'Last Comic Standing' winner, Hickory native heads home

Thanksgiving was lively for unfortunate reasons at the Reep household this year.

Jon Reep, a stand-up comedian and actor who headlines Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh this week, was at his family home in Hickory for the holiday. The Reeps were planning to eat dinner late that day and while the football games were on, Reep’s father had a stroke.

As soon as his dad fell and hit his head on the floor, Jon thought his old man was pranking everyone since the dinner was getting a late start.

Reep’s brother, Jason, knew it wasn’t a joke.

“There’s no way he’d do that for a laugh,” Jon recalled his brother saying. “He doesn’t have that kind of commitment to a bit.”

Daddy Reep wasn’t the only member of the family to suffer recent physical ailments and during a Thursday morning phone interview, Jon and I discussed his father’s condition, who else in his clan had to visit the hospital, what it’s like performing when a loved one is in intensive care and plans for Jon’s upcoming show, Hickory Live.

Enjoy the interview, follow Reep on Twitter and don’t forget The Best Tweet I Can Find in Five Minutes at the end.

Tony Castleberry: How is your dad doing?

Jon Reep: It’s crazy. Thanksgiving Day, me, mom, dad, my brother and our friend Mark are just kind of hanging out. We were going to do a late Thanksgiving. Dad’s sitting there next to the fireplace and he just fell over and hit his head on a hardwood floor. I thought he was making a joke. Like, hahaha, dad’s pretending to have low blood sugar and pass out because we haven’t eaten yet. Jason (Reep’s brother) said, “No, he hit his head pretty hard on the floor. There’s no way he’d do that for a laugh. He doesn’t have that kind of commitment to a bit.” [interviewer laughs] We straighten him out and, he’s having a stroke. I called 911. They came and got him. He had 100 percent blockage in an artery in his neck and a blood clot went through there and it gave him a stroke. They put a stint in his neck and he’s at Winston-Salem Baptist Hospital. He just got out of intensive care. He’s making some improvements. He lost a lot of motion on his left side, but as of (Thursday) morning, I got a text from my brother with a video showing his left foot moving. His left hand’s moving a little bit. He’s totally aware of what happened so we’re hoping it’s not severe brain damage and he can get past it.

TC: I had a similar situation with my grandma not long ago. My grandparents raised me, and grandma has been the rock of the family for years, but she fell, hit her head on a countertop on the way down and busted her head open. The surprise factor is what really freaked me out. One minute, she was great and the next minute, I thought, “Oh my God, is my grandma dying?” It was that quick and that sounds like what happened with you guys too.

JR: That’s a hundred percent right. Even if you’re prepared, you’re still not prepared. They are unannounced. You don’t get a 10-minute warning. It’s like, one minute, the best time of your life with your family at Thanksgiving watching football. The next minute, we’re in an ambulance and he might be dead. It’s that fast and mom’s crying, freaking out.

You have fire drills in high school. You don’t get like, stroke drills. [interviewer laughs] Like, “You get on the phone. You do this. You straighten his legs out.” But I was very proud of my brother, who acted really quick. My brother’s more serious than me. He gets that from my mom. He’s a structural engineer, made straight As in high school, works out twice a day. He’s a health nut. He was like, “That’s a stroke.” He goes, “Mom, chill out. [interviewer laughs] Jon, call 911.” Those guys were there pretty quick.

But yeah, you’re right. It comes out of nowhere.

TC: Yeah and seeing grandma in a vulnerable state really threw me. She’s always been the person that everybody leans on and when she has to lean on us, it’s different, but you make adjustments for the people you love and let’s hope they both continue to improve. Have you ever had to do shows while dealing with something this major?

JR: Dad had the stroke Thanksgiving Day. I had a show in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday and by the way, he was going to drive me to this gig. My dad loves driving. He wanted to go up there and see Maryland and have crab cakes and blah, blah, blah. I’m like, “Dad, that’s a seven-hour trip. I’ll just get a flight” and he was like, “Let me drive you.”

This is how funny my dad is. During the stroke, while he’s locked up on his left side and has got one eye open, he’s like, “Jon, I’m driving you to Annapolis.” [interviewer laughs]

Yeah, it was tough. I didn’t think I would go. I thought I would cancel that gig, but my dad regained consciousness and was saying, “No, go do the show. I’m fine.” I looked online, got a last-minute flight up there and did the gig.

I didn’t talk about it on stage. Until he’s 100 percent, I don’t want to get up there and start joking about it. I haven’t really had time to work out jokes.

TC: [laughs] You haven’t written that material yet.

JR: It’s too new.

Right now, 2018 is not a good year for the Reeps. I am wearing a sling. I just had shoulder surgery, which is why my dad was gonna drive me because technically I’m not allowed to drive with this messed up shoulder. My brother just had a kidney stone. He had to go to the ER a week or so ago and then my mom, who has glaucoma, just had an eye infection.

TC: Happy holidays, Jon.

JR: Happy holidays! But to answer your question, no, I’ve never had to do stand-up with something this major going on in my life. The closest thing would have been when I got divorced. I went through a divorce and still had gigs to do. … My job is to go up there and make you laugh, not unload my problems, unless I can make it funny.

TC: Is hanging out with Bert Kreischer as much fun as it seems?

JR: Yeah. I’ve known Bert for a while. We’re two headliners so we’re ships passing in the night most of the time. I was able to be on his podcast, the Bertcast, and he lived very close to where I lived (in Los Angeles). I basically just walked over to his house and he goes, “Hey, we’re getting drunk.” I was like, “Let’s do it” and we sat down and killed probably two fifths of Tito’s vodka. We had a four to five-hour conversation. I went back and listened to it. I didn’t finish it because I can’t stand the way I sound, but Bert told me, “After doing this podcast with you, I’m changing the way I do podcasts a little bit.” It was the No. 1 downloaded or listened to or played or streamed podcast that he had done to that point. I don’t know if that’s (because of) me or because we got hammered and talked about anything and everything. [interviewer laughs]

There was a lot said and because of that, he motivated me to get back into podcasting. I look forward to them now. It’s a lot of fun. Every Friday it comes out. It’s called Fried. My mom sometimes is on there. … Sometimes it’s local stuff about what’s going on in Hickory. Sometimes I grab an old buddy and we talk. The success of the one with Bert is what really got me back into it.

In fact, this is some new news. All Things Comedy, the network that hosts those podcasts and other videos and stuff, is run by Al Madrigal and Bill Burr. I’ve known both those guys for years. I was emailing Al saying, “Hey, we should change the artwork (of the Fried podcast).” Sarah Tiana used to be on it, but she’s moved on so it’s just me now. I was emailing him all that stuff and he goes, “I think you need a talk show.” What?!? I go, “OK, let’s talk.”

All Things Comedy just signed a $40 million deal or something like that with Comedy Central to produce new TV shows, content, that kind of stuff. I just moved back home from Los Angeles to Hickory and I’ve been doing fun videos with my friends and he goes, “I see you having your own talk show called Hickory Live. You’ll do it in a barn with your buddies. You’ll do it like a Tonight Show but scaled down. I’m pretty sure we can get sponsors pretty quick, but you’ve just gotta go do it.” So that’s what I’m doing. We’re shooting that in late January in Hickory. We’ve got a barbecue place that is also in a barn with a stage. We’ve got a bluegrass band that’s gonna be the house band. We’ve got an announcer who’s the winner of the Hickory Hollerin’ Contest. [Reep, interviewer laugh] It’s gonna be a blast. Hopefully, we’re gonna shoot it as if it’s a Comedy Central show, but even if they pass on it, we’ll shop it around. It’ll end up on Facebook or YouTube. Who knows? Hulu, Netflix, whatever.

TC: That sounds like so much fun and it sounds like something you in particular would be able to knock out of the park not only because of your comedy chops, but also, your knowledge of Hickory is unparalleled.

JR: [laughs] Thank you. That’s the idea is to shoot it as if it’s a major Tonight Show with a monologue, a desk, guests. We’ll have celebrities Skype in because no celebrity’s gonna show up in Hickory but they will Skype in. [interviewer laughs] We’ll have local celebrities like Dale Jarrett, NASCAR champion, Eric Church, the country singer, Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants, the pig from Green Acres. [interviewer laughs] Whatever it is, we’ll get all kinds of interesting characters. It’ll be great. Look for Hickory Live coming soon.

Here it is, The Best Tweet I Can Find in Five Minutes: