Having recently documented his first ever standup tour in a hilarious reality miniseries, comic / social media sensation / witch enthusiast Tim Murray is gearing up to work the crowd once more.
Thotyssey: Tim, hello! Thank for chatting today! Did you do anything festive for Easter?
Tim Murray: I’m wearing a brightly colored shirt and eating a lot. Does that count as an Easter activity?
What is the funniest thing that you’ve seen recently?
Titanique on Broadway is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. My friend Tye Blue is the director, and one of the co-writers. Tye and I write stuff together, and he makes me laugh like nobody else. I was cackling laughing; I can’t wait to go back to the show!
Lots of what’s happening in the country today is insane and scary, but also darkly funny in a way. Do you try to explore that topical humor in your standup and content, or is it kind of best for your own personal comedy style to just avoid that altogether?
I try to really stick to what is funny to me, and as the person with the mic I make it a goal to talk about stuff that I think I’m qualified to have a POV on in front of a roomful of strangers. So I don’t actively seek out world events to write about, because I know there are smarter comics than me who can do it better. I mostly stick to my own experience. But if I find myself having a hot take on a political situation that hasn’t been covered by Late Night or “Weekend Update” or The Daily Show, then I try to throw my hat in the ring with some jokes. But my main hope is to give people a short distraction and release from how awful the world is right now.
Can you share a bit of your origin story with us? Where are you from originally, were arts and performance always a part of your life, and when did you realize that standup was your thing?
I’m from the greatest city on Earth: Sandusky, Ohio. Home of Cedar Point Amusement Park. We have a great public school with lots of theater and choir opportunities that definitely set me on my way. I did standup for the first time at the fourth grade talent show, and then again at a talent show when I was 15. I have always loved it, but I have ADHD and my focus has never been quite honed as much as it should be. For many years I did a lot of acting, playwriting, sketch writing, improv and singing. It took me a long time to realize that standup was my main thing, and that I can combine those other interests into my standup acts.
You’ve become really well known for your viral social media comedic content. Is that something you love doing, or is it like a necessary evil? Is it easy to decide what bits and jokes should go online versus what should be onstage?
The answer to this question depends on the day! Sometimes I find making online content so much fun. It’s creative, and a great way to test out material on a large audience. But often, it feels very overwhelming to try and keep up with the constant posting.
Jokes onstage are hyper-specific. There is so much comedy that works great in videos or at a dinner table or even in a script that won’t work on stage doing standup. Standup is the hardest thing because what you’re saying has to be totally your own, but also be relatable and have a take the audience doesn’t see coming. Sometimes online content just has to be relatable, and that’s enough.
Another popular vehicle of yours is the stageshow Tim Murray is Witches, where you pay homage to pop culture’s greatest sorceresses through standup and song! Do you have a favorite all-time witch? Sub-question: how about a favorite Elphaba?
My favorite witch is the Wicked Witch (turn it upside down and you get… just kidding). She’s the one I wanted to be as a child: the cackling, the color, the fierceness. She’s the most fun to me of all the witches. My favorite Elphaba is Idina Menzel. I saw her do it when I was in high school, and it brought me a level of joy I have been chasing ever since. She is Elphaba. She was this tall, statuesque, powerful but vulnerable version of the Wicked Witch of the West. There’s a reason she’s the OG.
Standup still seems like the scariest performance art for laypeople like myself, especially nowadays where everyone is quick to trigger! How did you get over nerves to first try standup onstage, and is that something you still struggle with?
Oh yes, it’s the worst thing in the entire world, haha! It’s so scary. I was performing in Portland once and saw another comic had written on the wall, “I am always scared to do comedy.” I felt so seen by that. That’s just the way it is. It’s very hard, and everybody bombs — including the pros. The only way you can find out if new material works is by trying it out and making a fool of yourself. It gets a lot easier the more you do it, but it never gets comfortable or stops being scary. The only way I was able to overcome my nerves and do it early on was to tell myself, “you’re gonna die one day. We’re all gonna die. Do you wanna die without having tried this?”
Are you conscious of a single moment where you bombed the worst on stage, as well as a single moment where you slayed the best?
Oh god yes, haha. My worst bomb of all time was probably on a gay cruise ship. The first night the dance party on the deck was rained out, so I crushed in front of a lot of millennial and Gen X gays. The second night I think the audience literally wanted to murder me. They were looking at me like I was physically hurting them, and they wanted to do so back. It was 25 awful minutes of my material not landing, and then I was stuck on the boat with these people for like seven more days. It was harrowing. I could literally feel the palpable self-hate a gay man has for himself radiating off of them and toward me. I was not asked back, lol!
I think the moment I slayed the most was actually caught on tape in my Witches special that we filmed last October; I’m so excited for people to see it. I do a musical improv song in the show, and my friend Adrien Pellerin on the piano crushed the song with me. I had more callbacks than ever before, and my jokes within the song I’m so proud of. When I watch it back, I can’t believe it’s me doing it.
Do you have any particular comedy idols? How about comedy arch-nemeses, lol?
Lisa Kudrow, Kate Berlant, Wanda Sykes, Cole Escola, Naomi Ekperigin and the entire cast of Reno 911. Chris Fleming has now made his way onto that list after this genius special he just released. I’m always inspired by people who are thinking outside the box.
My main comedy arch-nemesis is Miss Piggy. We’re both up for the same stuff a lot of the time… because we’re both piggies, if you know what I mean. She usually books the family friendly stuff, and it helps that she’s in a power couple with another famous person. She’s amazing and I won’t take that from her; I just wish she would stop leaving me voicemails telling me I should give up.
Is there still a very big and necessary lane just for queer comics, or do you think everybody is mixing it up in all the spaces more commonly today?
Personally, I think the lane is very clear. And although ours (queer people) is windy and bumpy, we love it and we’re not branching out from it into the straight lanes… because they’re not for us. We are making comedy for us, and those who love us. A lot of that means being specific. People often call queer comics “niche,” which I take as a compliment. To me, that means we are not basic.
Wish You Were Queer is a 6-part docuseries on OUTTV (produced by Trixie Mattel!) that followed the also hilarious Michael Henry and yourself as you embarked on your first standup tour via RV! How did that project come about, what did you learn about yourself and standup in the process, and did anything about comedy audiences outside of the NYC hub surprise you?
The project started when my longtime friend and producer Frank Spadafora came to see Michael and my first show together. He said to us, “this needs to be a TV show” which led to our first season on OUTTV.
Nothing surprises me about audiences anymore, to be honest. I have seen everything under the sun out there. But northern Florida certainly had a level of wasted audience members that were wild, haha!
I understand that you are happily married and domesticated, but are you still able to go out and enjoy the nightlife at all? Any favorite spots here in NYC?
I am married to a deep introvert who hates being around… what’s the word I’m looking for… people! But when I go out with my friends I love VERS, The Dickens and Arriba Arriba — those drinks are strong, honey!
You’ve got a major live show this week! “Tim Murray’s Crowd Work Show” is at the legendary Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in the East Village on Thursday the 9th, where you will be joined by Michael Henry and the great Nick Smith! What can folks expect?
Anyone who has seen me live knows that crowd work is something I love to do and excel at. My style is to make everyone feel like we’re hanging out in my living room, and that I’m grateful you’re here. I’m not much of a roasting comedian. I’m more… hitting on you, haha. They can expect a show with a lot of laughs, some musical improv moments, and a ton of fun with my gay comedian friends! And also, to experience a singular show that can never be recreated cuz we’re making it up on the spot!
What else is coming up for you?
I am writing a musical parody of Traitorz with my friend Ben Fankhauser, so I’d love to tell people to keep their eyes peeled for announcements about that! And we will likely be doing concert versions of it in NYC again soon!
Finally: are you watching the new season of The Comeback with its “AI writing comedy” storyline, and do you think it would be super lame if comics started working with AI written material?
I am watching the genius that is The Comeback, and I am hoping the show will show the dark side of AI soon; the most recent episode sort of painted it in a positive light. I think AI is whack, and comedians who use it are not really comedians. They’re people with laptops. Or phones. So… everyone. The whole point of comedy is having a strong point of view… and robots don’t have that.
Thanks, Tim!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Tim Murray’s upcoming area appearances, and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkTree and his website.
Thotyssey 