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Comedian Mark Klein enjoys horsing around
By John Benson
When funnyman Mark Klein describes his act, it makes you wonder whether his material will be divisive on stage.
“I’m a stand-up monologist,” said Klein, calling from Louisville, Ky. “It’s comedy with a point of view. It may best be described as 45 funny minutes on freedom. It is not political. It does have a lot to say about the choices we make living in a free society. But it is not political in the sense that it takes a Democratic or Republican view of things.”
He added, “So it’s nothing but comedy. And I’m from Kentucky where we specialize in bourbon, baseball bats, cigarettes and fried chicken. Our state motto should be: ‘If it kills you, we make it.’”
A working comedian for the past 30 years, Klein’s comedy has taken him to clubs from Alaska to Florida. Lately, he’s splitting his time between corporate gigs and cruise-ship shows. What makes the Louisville native unique is he’s one of the few comedians whose material delves heavily into horse racing. That’s a product of not only going to the track but also being a race-horse owner.
“I own a very small piece of a very slow horse,” Klein said. “They eat and crap everyday. They eat dollars and crap problems; that’s what they do. But on the few days when they run the way you thought they could when you bought them, it’s a great business to be in.
“So I know about the horse-racing world from the gambler’s standpoint and an owner’s standpoint. I’ve been going to the track since I was a teenager. I’ve got a good amount of comedy material about owning race horses, which is as tragic as it is financially very funny.”
He said his equine material ranges from horse breeding to how horses are named. It’s his love of horses and gambling that has him excited about making his debut tonight at the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Youngstown.
Klein said though he enjoys being on stage anywhere, there’s something special about playing a casino that has horse racing. Furthermore, he said the casino crowd, which is always looking to laugh, boasts a wider spirit in terms of enjoying life.
Also, it sounds like Klein will be enjoying life when he gets to Hollywood Gaming.
“I’ll arrive early, bet the simulcast and stay late,” Klein said. “It’s just great fun.”
So does that mean by the end of the day Klein will ostensibly be paying Hollywood Gaming to perform?
“The odds of that happening are zero,” Klein said. “I feed my family telling jokes, so I can’t feed them if I’m losing money at the window. I enjoy gambling both on horses and at casinos, but what I put across the windows is a very small percentage of what I have in my pocket.”
Invariably, whether Klein is in a horse stall or on a comedy stage, he’s always avoiding stepping into something.
“That’s a good point,” Klein said, laughing. “Avoiding the land mines is something that comics have to do as well as horses. The good thing is if you’re a comic and you break a leg, nobody shoots you. They just send you out to the next show with a cast on.”