Comedian Todd Glass joins David Cross & His Super Duper Pals at the Chicago Theater June 13.
Originally from Philadelphia, Cross had early TV appearances in the '80s for An Evening at the Improv. After numerous late-night shows he released his debut stand-up album, Vintage Todd Glass and Other Crap. He joined The Nerdist Podcast Network and in 2012 came out of the closet publicly on Marc Maron's WTF podcast—at age 47 after 30 years in the comedy biz.
Glass is a part of the Chicago version of the Just For Laughs Festival. Originally based in Montreal, the festival was launched back in 2009 in Chicago airing on TBS.
Russell Brand, Bob Newhart and Seth Myers are just some of the comedians featured this year.
Nunn talked to the funny man before he arrived in the Windy City.
Windy City Times: Hey, Todd. So you are a stand-up comedy pro. Is this part of a larger tour you are going on?
Todd Glass: No, this is just for the Chicago comedy festival. I am just going there and coming home to LA. I am looking forward to it.
WCT: Have you been to Chicago before?
TG: I have. Chicago is always a great city. It always sounds funny when you are talking to someone from there but Chicago is one of my favorite places to go. I love the city and the people.
WCT: It is a great place for comedy with places like Second City.
TG: Yeah, and Zanies now that is in an institution. It has been there for probably 30 years.
WCT: Where did you start in comedy?
TG: I started in Philadelphia when I was in high school. I found a club and like a lot of clubs they had open mic night. We would see so many great comics. We were, like, 16 years old and would go see Jerry Seinfeld, Gary Shandling, Jay Leno, Gilbert Gottfried, Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr—just amazing shows.
WCT: Did you just have the bug for it?
TG: Like a lot of comedians, I always liked stand-up comedy, even when I was ten. It somehow just really resonated with me. If you go see a comedic movie and get 12 big belly laughs then you consider that a good movie. If you go see a good comedian you get hundreds. That is probably why I liked it. Go see it live especially. On TV when I was younger I liked it but it was after I saw it live that I loved it. It was something I got addicted to. Good thing it wasn't coke because I would have killed myself!
WCT: Do you get nervous performing on TV?
TG: I always get a little nervous, but you get less nervous the more you do something. I don't get nervous when I perform live at clubs anymore. I get more anxious.
WCT: You have been doing comedy for how many years?
TG: 30 years.
WCT: You came out of the closet recently?
TG: How dare you! [laughs] I did and just thought it was time. Everyone comes out when they are ready. Sometimes they just need a little push.
Delusion is not a good quality of a stand-up comedian. I felt I wasn't being honest onstage or on the radio. That doesn't mean in my act that is all I talk about because it is hardly in my act at all. When it comes up I can speak from an honest place now. If I am on the radio and something comes about the Boy Scouts or gay marriage now, I can tap into it from an honest place.
WCT: Recently I went to Judy Gold's show and it was funny to see her relate to the audience as an open lesbian.
TG: Judy is fucking hilarious. Yeah, you can say things and know where it is coming from. Another thing that motivated me was there were so many kids in the news killing themselves and I thought, "If I keep myself in the closet then it means there is something that should be hid."
Famous people talk about how it only gets better—from Ellen Degeneres and Neil Patrick Harris to Rosie O'Donnell—but it was still scary for me. It turned out to be exactly what they said and changed my life.
WCT: It can bring in a new audience for you, also.
TG: I will take any new audience member I can get. I like an eclectic audience. To me if you are doing something right onstage, and I hope I am, I want my audience to be everything. I hope it will be gay, straight, transgender, Black, interracial couples—every type of person possible. If you are doing your comedy right then you should be drawing everybody. You shouldn't say anything stupid or homophobic or sexist or moronic. You should be someone that people want to come see.
WCT: Is your comedy similar to other comedians?
TG: I hope not. I was influenced by certain people. I like iconic people like Rodney Dangerfield. My act is not like his, though. People always think you are going to be like them if you say you are influenced by that comedian. I like Don Rickles growing up, also.
WCT: Your last name reminds me of George Glass from The Brady Bunch.
TG: That used to be a joke in my act until the crowds didn't know the television show anymore.
WCT: It was Jan's imaginary boyfriend so I wanted to make sure you are real.
TG: That is my real name.
WCT: What projects do you have coming out this year?
TG: I just sold a show to Comedy Central. I'm excited about that. I also sold a book to Simon & Schuster, which comes out early this summer.
WCT: What's the name of the show?
TG: It is not actually my stand-up. I did one just for Netflix about five months ago. Just look up "Todd Glass" on Netflix.
The one for Comedy Central is untitled but I think it will be called The Todd Glass Situation. It is basically my life. Before I came out and the months leading up to it this consumed a lot of my day. The plot of it had very little to do with me being gay. Anyone's sexuality doesn't have that much to do with their day but if it comes up then it does.
The show is about a guy trying to live his life in the closet. Most of the time they are out of the closet but this one might be the first one about someone still in the closet. It is about dealing with it for people that don't know and the ones that do know I am still scared shitless to tell them. It is about possibly going to a wedding with a girl or how I introduce my partner. It is how I deal with things. It won't consume the show but it will be a part of it.
While we are plugging things, I have a podcast on The Nerdist Network.
WCT: I keep hearing great things about The Nerdist.
TG: The numbers are great and they let you do whatever you want. In one clean sweep podcasts give radio the purity of stand-up. Cursing is such a small element of it. It is just expressing myself as I normally do it. It is key though and let's things breathe. The reason people love stand-up is because it is unedited. When you do stand-up you write, produce, star, and edit. It is all one person. It is very narcissistic. It either sucks beyond belief or it's the best thing in the fucking world!
See Glass and the gang at the Chicago Theater, 175 N. State St., on Thursday, June 13. For tickets and information, visit www.justforlaughschicago.com; for more on Glass, visit www.toddglass.com .
