Ridiculously funny Hannibal Buress performs in Raleigh
Hannibal Buress is a ridiculously funny man.
Talk to hardcore comedy nerds, and you’ll usually hear similar sentiments. Buress seemed to come on the scene as a fully formed comic voice, with a singular and sophisticated style. But Buress, 31, came up the traditional way, via the stand-up comedy circuit – albeit in a relatively accelerated fashion.
After brief stints writing for “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock,” Buress returned to performing full time, and you can currently catch him as co-host of the very funny Adult Swim freakout “The Eric André Show.” Buress appears Sunday at the Duke Energy Center in Raleigh. He recently spoke to the N&O about “Saturday Night Live,” joke construction and the enduring appeal of stand-up comedy.
Q: Your style is so natural, and has such an easy flow, but your use of language is also really specific and punchy. What’s your writing process – do you tend to really craft the phrasing, or do jokes come in a flash of inspiration?
A: It’s both, really, because I do both jokes and stories. Sometimes a joke comes out perfectly, sometimes it needs to be worked, and sometimes it needs to have stuff added. It varies on the joke, what it requires.
Q: Do you write stuff down?
A: Yeah, I do. I’m trying to say stuff in a funny and efficient way, and in my style. Sometimes that comes from the stage, sometimes it comes from writing. It just varies.
Q: You came up in the Chicago scene, right?
A: Yeah, I didn’t see live stand-up until I was in college (at Southern Illinois University). I just tried doing it – I went to an open mic night to watch one of my friends and decided I could.
After college, I performed for a few years in Chicago, doing showcases. I worked at the local club Zanies, and started getting on the road from there. I went to New York for a few months in ’06 and got into the Montreal comedy festival, “Just For Laughs.” From that, I did my first TV appearance. That was actually on a late night show in Holland. Just working. Got on “Craig Ferguson,” did a set on “Jimmy Fallon.” Then I got a job writing for “Saturday Night Live,” based on my set on Fallon.
Q: Right, you were with “SNL” for one season, then you went to “30 Rock”?
A: Yeah, I went from “Saturday Night Live” right to “30 Rock.” I’m not sure exactly how that happened. I guess someone recommended me. I met with them and they were real cool. It was fun to work there.
Q: Did you find that to be very different, going from stand-up to collaborating with a team of writers?
A: I like writing with other people. You get to bounce off of them and come up with better ideas, think of different angles, when you’re writing for TV or on a set or improvising, It’s fun to collaborate and create something with two different energies. It’s good to have like-minded people.
Q: I’m a little obsessed with “30 Rock” – I think it’s the best ensemble TV comedy ever.
A: It was really well done. A lot of jokes, and a lot of running jokes. It was real tight. It’s a joke-heavy show. The writing staff was really smart and experienced and really good at what they do. It was cool to write for the show because I was a fan already. I enjoyed those jobs, “SNL” and “30 Rock.” But I definitely had ambitions to be on camera and do my stand-up.
Q: What is it about stand-up comedy, as a form or mode of artistic expression, that appeals to you?
A: Well, it’s just my ideas, you know? My ideas, with no worries about censorship, or networks, or standards-and-practices. In a live show, anyway. If I’m doing a special on Comedy Central – I mean, they’re pretty loose – but some bits I might have to slightly change. There’s an immediacy to it. I can think of a bit today and try it later tonight. Maybe do another show after that and fix it. It’s that aspect of being able to work when I want to work, and talk directly to people. So yeah, it’s just being able to present ideas, and talk about what I really think, and present my perspective.
This story was originally published October 16, 2014 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Ridiculously funny Hannibal Buress performs in Raleigh."