Akron native sings the blues in comedy act

By John Benson

It’s real blue-collar comedy, with some blues music thrown in.

Comedian John King knows about blue-collar comedy.

Though some readers may instantly be thinking about the popular touring entity (you know, Jeff Foxworthy and the gang), this Akron native funnyman exists in the literal world of blue-collar stand-up comedy. You know, where it’s a grind traveling the country playing one small club after another, such as his upcoming dates Thursday through Saturday at The Funny Farm Comedy Club in Niles.

Still, King wouldn’t have it any other way. Speaking to his love of making people laugh, the 44-year-old said he first started in the business more than 20 years ago.

“I always liked comedy and gravitated towards it,” said King, calling from his Akron home. “I was living in Alabama, and a comedy club opened there. I went to some of the shows and got captivated by it. They had an amateur night. So I came back, and of course I sucked.

“The owner said I should give it some time, but I told him I had 25 people from work coming the next week. So he said if you have 25 people to see you, you can come back. I was so nervous, but I got through it, and I was hooked.”

From that point on, King was a weekly regular at the club before eventually quitting his day job as a lab technician.

“When the comedy bug hit me, it wasn’t about money anymore,” King said. “It was what I always liked, and that’s what I wanted to do. So I quit my job, and for the next two years I almost starved because I had no idea how to get work. I didn’t have anyone teach me anything about comedy. It was all trial and error, and I kept at it until I learned.”

Two decades and hundreds of club gigs later, King said he’s made a good career — on the road three weeks a month — performing his observational material that also incorporates music.

“I do a lot of experiences about my childhood,” King said. “It’s a lot of reality-type comedy. I have family that is funnier than me. They’re always saying something funny, so I just take the humorous parts and make it into a routine. I’m also a harmonica player, so I put that into my act. It’s like 50 minutes of comedy and about 10 minutes of music. I do mostly blues.

“What I do is take some blues music and put some funny lyrics to it. One song, which is a call back to a joke I do in my act, is ‘The You Stole My Wife to Make Me Take Care of Your Kids Blues.’”

Considering his blue-collar slant, King said that over the years, he’s enjoyed quite a following in the Youngstown area.

“The show is exciting, it’s funny and I always add something new to the act,” King said. “People leave the venue feeling relieved and happy because laughter is very therapeutic. They’ll leave a lot of worries there. The effect of the laughter takes a while to wear off. So they’ll leave there very satisfied, I can tell you that.”