Good News York by Growth Mode Content - Cultivating Comedy: Kenneth McLaurin's Impact on Ithaca's Comedy Scene | GNY Ep10

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Cultivating Comedy: Kenneth McLaurin's Impact on Ithaca's Comedy SceneIn this episode of Good News York, the host welcomes comedian and promoter Kenneth McLaurin, a pivotal figure in Ithaca, NY's comedy scene. Kenneth discusses his journey from Raleigh to Ithaca, where he established a vibrant comedy community through initiatives like Comedy on the Commons, now rebranded as Comedy HOF. He talks about the challenges and triumphs of building a comedy scene in a transient city, the Ithaca Laughs Festival, and numerous open mics and shows that provide platforms for local and visiting comedians. Kenneth also shares a memorable bombing story that emphasizes the highs and lows of a stand-up career. The episode highlights Kenneth's dedication to fostering a diverse and inclusive comedic environment in Ithaca.00:00 Introduction to Good News York00:02 Meet Kenneth McLaurin: Ithaca's Comedy Scene00:59 The Birth of Comedy on the Commons03:09 Rebranding to Comedy HOF05:11 Ithaca Laughs Festival and Open Mics06:58 Challenges and Successes in Ithaca's Comedy Scene12:27 Kenneth's Comedy Journey: From Raleigh to Ithaca16:22 Bombing Stories and Comedy Insights22:57 Upcoming Shows and Final Thoughts

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If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this. Even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your site. Start free at RSS.com All right, welcome back to Good News York.

I am joined by comedian, friend, promoter, Kenneth McLaurin. Do you prefer Kenneth or Kenny? Let's go with Kenneth. Kenneth. I know it sounds way more professional. Kenneth McClure. We're here with Kenneth McLaren. He is the Ithaca New York comedy scene as far as I'm concerned. I live in Ithaca, and as a comedian, I appreciate everything you're doing.

The irony is that when I just found out about all the great things you were doing, I've been working in Syracuse here, so I haven't been able to hit the open mics like I'd like to, but that is coming. Kenneth, welcome to the show. I'm so happy to have you. As I said, I love what you're doing for the Ithaca comedy scene and in general. I met you through Mike Peters Homebrewed Comedy Circuit. We were on a bill together.

You're hilarious, obviously. Tell me how this all started, the idea of comedy on the commons. really cultivating this amazing scene that you have in Ithaca. It just started with, I moved to Ithaca from Raleigh, probably like 10, 11 years ago, and I just started doing stand-up comedy there. And when I came to Ithaca, it was really no comedy scene. I think if I wanted, I used to drive to Syracuse every day,

every once a week for stand-up comedy, open mic that they had at the club. that used to be down on South Salina Street. And it was just frustrating. And then I would go to open mics here in Ithaca, like the singer-songwriter, Open Mics. And there'd be no opportunity to really perform or have shows. So I was like, hey, instead of driving to Syracuse and looking for other people who were doing comedy

and trying to get on shows with them, I was like, hey, you know what? I'm here. I might as well just start producing shows myself. So in some way, it started as me looking for a way to just do comedy. That's awesome, man. Yeah, from my point of view,

that's how it happened for me. I was, I got back into comedy and I thought, you know, I got to start hitting open mics, book shows. And Mike Peters was, someone hooked me up with him.

And at the time, he was really the only one in the area doing things close to Ithaca and then all of a sudden you know I start hearing about this comedy on the Commons and hearing your name and then like I said we did a show together and I thought finally

this guy's creating a scene because Ithaca's always been known for its culture and its live music scene but you're right there was never really a true comedy scene so it's fantastic what you're doing now comedy on the Commons I mean that that is a festival

but that's also your web say right that's the name of your of the whole deal right yes that is so when it when i started we have the commons on itica and most of the shows that i were doing were downtown and different venues we do pop-up shows and so i was like you know what we're going to bring comedy on the comments but ironically my we are rebranding that now this year commune commie commons has been great it has grown comedy in itica in in so many ways. I think one of the challenges with Ithaca and comedy

is that Ithaca is such a transient city and community. And we have a vibrant popping comedy scene. Our comedians from Ithaca are going to other places and doing very well, just in upstate New York, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse. But we don't have many comedians here in Ithaca that have been doing comedy. for longer than four years.

We have people come in and sometimes they're affiliated with the college or sometimes they're married to somebody who's affiliated with the college. And so people come, they do stand-up comedy here for as long as they're here. They're part of the scene, but eventually it goes and flips. So that's always been a challenge, but like, We have a lot of momentum. And with that, we've decided that we wanted to rebrand our comedy scene and what we're doing with comedy. So it could be a little broader and go and travel a little more.

With that, with that, what we're doing now is Comedy, H-O-F, Stand-Up Comedy Hall of Fame, where you can discover the new icons of stand-up comedy. I love it. Comedy H-O-F is the new name. Yep, Comedy HOF is what we're starting to brand. We're branding out. So you can still find things under Comedy on the Commons, but Comedy HOF is out there now and you're seeing more things with that, with that branding. And we're in a little bit more places doing shows. That's awesome. Are you still going to do that, the festival of Comedy on the Commons? Is that still going to be

a thing? Oh, yeah, that's still going to be a thing. We've actually been taking, we've been taking, we've been taking registrations and I think we're also at our submission limit for Ithica Lafs. It happens May 29th to 30th, May 29th to 31st every year. And now we're calling the Ithththaca Labs Festival. Yes. 200025. Well, that is something you and I will have to talk off the air. Living in Ithaca and being a comedian, it's absolutely ridiculous that I haven't been on my end, it's ridiculous that I haven't been involved with all the amazing stuff you're doing. It's just been a matter of I'm not in Ithaca as much as I was. So that's fantastic. May 29 through May 31st every year in downtown

Ithaca. It is Ithaca Laf's festivals. We do the festival at the same time that they're having the Ithaca. So it's a great time to be Ithaca. It's a lot of things going on. You have all the crap, the art festival, the things that you've been doing the daytime. And then hang out with us. in the evening for some great stand-up comedy. That's very smart, Kenneth, Kenneth McLaren, comedy, HOF, comedy on the commons, or formerly comedy on the commons. That's a brilliant move, right? Because for those of you that don't know,

I think a festival every year is a very big deal, especially if you own a Volvo. They have a parade where they parade Volvos around. But there's a huge wild parade that looks like a nightmare, and I love it. And you've got food, you've got art, you've got music, and now obviously kind of bring in comedy at night. So smart because you're talking about a ton of foot traffic throughout the day and night.

So we can look forward to that. Now, I do know you also have a bunch of open mics at Collegesown Bagels, among other places, if you want to talk about that a little bit. Oh, yeah, our comedy community has grown so we can sustain multiple open mics. We have our core open mic that everybody loves on the first and third Tuesday at the day.

downstairs. It's a great place to come out. We like it, man, because it's a real welcoming open mic. It's got a nice crowd, unlike most company open bikes. We've got a nice proud, a welcoming crowd. And then we're doing on the first, no, I'm sorry, on the second and fourth Mondays, we have the open mic at Collegetown Bagels in Collegetown. We thought it's a great opportunity, especially during the school year, for us to get up there, get a new crowd, and then allow some of the students who are interested in comedy, give them a space to come down and pry it out or do some work. And then we're at deep dive every other Wednesdays, where that is one of the Ithaca's old school or OG hangouts. And we're,

we're excited about having the opportunity to bring some comedy down there too. Yeah, man. I worked at, I hung out when it was castaways, and I worked there when it was the dock. I was the assistant manager. And that place is such an amazing spot. And it just keeps turning over and turning over. But it is a fantastic location, deep dive right on Tachanac Boulevard in Ithaca. I was telling a story yesterday on the air. I remember when I was managing the dock, the owner at the time wanted to do a comedy show.

And I went, okay. And he said, yeah, I want to do it during Happy Hour. throw a mic up there and I was like, whoa. I was like, that doesn't work, right? You can't do commie secondary, right? You can't, people are there to drink. You can't, even if the comedian's hilarious, you can't get up there and just start telling jokes and expect it to land.

And people don't get that. There's a certain mentality, right? Like, when you're going to see a comedian or going to a comedy show, whether you know it or not, you're already setting yourself up to be more open to laugh because you're going there to laugh. And people don't realize that time, place, and setting is such a big part of that, which, again, is why I think it's such a brilliant move for you to do the comedy on the Commons thing, May 29 through the 31st, the Ithaca Last Festival, excuse me, because it's right during Ithaca festival and people are out to go have fun and go see music and see comedy. So that's all part of it. Oh, most definitely.

No, I get it. We used, we used, when it was the doc, we had an open mic there as well. Actually, I still have some free drink tickets. Go cash them in, see if it worked. The doc, I'm like, show up there and be like, hey, are these still valid? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, that's so true about comedy being something where when you can create an environment that makes it much easier for, like, the comedians to be successful,

and for the audience to have a really good thing. Like, no, those surprise comedy shows are always the toughest ones, like at the bars where people are there to drink and do other things and talk to their friends. And all of a sudden, you're like, hey, listen to me. And they're like, what the fuck is going on? Yeah, dude, it's a mindset. And if you were to have a dude with an acoustic guitar pop up during a happy hour, that might work because all you got to do is play a song or two that they like

and they're singing along and you're fine. But when you're telling jokes, what are you going to do? There's no hits that you can pull out. And it's tough, but it's something you've got to learn to navigate. Now, you've been doing, obviously, the Ithaca Lafes Festival we talked about. You have a bunch of open mics. Are you doing any shows on your own that you want to plug? Anything coming up?

Oh, man, we got it. Yes. So on the 22nd, March 22nd at NRE space, we have upstate stand-up coming to Ithaca. So we have some of the best comedians from upstate New York are going to be here for a show. That's one of the things that we've been doing now, like once a month, trying to bring in some of the best comedians from different regions in New York. We had some great guys from New York City come up in February. We got these guys coming from Buffalo, March 22nd. So it's going to be a great show.

I'm excited about doing that. Just trying to showcase the type of great. humor that we have in upstate New York. I do. Tell people that. There's a lot to laugh about up here. Really funny people. And unfortunately, when you talk about local comedy to a lot of people, the first things folks

want to think about is their drunk uncle at the picnic. And we're like, no, this is. That ain't it. Yeah, this is not it. It's folks who've been doing comedy for a whole bunch of years, really like high quality, talented people. who for whatever reason have decided that they're good with making folks laugh in in upstate New York and different areas.

And then sometimes we're lucky enough to get some really like nationally known comedians come through and perform here. That's awesome. You said you started in Raleigh. Is it Raleigh or Raleigh? I know Raleigh, right? Raleigh, Rale. Charlie, good nights.

What's up? Shout out. So you started in Raleigh, Raleigh. I wanted to talk about that, how you started out. And what was it like for you from your point of view, telling jokes in Raleigh to telling jokes in Upstate if there was a huge difference there? You know, for me, I don't think it was a huge difference.

It was people in Raleigh, I could tell jokes too. It was people in I could tell jokes to. As long as there's people there, I feel like I could tell some jokes to them. Like, the scene in Raleigh was way bigger than the scene in Ithaca. Right. Not as in New York, but still it was opportunities for me to go up and perform and open mics in different places every night. Even if they were stand-up comedy, open mic, like I was the person who would show up to a poetry open mic, a singer-writer open mic.

I'll even show up to a prayer circle if they have a microphone. That, yeah. And tell some jokes. And honestly, it was one of them. When I started off, I would only go to a comedy, open mic and there was an older comedian or somebody who'd have to do a comedian a little bit more. I'd like to say a mentor who was like, oh no, let me show you what to do.

And it took me to all these different open mic. And one of the cool things about it was that you were performing or in front of different crowds, different types of people, different audience and different situations. So it really helped me be comfortable with people and really try to connect with people in the moment. Ithaca, as far as comedy, Ithaca is a unique place because it is a small country village. It is a small country village in upstate New York that has an international college attached to it, a huge international college. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog.

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And another fairly huge liberal arts college attached to it as well. So you have that sort of like upstate New York rural village town feel. And then you also have a large international and national type field where you have people coming from all over the world here in Ithaca. And that gives it just a really interesting vibe. I can say at our open mic, we routinely have people from different countries. It's awesome. They're performing because they're here for different reasons for universities and whatnot. So it's really, it's a cool place to do comedy in some ways.

But it's also a cool place to see comedy because it's such a different, such a diverse, like, voices and comedy that you have in this little, this little hamlet and upstate. Yeah, that's so well said. I always try to explain Ithaca to people. It's such an amazing place. And I throw things out like, it's like the Austin, Texas of the Northeast. Or I'll say it's this amazing, culturally, cultural and artsy city. But if you go five minutes in any direction, you're like on a farm somewhere. And it's like you could go out at night. and you'll meet people you'll never see again, like in a big city,

but you'll see all the same people that you see all the time. It's very, I like the way you put it, that it's, yeah, it's a little bit of everything. And it's a really special place. And I love that you're, you've created and you're farming this amazing scene there. And I appreciate that, obviously, as a resident, but also as a comedian myself.

That's fantastic. And so before we wrap it up, I got to ask, do you have, I love asking me. Do you have a favorite bombing story where you bomb? Just you'll never forget. Yes, yes.

I have one that sticks out in my mind more than any. And this was a while ago. And it was right after the Tiger Woods had his first incident where the chick beating with the golf clubs. He was hiding in the closet it, like calling for help on his phone.

Yeah. Like that had happened. And I was in Raleigh. And, and I worked, I had a bid, and I worked a bid out in Raleigh for a week. I was going to the open mics in the clubs and it was just hitting. And then I did it at the big comedy club there, Charlie Goodnights. And it just was hitting. It was hitting.

It was killing. Then I went to a club in Durham. I want to say, was it a timeout? It might have been, the bar might have been timeout. And it was a black club, a black bar that had a comedy night. And I'd been there a couple of times before. And I'd done really well. And I was like, oh, man, I'd just taken this thing.

I'm going to kill it. Yep. I got there. I jumped into my jokes, man. I was feeling good. Like I was like, yeah, this is great. It's clever. It has alliteration in it.

You know what I'm saying? I'm like, this is just going to knock them out. Nothing. Just like crickets. You know what I'm saying? Got cricket. And the host was a lady. And after I got off, I remember she got up.

And the first thing she did was apologize to the crowd. Oh. Feels like, oh, folks, I'm sorry. I ain't know Kitty was going to do that. He was up here before. And he did good. And then she said, Kitty, you know what you can do?

When you get back to Raleigh, I want you to climb to the top of the highest building and then jump off. Oh, my God. And then she said, and as you're falling down, I want you to pull out your pistol and shoot yourself in the head.

Oh, my. So nobody else has to ever go through that. again or so you'll never do that again or whatnot i remember thinking man her use of pistol made that just a little bit more funnier yeah and yeah pistol i was like man that was a great word choice it was a perfect word choice like the prayer is a perfect word word choice as she just roasted me for having a bad said oh my god man so yeah so that's That was probably the other times that I've bombed or you just leave with the bombing. I know.

You want to quit the whole way home. Why am I doing this? And what could I have done? But no, this time I like just the message that she gave me about. See, the reason I ask that story, for people that don't do stand-up, they might be like, why the fuck would you ask this guy about the tiny bomb? I do it because it's almost like therapy, right? We've all gone through it at least once, if not multiple times.

And there's always not one bombing story is ever the same as the other bombing story. That's why I love them because it's not like I'm singling you out. Oh, you bombed because we all bomb. But there's something unique in every bombing story. And in your case, she told you to kill yourself with a pistol. Yeah, yeah. Double kill. She said commit suicide.

Yeah. She wanted you to shoot yourself in the middle of killing yourself. That's wild shit. It is, man. But yeah, I think bombing is a right of passage. It's one of these things where everybody has a bad day of work. Absolutely. One of the things I realize, is, though, ironically, crowds, like people think it's funny whenever people are doing their job poorly. That's right. So even when you're bombing on stage, it's a way that you can lean into it. That's a beautiful. For the crowd and be like, you know what? We all can see and understand that this just ain't going as well as both of us as everybody wants it to right now and work through it.

As a right of passage, it's always something. Sometimes I tell people, comedy is like the scientific method. we're at home and we hypothesize something's going to be funny we get out and test it yeah it's and then either they laugh and prove us right our hypothesis is right

or they don't and be like go back and work on it dude that's so well said we talked about that yesterday too where it's unique like in music right you got a band you rehearse your ass off right and you know before the show you're like yo we're going to kill

with this. Like, we're tight, you know? The only way people aren't going to like this is if they're not into this style of music, but they won't come to the show if that's the case. The only way to do comedy and to practice comedy is to do it in front of a crowd. Like, you don't have the liberty of, you know, telling your stuffed animals the jokes or your family member. You have to test it out. And that's, it just leaves you so much more vulnerable as a performer more than any other performance. It's the only, I tell people all the time, it's the only art form that you have to practice in front of the crowd. Exactly. It's the only art, not just performance art form because actors and whatnot, they practice in private, two, three or four times in private and they were like, all right, this is the one.

But this is the only art form that you have to practice in public. Absolutely. Absolutely. And let me tell you something, man. When people come to see Kenneth McLaurin, they are not going to see him bomb. I can tell you that. He's hilarious.

And I love you, man. Thank you, homie. Yeah, so let me get some plugs in before we go. I want to make sure I hit it. The Ithaca Lafes Festival every year in Ithaca, New York, May 29 through the 31st during Ithaca Festival. It's that night, Ithaca Lafes Festival. It's called the Ithaca Lafes Festival.

Every second and fourth, is it Monday? You have the open mic at College Town Bagels. That's it, second and fourth Monday. And then deep dive, another venue in Ithaca. Every other Wednesday there's an open mic as well. And you can catch Kenny on March 22nd. You're doing a show. Is that what you said?

It was March 22nd? Like, worst 22nd. I will be hosting a show at NRE for comedy, HOF. And then actually, it's going to be a busy month. I think then we also are doing a show March 29th. at Six Mile Creek Winery. Yes. We took a do tell comedy shows up here as well.

So that's going to be a DTC show. Then on March 30th, man, I'm going to be performing at the hangar theater with Tom Green. So that should be a good. I'm going to that show. You're opening? Yep, I'm opening. Oh, my God.

Tom Green, obviously, many of Tom Green from the Tom Green show on MTV. And he's huge celebrity. He's coming to the hangar theater in Ithaca at the end of the month. And I bought tickets because I love that, man. And I love you. had no idea you were opening. That's fantastic, dude. Where did you get your ticket from, Mike? Oh. Was it a V-Bright? Or was it, you know what? I can look right now. Hold on. Let me look right here. Hold on, hold on. It's in my Apple wallet, but let me, there we go. Oh, it's TixR, T-I-X-R.

Okay. I'm asking because we were talking about it and somebody else was like, oh, man, I think it won't come out. and they were going to buy tickets, and the tickets were like $120, $130, $140, $1.40. And I was like, what? No. That's got to be way too much. That's got to be way too much. And then so we went to the Hanger website. And on the Hanger website, they were like $40, $32, $40, something like that.

And I was like, oh, snap, that's how the hustle really is real. Like, their place. on some website where they're like $120 for the Tom Green show and I was just like, yo, that seems a lot. No way. Yeah. No, your instincts were correct. I don't remember what I paid,

but it certainly was not fucking $130. I want to see Elton John or some shit if I'm paying that. For $130, I want to see Bob Marley. There you go. Yes. And he can just lay there and I'll pay that. Yeah.

This one, it's not telling me how much I paid, but I guess it doesn't matter. Tickets are not $130. We'll tell you that. Kenny, before I let you go, I forgot, you reminded me, I forgot to hit, do you want to talk about the secret comedy shows? I think that's really cool. One of the things that's cool in some ways talks about how the comedy scene or indicates how the comedy scene in Ithaca's growing is that we do some don't tell shows, DTC,

don't tell comedy. What they do is secret locations, secret shows at different locations. And what it is, you don't know the lineup, you don't know who's on the show, you don't know where the show is until 24 hours before the show starts. And I think it's great. It's a great way to see some other comedians coming up from upstate New York, around upstate New York. And like I said, it's really a fun time.

Most of the shows are B-Y-O-B. So I- Nice. Check that out. Oh, yeah. Most of the DTC shows or Don't Tale shows are B.YOB. And then with us, where a lot of the Comiuma Commons comedy HOF shows, they're pop-up locations, but there are also a lot of BYUB shows. So we want to make it really an intimate sort of fun thing.

Come out, bring your friends, have a good time. And that's what I mean when I say you're doing so much for the comedy scene there. You've created a scene. You're not just doing open mics and you're not just doing a show here and there. You're doing the Comedy HOF, Ithaca Laf Festival, you're doing open mics, you're doing these don't tell comedy show. I just, it means so much to me as an Ithaca resident and as a comedian, and I look forward to being part of it. Where can we go to find out all this stuff? I want to make sure I hit the right website or social media handles.

So right now, I tell everybody on social media, check us out at Comedy HOF. You can find all the stuff up there, even got a link for Comedy HOF, just subscribe. subscribe, you like to send them out emails and whatnot. And then if you're on the website, our website still, you can still find us at comedy on the comments, at least for the next couple of months. But we're going to keep that going because it's been so good to us. But comedy HOF is where everything's going to be in the future. Kenny, my man, thank you for your time. I know this is early. Thanks for being a part of Good News York. And I'll be in touch with you. Kenny McLaren of Ithaca, New York, Comedy, H-O-F.

Again, Ithaca laughs festival, May 29 through the 31st. He's got some shows coming up in March, including opening for Tom Green at the Hanger Theater in Ithaca. You can catch his open mics at College Town Bagels every second and fourth Monday,

as well as an open mic at Deep Dive on Ticanic Boulevard every other Wednesday. Kenny McClureen, thank you for your time, buddy. We appreciate you. All right, man. Thank you. I just want to let air Everybody know. Remember, life's a joke.

Find us funny. And as we're out here, let's not hate people for who they are on the outside, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or anything like that. Take the time to get to know people for who they are on the inside and then hate them for that. Yes. That is it. There's nothing left to say. Thank you, buddy.

You have a great day. We'll see you soon. Peace. Peace.