The Truth Behind the Humor

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• Joe Klocek

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It’s mildly funny when someone trips and falls. It’s completely unfunny when someone trips and falls while carrying a birthday cake on the way to an orphanage. But it’s hilarious when that birthday cake was for a spoiled 4-year-old — and potentially interesting when a series of absurd occurrences led you to the birthday party in the first place. Veteran comic Joe Klocek understands the nuance between comedy and tragedy, and he also knows that the road to a good joke — the sometimes unbelievable set of circumstances that get comedians there — is often more interesting than the joke itself. This led him to develop “Previously Secret Information." He curates professional storytellers, solo performers, and comics who share the real-life inspiration for jokes. Klocek himself has spun stories about living in a mall at age 11 (his choice), and bovine homicide in a Utah desert. Other performers have shared tales many of us can relate to: first dates, adopting a baby, robbing banks -- okay, maybe you can't relate to all of them. Tonight, prolific blue-collar worker, comedian, and former mayoral candidate Will Durst talks about three of the 108 jobs he has held during his lifetime.
Sun., Nov. 21, 7 p.m., 2010