Talent Harris makes listeners laugh every weekday from midnight to 5am on 98.7 KISS FM. The intrepid comedian recently appeared on Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand-Up and hosts Amateur Night at the Apolloat 7:30pm on Wednesdays starting January 27.
You’re pretty seasoned. Do you have any advice for up-and-coming comedians?
Talent Harris: I meet a lot of up-and-coming comics, and the advice I started giving them some 15 years ago, which I still give, is stay onstage! As much as humanly possible. There are seven days in a week, so you should be onstage 14 times a week.
Were you the funny guy growing up, or is it something you developed?
TH: Yes, I was pretty much the playground clown! I developed timing, though.
Have you ever bombed a show?
TH: Well, I’m knocking on wood right now as I tell you that I’ve never bombed in NYC. The night is young….
How did you come to host Amateur Night at the Apollo?
TH: Well, the Apollo has two versions of Amateur Night. There’s the real live one on Wednesdays and the TV-taped one that they film twice a year. Hosting the unaired version is how I came to get the gig for the TV version. I did that live for over 10 years. One day, while hosting a live show, they brought in the donkey from the Juan Valdez coffee commercial, and he started wandering all over the stage while I was reading some cue cards. Being that I’m afraid of horses, it was funny watching me trying to act like I wasn’t, when actually I was 23 seconds from pissing my pants.
Where in NYC do you live and perform?
TH: I’ve performed at all the comedy clubs here in NYC, and I reside in money-earning Mount Vernon! You know, right outside the Boogie-Down Bronx; home of Denzel Washington and Heavy D.
Make me laugh. Go!
TH: Make you laugh? George Bush is the greatest president ever! See?
What is your pre-show preparation ritual?
TH: Patrón, Grey Goose, praying. I think that’s the order.
Who are some of your comedy heroes?
TH: Richard Pryor, Monteria Ivey, Redd Foxx. Damn, they’re all dead, huh?