Laughing Matters

Travis at the Mic

I wrote the story about stealing my mother's car while living in Allston, MA and working the Boston comedy clubs. I performed it on stage several times with good success, but it lacked a payoff joke at the end to tie the whole thing together. I struggled for a long time to think of something until it came to me as I lay drifting off to sleep one night. It was literally two in the morning when I threw back my blankets and rushed to my desk to write it down. I thought it was good, but you never know until you put it to the test...

Fast forward to the following Wednesday. I was backstage at Nick's Comedy Stop when I approached a fellow comedian and told him the line. He made a face and shook his head.

"That'll never work," he said.

That's when I decided to try it out that very night. Because, although this comic was a nice enough guy, he was (and likely still is) the least funny person in the business. If HE hated the joke, it was probably a keeper.

Turns out I was right. The joke crushed. And it would forever be the comedy routine everyone seemed to remember.

The Way Life Should Be - Grand Theft Auto

I’d wanted to write an album of sketch comedy for years, but struggled to come up with a concept. I longed to create something with a theme, as opposed to a loose collection of sketches. (A desire, I'm sure, inspired at least in part by my love of "The First Family" spoof of JFK decades earlier.) My biggest problem: conjuring an idea that hadn’t already been done. While in Greenville one day during the summer of 2003, I stopped into Gerry Hamilton's antique shop to catch up with Gerry. While there, I purchased a copy of Henry David Thoreau's "The Maine Woods.” Minutes later, I was sitting at Greenville’s blinking light when I looked over at the book sitting on the passenger’s seat and inspiration struck. Not only was Thoreau a household name, but nobody had ever parodied the guy. I wrote the script over the next several months and performed it the following February with a wonderfully talented cast. This is the intro. The voice you’ll hear is that of Tom O., long-time WTOS-FM morning show host. Enjoy.

Tourist Season - Intro w/”Sponsors”