It was a really special time in my life for sure and I think we all realized that we had some potential. in those early years though no one was on TV or anything yet so we were just loving it.

The scene was filled with brilliant people that you may not know about Christian Ricketts, Whitney Streed, Phil Schalberger, Gabe Dinger. Andy Wood,  Kristine Levine, Dax Jordan and of course the generation before us Auggie Smith and the rest of them. There were also people who put o shows and produced festivals that helped the scenes a great deal and made opportunities happen.

The aforementioned folks all decided to move down south to LA, you went east to New York. What made you decide that New York was a better fit for you? What was it about that scene that drew you to it?

No one wanted me to move to LA at the time, the industry I mean and I had always wanted to live here in NY.  I missed my friends a great deal and still do, but I knew in New York I could get stage time and do more stand up. Get much better at stand up and try to really learn more about the craft.  Plus its New York fucking City, you don’t really need a reason to want to be here. It’s incredible in so many ways.

How has the fan interaction been since becoming the legendary “friend of the podcast” on All Fantasy Everything? How often are you offered sampler platters? Is it about weekly?

It’s usually pretty good, there fans are wonderful, Most of the time they just call me Sampler Platter and come to the show. Hey are sweet but fuck my friends who are on the podcast what a group of assholes. I get about one sampler platter a club weekend maybe a little more, Which is more than enough I don’t think people coming to my show need to send my well fed ass a plate of fried food every show.

You have been performing like crazy all across the land for the last decade. With that, what are some your favorite places to perform comedy? What are the places you go to that you know you are going to do well? And what are the more challenging places?

I really love The Earl in Atlanta for a non club show and Club Cafe in Pittsburgh as well. They have great teams that work hard to push your shows. As far as clubs go, my home club, Helium in Portland, is very special to me. The people there have known me since early shows, so they really root for me. Comedy on State [in Madison, WI] is where I did my album and remains an incredible standard in every facet of how to put on a show and treat people. Acme of course is another gold standard club in Minneapolis.

A challenge can happen anywhere really. So it’s hard to answer that in a way, I don’t want to seem ungrateful in any way for a place that has let me work their room, but I can think of a few that have made it harder than it had to be. Looking at you Myrtle Beach.

What does the future hold for you? Anything else you would like to plug to our readers?

There are a few things in the works. I will have a podcast coming out in a few months that I am excited about and tour dates. Maybe some other stuff.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

This interview?