RALEIGH, N.C. — When some of us reach 15 years on the job, we get a watch.
Mike Mello already has the watch, and it’s a gorgeous, shiny timepiece, so he’s celebrating 15 years in stand-up comedy with a live taping at Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh.
On Wednesday, Mello will have 45 minutes to an hour of his act recorded for what he hopes is a future release on one of your favorite digital platforms. Making his hour available on Amazon, Hulu or Netflix is “kind of a long ways away” as Mello put it during a Tuesday afternoon phone interview, but he’s going to put it out in some form, and as comedy fans who have seen Mello’s act can attest, it’ll be worth whatever it costs.
Mellow, a northern Virginia native who now lives in Raleigh after years of commuting from the LBC -- “Lower Bottom Cary” according to Mello -- has been a fixture at Goodnights since starting his stand-up journey and when he isn’t opening for A-list headliners at Raleigh’s best comedy club, he’s headlining shows himself at various venues.
Putting in that kind of time on stage has Mello prepared for Wednesday’s hour set even though he admitted the live recording aspect of the show does add at least a little pressure.
Then again, he’ll be wearing that fancy watch, and he’ll bring a glass of wine with him on stage too. Those things, coupled with his expert joke delivery and funny, compelling material honed over 15 years should make for a genuinely Mello show.
Enjoy the interview, follow Mello on Twitter and don’t forget
The Best Tweet I Can Find in Five Minutes at the end.
Tony Castleberry: I’ve heard you called Mike Mello, Mello Mike, and just Mello on stage. Do you purposefully switch it up or were the people introducing you just having fun with it?
Mike Mello: I used to go by Mello Mike and I wasn’t getting booked because people thought I was a character. Then I was like, let me try it the other way and I actually started getting booked more. [Mello, interviewer laugh] I was like, “So if I just switch it, you’ll hire me?” I think on paper they look at it and say, “We don’t need a character,” you know?
I started going by Mike Mello, but everyone (in Raleigh) knows me as Mello Mike. Sometimes they’re like, “I will never call you Mike Mello” so they just call me Mello.
TC: I think you handle some pretty sensitive racial subjects brilliantly in your act. Have you always written jokes about those topics or did you have to work up to it as you got more confident on stage?
MM: I guess I kind of had to work up to it. I grew up in a political family. My mom worked with the legislature for years so I kind of stayed away from it, but I guess as I got older, those kinds of topics tend to hit harder (with audiences). I feel like I’ve always talked about it, but I think with how things are now, it might mean a little more.
TC: It feels weird for me as a white person to say something like, “It just feels good when you talk about it on stage” but that is the feeling. I don’t mean that in any demeaning way. It’s just that the way you present it, everybody seems to get on board: black, white, whatever. Is that the way you feel about it too?
MM: That’s the goal. It’s always hard to talk about. I always want people to listen to the joke. A lot of times, they don’t hear the whole joke so I had to come up with a way for people to really pay attention to the little things that I’m making a point of. But I also don’t want to make anyone feel guilty. I want them to be conscious about it. I want people to have a good time, but be conscious of what’s really going on.
TC: You’ve opened for some of the best headliners in the world, but those sets are normally 15, 20 minutes. Is having to do an hour intimidating at all or are you looking forward to stretching out your act?
MM: It’s not new to me. If I don’t work with the big names, I headline so I’m used to doing 45 (minutes) to an hour. I think with this setting, it’s a little bit more pressure, but with an hour, I don’t feel rushed. I can take my time. I’m pretty laid back anyway. When you’re excited about doing time (on stage) and it’s 20 minutes, you try sometimes to do too many jokes because you want everyone to hear everything you’ve got. With an hour, it makes me kind of stop and relax and just have a nice pace and have fun with it.
TC: That’s interesting. It’s almost comforting in a way to do more time, right?
MM: Yeah, definitely, but the live recording definitely adds some extra pressure to it.
TC: Sure. Will you have a glass of wine and wear the watch on Wednesday?
MM: Of course. I’ve just become accustomed to drinking wine. I actually like it now. It took me until I’m 45 to actually like wine. Maybe it’s an age thing. I don’t know.
TC: Well, the wine has been a visual part of a couple of your jokes too.
MM: Yeah, definitely. I found out about high blood pressure and hey, a glass of wine? Let me try this stuff. One day I just carried it up on stage when I didn’t really have anything to talk about. I was like, “Well, what’s up with this wine?” I just started riffing on the wine and it became part of my act. It became, I wouldn’t say a prop, but it’s definitely there for an eye pleasing...I have to class myself up as much as I can.
TC: Yeah, it gives the show a sophisticated air like, hey, we’re in for some intellectual humor. You guys better lock in. This isn’t a beer-drinking crowd. This is a wine-sipping crowd.
MM: Oh, believe me, I had to calm down some of the liquor crowds with a little bit of wine.
Here it is, The Best Tweet I Can Find in Five Minutes
