life & style

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 11

Al DuchArme
The incredible entertainer
Maya Jarjour maya.jarjour@arabnews.com

mericAn stAnd-up comediAn Al Ducharme has been making people laugh for nearly two decades with his unique stand-up act that includes mind-blowing sound effects. Name something ANYTHING and he can mimic it, from sounds (bullets and vacuum cleaners), soundtracks and movies (Star Wars and Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns) to little kids speaking on the phone all with fantastic acting, even in slow motion! He performed in Saudi Arabia for the first time last November and had the audience in awe and laughing to tears. My body is my instrument in many ways, Ducharme told Arab News. I take things that Ive experienced and I amplify or exaggerate it with my sound effects so you get the full picture, the whole story. I tried to be just a traditional comedian but that didn't work for me. Im more animated, so I always go back to doing my sound effects with some physical humor. My comedic friends told me: Dont try to do the regular stuff; do what youre good at. So, thats where Im at now, he added. Ducharme has been in the stand-up comedy business for 17 years. Im the writer, producer, director in a one person show. These things take time to develop. Im not the kind of comic who will write a joke and do it up on stage and its a big hit the next night. Mine have to take shape because Im presenting a three-dimensional vignette, so again enhanced by sound effects, he explained. At the same time, he has built an interesting and diverse career as a writer, producer and director. His credits include starring in several TV commercials (Heineken Beer, Papa Ginos, Ford Motor Co. and GTE), films (the Miramax film Next Stop Wonderland and the CBS film, Original Sin) and TV appearances (Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, NBCs Today Show and Inside Edition). He has also been features on voiceovers for radio and television and hosted the first season of Mission Organization on HGTV. Originally from Rhode Island, Ducharme attended RI College where he majored in theater. He then lived in New York for 13 years. Nine months ago, he moved to LA where he currently resides. Ducharme, who cites Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld as comedic influences, started doing stand-up comedy in college. Ive always had a thing for mimicking anyway, so I incorporated it into my act. Whether people have a child or nephew, everybody can relate to that, he said. Ive done a little bit of acting throughout my career, but always come back to stand-up comedy. Theres something about that live performance that immediate reaction, and interacting when youre shooting a film, it takes a long process, you have to wait for the finished product, he added. In New York, his home club is the comic strip live, but he performs in most of the clubs in the city. I perform in New York three to five times a night up to seven days a week. Thats the life of a normal comic. Ducharme has been performing internationally for the past 10 years. He travels by plane, car and cruise ships. Ive been embarking on cruise ships for the past year and a half pretty steadily so Ive been visiting many different parts of the world, he said.

Some of the countries and places hes been to include: Canada, Alaska, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, the UK (Scotland), the Caribbean, mainland China (Beijing), Hong Kong, Tunisia, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, Tunisia and Afghanistan. In this exclusive interview, Ducharme speaks to us about how he got into stand-up comedy, his sound effects and his fascination with the Middle East. His witty and goofy sense of humor left us craving for more. How did you get into stand-up comedy? In college, I was always the class clown, making jokes and goofing around, so my friend told me to try out at talent night. So I did and it went very well and I thought, oh my God, this is going to be great! I was invited to come in the following week. I went up and did the same exact thing, but I got booed off stage. I bombed after having my ego inflated. It was horrible, but I picked up by britches and I came back week after week until I eventually formed myself into a comedian and was able to procure work. the sound effects you make are amazing. How did you get into doing that? When I was a young man, I used to write these little scripts with my friends and wed act out these plays and record them on tape recorders. I had these sound effects tapes/ cassette tapes of sound effects, so I used to play the sound effects with our act. It was way too complicated and came out horrible. Then, I started doing the sound effects with my own voice. So wed have people say, Lets go into the haunted house, and Id make the sound of a door creaking open. All the sound effects you hear now, Ive been doing them ever since I was 10 years old in these mini stories. Even though we spent all this money on the sound effect tapes, we made a miniseries with my sound effects. It was just so much easier because we could actually do the whole thing without too many mistakes, so I brought that to my stage performance. so youve always incorporated sound effects into your stand-up comedy performances? Yes. It was only a brief period where I veered off from there to become a regular monologist, stand-up comedian, but it was not my strength. My friends told me go back to doing what I was doing, and that was the right decision. How have you progressed in the stand-up comedy business and do you feel your style has changed? Yes its changed. Its more fine-tuned now than ever and Im more comfortable on stage now than ever. You know, in the beginning, its an experiment youre still figuring out which direction to take. I tried going in a different direction but it didnt work, so I came back. It evolved to the point where I feel comfortable performing for any crowd. Thats one thing that was told to me that my act needs no translation and I actually have that on my bio. Why the interest in the middle east? I am interested in performing in the Middle East because I find it fascinating. When I first performed in Beirut in 2009 with Nemr Abou Nassar, I knew I wanted to explore other countries in this part of the world. People love and need to laugh no matter where they live. I have met some wonderful people in the Middle East and I want to let others know how great they are.

tell us more about your trip to Afghanistan. Afghanistan was a bit different from all the others as you might imagine. I was able to perform for Embassy personal from various countries as well as Afghan students. Performing and interacting with the students was one of the highlights of my trip to Kabul. Things are still a bit unstable there, but I hope they will improve soon. The Afghan people truly deserve it. The students have hope in their eyes, which was a joy to see. What do you enjoy doing most between stand-up comedy, tV and voice-overs? Stand-up comedy. A live performance setting in a theater setting, cannot top the energy of the others. In a television show, you have cameras wheeling around, you have to wait for commercials and then when cameras are rolling again, they tell everyone to pretend theyre having a good time and clap. In a live performance, its organic and you feed off of that energy. Its a narcotic. What do you find funny and where do you get inspiration for your material? Im inspired by events in my life. You get a lot of material from meeting people and traveling of course thats gold for material. So, I incorporate my experiences into my act. Which comedians do you enjoy watching? There are a lot of comedians that people dont know like Don Gaven who is from Boston. Hes been making me laugh since before I started doing comedy, and hes just as funny as ever. Then I have some favorites, like my friends Tom Cotter, Bernadette Pauley and Pete Correale. What makes you laugh? Im into all kinds of humor. The more super silly you are and the more ridiculous you are, the harder Im going to laugh. Im definitely a fan of that. There are no rules. Your greatest accomplishment? It hasnt happened yet, but I will say this: 16 years of being able to make a living of making people laugh and traveling and seeing the world is success. What advice do you give to aspiring stand-up comedians? Stay out of the business and leave it to the big boys! (laughs). Dont be afraid to fall flat on your face. If youre going to be successful in this, if youre serious about it, you have to fail to succeed. Just keep it up; dont stop. Whats next for your? Any upcoming dVds? I will be appearing on a new show called Comedy.TV, which was filmed late last year and should be airing in the coming weeks. I also have a new DVD coming out in spring 2012.

Al Ducharme had the audience in awe and in splits during his performance at the Italian Consulate

to stay updated on Al ducharmes news, follow him on twitter (@standupAl) or visit his website at www.alducharme.com

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(AN photos by Maya Jarjour).