Meet Stand Up Comedian Ty Baumanis in Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ty Baumanis.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey has been weird. Hockey was the only thing I really cared about for a long time. Over the years, I accumulated a decent amount of concussions, which turns out, is too many. In college, I started having migraines after practices that would leave me blind for about 30 minutes. That’s when I realized the only thing I had worked towards for 20 years was now for nothing.

Boy, what a depressing start. I think this story gets better?

Before I took anything to the stage, I started writing articles for a few websites. I was taking an Advanced Public Speaking class, not to brag, which was the nudge I needed to try to stand up. There was something about it that felt right and that I enjoyed, so I started doing it more and more. After college, I moved to Los Angeles and quickly learned that I wasn’t funny yet. It’s a harsh city, but it forced me to learn who I was and what I wanted to talk about.

Since I moved back to Phoenix, I’ve had the opportunity to write for The Roast of Shane Doan on NBC, I’ve developed my own monthly show called The Kinda Late Show at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy, I help produce the Big Pine Comedy Festival in Flagstaff, and I perform on shows all over the valley.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
If anyone says that stand up is a smooth road, they’re lying. You have to get on stage and suck for two years before you sound remotely like you know what you’re doing. Even after that, the same joke can kill in one room and get zero reaction in another. It’s a constant battle to find your voice and continue to improve as a writer and performer. I’ve thrown out 16 or 17 notebooks worth of old jokes and premises just because the thought of revisiting them and trying to polish charcoal was holding me back from creating new material.

One of the toughest challenges to overcome for all stand up comedians is how to pay the bills. With comedy paying little to no money, you have to find other ways to make ends meet. I went the 9-5 route, which means late nights and early mornings. That being said, I did perform at a pizza place one time, and they paid me with a cannoli. Take that, government.

What else should we know about your work? What are you most proud of?
Right now, I’m proudest of my monthly comedy show: The Kinda Late Show. It’s a makeshift late-night show that I created and host at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy.

But so far, the coolest thing I’ve done in comedy was write jokes for The Roast of Shane Doan. I went from being a hockey player looking up to him, to writing jokes for him to say on TV. Life is weird like that sometimes.

What sets me apart from others is my writing. I rely twice as much on my writing as I do my energy on stage. Writing is what got me started in stand up, and it’s still what I take the most pride in.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
People’s attention spans are getting shorter, and the amount of content available is getting larger. However, there’s no replacing live comedy. Stand up is something that was created to experience with other people. Laughing for an hour straight with thousands of people in a theater is completely different than watching a Netflix special alone, on your laptop.

As far as comedy on social media goes, right now, we’re seeing a lot of not funny people get famous for reposting content. At the end of the day, comedy and content all start with the creators. Only a handful of people have the ability to consistently create at a high level, and it’s only a matter of time until the cream rises to the top.

In the next 5-10 years, I think we’ll see a shift in real comedians taking social media back from the last of the “Vine stars” and meme accounts. Also, stand up specials will only be available on Instagram Stories, and we will communicate with each other exclusively through podcasts.

Contact Info:

• Email: tybaumanis@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tybaumanis
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tybaumanis
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tybaumanis

Image Credit:
Holly Beaupre and Thomas Allen

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