Joe Mande

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 10th March 2023

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times. This week we welcome a man who should be in a decent place right now, having written for some of the finest shows on US TV - The Good Place, Master Of None, Parks And Recreation - while also winning at stand-up, with a Netflix special done and now a run at the Soho Theatre.

Honestly, he's got more material than Savile Row - although that reference may be a bit UK-specific. Has Joe ever played London? And how would he describe this show to, say, an elderly relative?

"I've never performed in London before and I'm very excited to do so," he says. "I did visit London once with my family when I was a teenager and I remember having a wonderful time despite the whole baked-beans-for-breakfast thing."

What else is there? Anyway, let's move on.

"If I were to describe my act to an elderly relative," he goes on, "I worry that I'd be paralyzed with fear, seeing as all my elderly relatives are very dead, which would mean I'd be conversing with a ghost. No thank you!"

That's the spirit. And now Mande takes us back to an old haunt: a big mall in Manhattan.

First gig?

The first gig was at an open mic at a comedy club called Knuckleheadz on the fourth floor of the Mall of America. I was 15 years-old, the show started at around 4:30pm, there were maybe 10 people in the audience and they absolutely hated my material. And that's how I fell in love with stand-up.

Favourite show, ever?

I've gotten to do stand-up a couple times at NBA All-Star Game events. As a basketball fanatic, that's been super fun.

Worst gig?

In 2008, John Mulaney and I did a bunch of college shows in Indiana and Illinois. They were all pretty brutal, but the absolute worst was a show at the University of Indiana at Kokomo. When we arrived we learned that it's actually a commuter school, meaning none of the students live on campus. We had to perform before all the students left to go home. We stood on top a table in a large cafeteria while students ate their lunch and actively ignored us.

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

The man upstairs (No, not God. I'm talking about this guy in my building on the floor above me. He's fucking hilarious.)

And who's the most disagreeable person you've come across in the business?

The man downstairs (Satan.)

Is there one routine/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

There's a joke in my Netflix special where I fantasise about joining ISIS. I'd say the first 20 or so times I tried out that material, no one was on board. Then again, that's pretty explicable. Eventually I figured it out. And I'm happy to say ISIS loved it too!

Do you have a good travel tip, for newly-touring comics?

I always take the TV remote and wrap it inside the plastic bag from the ice bucket. Hotel remotes are biohazard-level disgusting.

Any reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions stick in the mind?

Two people on separate occasions have called me a "chicken nugget head". The first time you hear something like that, you don't think much of it. But when another person calls you that for a second time, you do find yourself wondering, "Wait - do I have a chicken nugget head?"

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

What are you, my therapist??!

It's going fine! Could it be going better? Probably! But I try not to dwell on that! And yes, I'm on an SSRI!