Even if your friend is “funny” that doesn’t mean this will translate to stage. Believe me, there is little worse than watching someone bomb out to a few scattered, uncomfortable or forced laughs desperately trying to fill the void of a quiet club when jokes don’t pass the reality check that is a live audience.
And, yet, there I was at Stand-Up Scottsdale’s Open Mic Night waiting for another friend* to take the stage and try his wit against a cruel crowd (all crowds are cruel). Dale Ivan Rasmussen doesn’t really sound like the name of comedian. A depressing, Vodka-alcoholic perhaps, but not a comic.
As with many of the best comedians, however, it is their darker personalities that give way to a unique observational perspective. Dale was there to affirm his place as a bright point on the dark side of comedy.
It took a drinking binge with a couple of friends also making their way along the local stand-up circuit to overcome Mr. Rasmussen’s initial hesitation to go public with the unofficial comedy routine many of us run through our heads… and, thankfully, keep in our heads. An extracted promise at a moment when one should not be making important decisions or operating heavy machinery brought him out on this fateful night to perform.
The evening was delivering a lot of the expected. Laughter, sporadic for the most part and usually when the evening’s host Howard Hughes (not a joke) offered some relief between sets of brave yet struggling performers. I was relieved that by comparison Dale had a better chance than many of those who had to learn firsthand that “funny” is relative to location and audience. For example, you might be funny (a) at home (b) with your deranged grandmother but you might now do so hot (c) in a nightclub (d) with cognitive individuals who owe you nothing.
Then a problem arose for the young comics out that night. GM Ford took the stage and unleashed his comedic stylings on the crowd. As one of the hosts of Monday night comedy at LMAO in Phoenix, GM Ford is no stranger to crowds or comedy or any combination thereof. Mere moments after taking the stage, the comic had the audience bursting forth with uncontained laughter. After a night of rough starts and earnest attempts, Ford finally gave the crowd their money’s worth. Tough act to follow.
Dale’s next? No one wants to follow the best act of the night… especially for that first performance. I cringed knowing that no matter how good he might prove the odds were not in his favor to win the audience over after we’d been won over by another minutes ago. Audiences are often cheap and fickle but there are limits.
I speak for all those present when I say we were worried for the untried comedian. Our collective breath held as we heard Howard call Dale’s hard-to-pronounce-the-first-time-name.
Dale killed it. His background as a dramatic actor gave him an uncanny ease onstage and his storytelling ability gave a natural rhythm to the performance so he didn’t just look like a guy trying to remember his next joke.
The dark, frequently depraved, humor proved easily relatable for a generation of unrealized potentials. It’s not just masturbation and looking for a decent job. There is an existential crisis in each one of us. Dale Rasmussen can make us laugh about it.
The first night proved successful and Dale made the jump from open mic to booked performer.
On June 27th Dale took part in a standup contest at Handlebar J's in Scottsdale. Taking home first place, Rasmussen will be returning on July 25th at the same locale for the contest finals. Do yourself a favor and get out to Handlebar J's to see Dale perform live and rediscover for yourself the soul-saving power of profuse laughter.
