Greg Warren [Interview]

September 18, 2020 by Leave a comment

 

Hello Folks! And a happy Friday to you all. I am very excited about today’s guest. I’m not only excited because we have the very funny comedian Greg Warren with us today. That alone would be fantastic, as I truly love his work. But, today’s interview showcase is even more exciting for me personally. And I will tell you why:

While I find Warren’s comedic sensibility and material to be genius in it’s own right, I happen to know somebody that I respect and care for so much in this world who absolutely LOVES the work of Greg. And I was excited to reach out to this person to see if they had any inputs. Now, I am collaborated on several interviews in the past with comedians, musicians, the brilliant filmmaker Chris Eaves (who I will take any chance to shout out at any time), etc. But, there is one person who has inspired me in so many different ways, and I, for whatever dumb reason, hadn’t gotten to work with….until now.

It’s my dad. Who happens to be conveniently named Ron Trembath (you know how it works). And when I told him that Greg had responded to my invite, he was obviously very excited. Dad has watched Greg perform stand up in St. Louis on several occasions, and various different formats, and has continuously told me to check out his work. As I stated earlier, my dad has been a constant inspiration of mine, which extends specifically into comedy viewing. I distinctly remember watching a whole lot of stand up comedy when I was but a wee child. As I age rapidly, I find it harder and harder to remember exactly who we were watching. But, I can vaguely remember some hints of Paula Poundstone, Rosie O’Donnell, and, of course, the great George Carlin. Also a lot of Gallagher, but hey, I was again but a “wee child”. This love for all things hilarious extended into my obsession with everything that Comedy Central could produce, and would lead to even more shared comedic sensibilities between Dad and me.

I could go on and on about some of these experiences, and maybe I will one day, but for now, let’s get to the reason that most of you are here. The amazing Greg Warren is here today to join not just the TWS family, but the beautiful gathering of wonderful comedians who have been kind enough to share there experiences and wisdom with our readers. He is a damn fine comic, and we are so excited to have him grace our digital pages.

So Folks, please enjoy some wonderful words from the brilliant Greg Warren!

 

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You were doing very well in the corporate world when you decided to do standup full time.  What were your parents reaction when you made that decision?  

 My Dad thought I was an idiot.  I was making a lot of money.  He yelled at me and then later apologized.  It came from a good place.  I think he just wanted me to be safe and happy and I think he wanted me to have a family.  He’s always been supportive of me though.  My Mom was all for it.  She was a writer and a big advocate of following your dreams and doing what makes you happy.

 

Back before Covid you spent a lot of time on the road.  What did you do during all the off time, and are the comedy condos really as nasty as we hear about?

Comedy condos are sort of a thing of the past.  There are a few left.  Some are bad.  Some are really nice.  I look forward to staying in the condo in Myrtle Beach with The Comedy Cabana.  It’s nicer than a hotel.  Some of them were a lot of fun.  You got to know the other comics a lot better.  I made some good friends in those condos.  Boise was always a fun one back in the day.  Omaha was and is great.  I think I’ve laughed harder in the Omaha condo harder than I ever have in my life.  I was with Shawn Gnandt and Sean O’brien in the Omaha condo and I lobbed an Avocado at Obrien as we was going down the stairs.  Not hard.  It landed perfectly and hit him softly between his hairline and his T-shirt.  I’ve never seen him that angry and I’ve never seen Gnandt laugh so hard.
The quarantine has been a mix of a lot of things.  I’m working on an animation project with some friends in LA and another animation project with a guy in NYC.  I’v been able to do some standup and some writing for standup but not a ton.  My buddy Brendan Eyre and I launched a podcast called One Down.  It’s a weekly review of the NY Times Crossword puzzle.  I just started playing pickle ball with some of the St. Louis comics – Sean Obrien, Nikki Glaser and Tim Convy.  I had a special come out on Amazon Prime in July so I spent a lot of time talking to radio stations and doing podcast to try to get more people to watch it.

You are one of the few comedians I’d love to take my mom and granddaughters to see.  In fact, I’ve seen you do an all-ages show in St Louis.  It was fun to see what the 8 and 9 year old kids laughed at.  Did you make a conscience decision to be a “Clean Comedian”?  

I was never filthy but sometimes profane.  Jack Vaughn at Sirius/XM urged me to go totally clean about 5 years ago.  It was great advice for me and I should have done it years before that.

I’ve been listening to you on the Bob and Tom radio show for years.  How important is it for comedians to do morning radio?  

I love Bob and Tom.  They have done more for me and my career than just about anyone.  The gang there are really funny and really good friends.  They make me laugh hard.  I love doing morning radio.  It’s something I think I’m good at.  It used to be more important than it used to be.

 

 

Speaking of the Bob and Tom show, did Josh Arnold really bomb as bad when he opened for you?  Did you have a similar incident?  

He ate it hard.  it was a tough week for him.  He went into a tough room a little before he was ready.  It was partially my fault.  I took him out too early.  He’d kill there now.
I’ve eaten it plenty of times.  Most everybody has.

 

 

You’ve performed all over the USA, including cruise ships.  Are the crowds different in the Midwest, compared to NYC or the west coast?

Slightly different.  Crowds in the heart of Hollywood can be the most different.  They get a little suspicious  of prepared material.  NYC crowds reward jokes but you cannot have any fat on your act or you’re going to struggle.

 

 

You have a podcast with Brendan Eyre about the NY Times crossword called One Down.  How did that come to be?  Any chance the Trip to the Lou podcast will make a return?

Brendan and I have been friends for along time.  We both have been doing the NYT puzzle for 6-7 years.  We used to call each other all the time and complain about what we thought were unfair clues.  We talked about doing a podcast but we couldn’t figure out the tech.  We both live in different cities and we did not want to sacrifice one iota of sound quality.  Poor  audio is a pet peeve of mine.  The guys from my record label, 800 LB Gorilla, helped us with the tech.  It’s been really fun.  Although I missed the Friday this week and I am struggling mightily with the Saturday. I’m sure Brendan will go 7 for 7 this week.  he’s much better than I am.  I might throw this computer in a river before I send this email.
Probably no Trip to Lou return.  I loved it but it was really tough to produce and not a lot of people listened.

 

 

Recently watched you, via Zoom, perform a show in Bloomington, Indiana.  You had a lot of new content.  Was most of that written during the Covid shutdown?  

 Some of it.  I categorize anything that is not on a CD or a special as new.  Ninety percent of that material was new to me.

 

 

What would it take to get you to do a standup show in my backyard or mancave?  O’Brien can open and I’ll cook steaks for all of us.

If it’s during Covid, lets do it.  If you can get us a decent crowd and a decent sound system, we’d probably do it. Obrien has nothing going on.  Backyard.  No mancave.

 

 

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Maybe this question.  It’s a nice question.  I think I smiled at the girl working at the coffee shop that I am sitting in.  It was maybe a little bit of a fake smile but I think I was convincing.

 

Check out Greg live at the below cities near you! And check out his WEBSITE to see what future shows may be coming to your area!

December 10th-12th, 2020: Omaha, NE @ The Funny Bone

December 17th-20th, 2020: Columbus, OH @ The Funny Bone

 

Filed under Interviews

About rontrembathiii
write. write. write.

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