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Kaplan’s comedy starts with a one-liner
By John Benson
Being a working comedian these days is a weird existence.
Just ask Myq (pronounced “Mike”) Kaplan, who is known nationally for being a finalist on the 2010 season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
Sure, he had appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “Conan,” but nothing prepared him for being thrust into the reality-show spotlight.
“Up until that point, that was the most exposure I had received from any one specific thing,” said Kaplan, calling from New York City. “I’d been on a few late-night shows and around that time, I had a half-hour on Comedy Central, but it was just the volume of people.
“The late-night shows I was on get a few million viewers, but ‘Last Comic Standing’ had more than that every week. Just by sheer numbers, I was recognized more. I started being more of a draw at clubs because people would now come out to see me specifically, which was not really the case before. So it had a huge effect at that time.”
Even though Kaplan didn’t win the $250,000 grand prize, in a sense it was mission accomplished for the young comedian regarding the exposure that laid the foundation of a fanbase that follows the witty comic on his podcast “Hang Out With Me,” which is found on the Keith and The Girl network.
Also, Kaplan’s debut CD, “Vegan Mind Meld,” was one of iTunes’ top ten best-selling comedy albums in 2010. He followed that up with ‘Meat Robot” in 2013. Next is new CD “Small Dork and Handsome,” which is due out in May.
As for his comedy, which he’ll bring to his Youngstown debut Friday and Saturday at the Funny Farm Comedy Club, Kaplan said it all starts out as one-liners. Then before he knows it, the one-liner becomes an entire act.
“Lots of my ideas start as potentially a one-liner and then sort of like the snowflake becomes a snowball rolling down a mountain,” Kaplan said. “So eventually that one line becomes connected one-liners in a stream of consciousness. The hour I’m touring with now started from the core of talking about whether I want kids, and deciding probably not wanting kids.”
He said the material deals with tattoos, drugs, alcohol and Facebook.
Finally, when you spell your name Myq, two things happen. First of all, you receive plenty of attention. Also, odds are you’re going to encounter many unique mispronunciations over the years.
“I say they’re all equally weird and welcome,” Kaplan said. “And no hard feelings because I brought it upon myself. People have said, ‘Meek, Myiq, Moak.’ I like hearing new ones so I guess the weirdest one is the one I haven’t heard yet.”