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Addictive humor
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
In Mark Lundholm’s hands, humor is a path to redemption.
The comedian has been using his first-hand knowledge of the life of an addict, combined with his innate ability to make people laugh, to reach and help people.
Lundholm will headline a show Sunday night at Ford Family Recital Hall.
The California native had a rough family life as a child that included an alcoholic father and the divorce of his parents. He was devastated as a child and went into a tailspin that led to homelessness and drug addiction in his early 20s.
After hitting bottom, he pulled himself out of the gutter and rebuilt his life into a national comedian with a purpose that keeps his schedule full.
Lundholm has developed two acts: one for the public and another for his private performances in prisons and drug-treatment centers. His Youngstown stop is an example: Before Sunday night’s show at Ford hall, he’ll give a private talk with clients of Meridian HealthCare’s addiction and recovery and prevention programs in the Mahoning Valley.
His words reach eager ears because he draws on his own experiences and understands the addict.
A theme of recovery also runs through his public show, but those who attend Sunday night’s performance should expect to laugh.
In a phone interview from the San Jose, Calif., airport, Lundholm said the difference between his two acts is that the one for the public is rated PG-plus.
“There is no bad language, but no topic is out of bounds,” he said. “Suicide, abuse, dysfunction – all the ugly terms we use for the dysfunctional part of society. I don’t hold back. But I don’t abuse the privilege of language.”
Lundholm said his audiences comprise people of all types, not just recovering addicts.
“Anybody and everybody comes out,” he said. “The show is fun to watch. Although there is a recovery thread, tell me one movie, book, screenplay of myth in humanity that doesn’t have a theme of redemption. The Bible, ‘Gone With the Wind,’ ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ It plays to anybody. I just make it funny.”
Lundholm has had pitiable lows and soaring highs in his life, including his own one-man Off-Broadway play “Addicted ... A Comedy of Substance.” He also has appeared on Showtime and Comedy Central.
He has spun those ups and downs into a stand-up act. “Life is [comedy] material,” he said. “It’s all material, especially if you have that comic lense. For the longest time I thought that life isn’t fair. I was disadvantaged. I didn’t get everything I wanted. But the other side is, man, I didn’t get everything I deserved either ... which was a blessing.”
In Lundholm’s hands, laughter is a tool to reach and disarm people who need help.
“I am tight with many inmates,” he said. “They will tell me things they’ve never told their parents or their priest. That’s what comedy does. Humor will let you walk away from shame. And it also lessens the threat [inherent in] a discussion. If you laugh about it, you can also talk about it a little longer. That is the pull of the show.”
Opening Sunday night’s show will be rising Cleveland comedian Bill Squire, who is a familiar face at Mahoning Valley comedy clubs.
Lauren Landy and Tyler Moliterno of 21 WFMJ-TV will be the hosts.