Philips feels lucky to have started in the old days
Philips still shocked standup can be a full-time job
Standup comedian Emo Philips counts himself lucky to have started his trade in the mid ’70s.
The 63-year-old comedy legend first began honing his stage persona in Chicago, where he was able to perform, by his own estimation, an astonishing 1,000 shows in his first two years.
“Now, I’m sure some comedians in New York City or Los Angeles could have pulled that off, but they would have had to have been funny,” Philips says from yet another stop on the endless tour that is his life. “In Chicago you could get on no matter how horrible you were. One comedian would follow another, the frightful doing five and the seasoned 15, from 9 p.m. till 1 a.m., five nights a week.
“I’d be the first onstage at one club, with most of the audience yet to show up; then I’d be the last onstage at the other club, after almost everyone had left. It was the perfect training system, and I feel so sorry for a beginner in 2019 trying to learn without that marvellous thing that back then we all took for granted — the Groundhog Day Factor.”
Always something of an off-centre character in the comedy world, Philips has kept doggedly to his persona through five decades, barely deviating (if at all) from the signature pageboy haircut, querulous man-boy voice and surrealist one-liners. Unlike many other comedians of the time, he’s kept standup as his main gig, only occasionally dipping into acting (Miami Vice, UHF) and voice work (Adventure Time, Dr. Katz.)
He’s a committed man,
Philips is — and we’re all the better for his unmatched way with puns, one-liners and love of coleslaw.
We asked Philips, who will be in town for shows on Friday
and Saturday at the Edmonton Comedy Festival, a few questions about his life and career:
Q The last time you were in town was with Weird Al on his Ridiculously Self-indulgent, Ill-advised Vanity Tour back in 2018. How was that?
A Touring with Weird Al was pure bliss. Vintage vaudeville venues packed with intelligent, gentle, yet comedy-friendly audiences; delicious vegan meals awaiting us twice daily, if any of us wanted them; a tour bus where the television was only put on once, driven by a veteran adept at taking curves without hurling us out of our bunks.
And, of course, the honour and privilege of working with Weird Al himself, an artist inspiring as he is funny as he is talented as he is kind as he is gracious.
Q You already had a history with him, didn’t you?
A Both Weird Al and I became nationally known in the early ’80s, and that’s when we first met, but I truly got to know him when we filmed UHF in 1988. I asked, “Al, when are you and I going to go on tour together?” He said, “When Donald Trump is elected president.”
Q From my memories of watching you in the ’80s I was a little surprised you never ended up doing as much television or film work as I would have expected. Was that by design?
A At one point I did seem destined for TV and/or film fame. In 1985 I played a game-show contestant on Miami Vice (opposite Phil Collins, who played the host), and of course there is my performance in UHF as the handsome shop teacher who instructs Weird Al in the proper use of a table saw. Most of my acting since then has been voiceover, on animated shows such as Home Movies and Adventure Time. But I’ve recently shot three pilots, so who knows?
Q I’ve always thought that your act was something of a continuation of what the Golden Age comics were doing. Were you a fan of comedy when you were growing up, or did you fall into it?
A I was incredibly lucky to have grown up in the American Midwest, because due to a completely understandable misconception by the network programmers that we were all farmers, TV shows came on an hour earlier. So I got to watch The Tonight Show at an earlier age than my coastal counterparts. And how I loved the comedians! I would not have even thought to rank them. They were all to me magical beings. That’s the non-matured mindset for you. You show me a kid who’s a critic, I’ll call child services.
Q Are you up to anything else these days? Podcasts, training sheep dogs, pursuing a degree in physics?
A You would never believe it, for no one ever does, but standup is a full-time pursuit. I myself was shocked to learn that. Even well into my teenage years, I’d sometimes watch a standup on TV and wonder, “But how on earth does he fill the other 23 hours and 55 minutes of his day?"
Q What fact about Emo Philips would surprise your fans?
A That I’m still alive.