Tim Hawkins on Rock and Roll Comedy

As part of my ongoing education in comedy, I recently spoke with Tim Hawkins of Crown Comedy. A member of the board of directors of the Christian Comedy Association, his mixture of observational comedy and musical spoofs is captured on several DVDs including Full Range of Motion and the most recent I'm No Rockstar. Under his tutelage, I learned more about the science of comedy.

Using "science" as a term to describe comedy isn't something I've heard a great deal about. Can you expand on that?

Tim:    It's definitely a science. It's tweaking a word here and there or a phrase, or adding a space or a pause that will elicit a response from a group of strangers. It really is fascinating when you think about it. You're standing in front of a group of strangers who don't know who you are for the most part, and you're getting them to actually laugh.

It's not like the end of song where you're traditionally supposed to clap. Whether you like it or not, the end result is the same. But with a joke that's not successful, you hear no laughter. It's not like you deserve anything either. I guess it's a combination of justice and science.

How do you learn what works? Do you record your performances, and do you record others' performances?

Tim:    When they first start out, a lot of comics will watch others who know what they're doing. Then, as you go along, you listen more to what you've been doing. You're developing your own style.

I guess ignorance is bliss when you first start. You're really ignorant of how bad you are, because if you realized how bad you were, then you'd quit. But thankfully, we trudge through and come out on the back end with some material that really does work and is legitimate. Then you build on that and that experience.

I find the more I do it, the more I find my act turns into what I think and who I really am. It's not some contrived piece of work that I'm trying to put over on somebody.

How many times are you doing your comedy show each year?

Tim:    This year, we cut it off at 115. With the videos getting out on YouTube and Tangle, we're getting hundreds of requests for shows, but you have to cut off at a certain point. I want my marriage to work and I want my kids to know what I'm like, so I think that's a good number for me right now.

That's a date about every third day or so.

Tim:    Pretty much. It's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday every week, but I'm home pretty much Monday through Thursday. And I'll take my family with me whenever I can.

Would that be the brood of kids that showed up in the Homeschool Family video [on YouTube]?

Tim:    Not all of them. Four of them are mine and the rest are little rugrats from around the neighborhood and a couple of nephews. My wife Heather is the wife in the video. She was actually going through chemotherapy at that time, so she was wearing a wig with a ponytail on it, and she had a fake hump for the pregnancy hump that was our 11th child (I think) that was on the way.

Is this based on the Duggar family? I've recently been following their story. They're expecting another child and are looking for another "J" name to use.

Tim:    I love the Duggars. They're amazing. But it is a pet peeve of mine that people use the same letter for all their kids' names. I don't get why people do that? Does it make it easier for them to call their kids?

I went to junior high with identical twins that were named Al and Allen. Way to think outside the box, parents!

It does provide good material, though, so we should be grateful, I suppose.

Tim:    That's true. If it weren't for people like, where would I be? We wouldn't be talking right now. You'd have no reason to call me and talk with me whatsoever.

If you weren't doing comedy, what do you think your alternative career would be?

Tim:    I don't know. Selling Sham-Wow! Or Snuggies, or something else on QVC. Maybe driving my wife around. Seriously, I have no other skills.

When did you discover your comic gift, and when did it become a career?

Tim:    I think it was out of desperation. It was something I wanted to do but I had no idea how. I tried the club thing for a while, which is fine, but believe it or not, it's a depressing place. The comedy world is pretty bitter and self-centered, and it's hard to get a lot of stage time to develop your act.

The problem, especially when you start having children, is that you have to make money to pay the bills. The thing I tried to do was be consistent and perform wherever I could whenever I could, whether it was on the weekends or working nights and still have a day job.

I think the turning point was when my brother Todd became my manager. It's so important to have someone who knows the business side of things because it frees me up. I can write material and work on my side of the deal. He works on his side of things, and we've actually brought a couple of other people on to help us and free us up even more. It's exponential. It allows you to do more things, make more videos, do more gigs and do them more efficiently.

It must be crucial to have someone you can really trust in that position.

Tim:    Oh yeah, that's so hard to find. There are a lot of sleazy management types that don't care about you or your family; they just want to make a buck on the show. They don't care where the show is and don't ask questions about where it is or if they have a sound system, or if it's going to be indoors. Those kinds of things make a big difference.

You mentioned being freed up to write. Do you have a certain period of time you set aside for writing, or is it an ongoing process?

Tim:    It is ongoing. I'm constantly adding new stuff and dropping other stuff from the act. As you add more new stuff, you don't have time for the old. I try to do what I'm most passionate about at the time. The newer things I'm trying to work. They're new and fresh and have a little more energy to them, so they're more effective.

I still do some old jokes and old material, but I'm always trying to write new things. To be honest, I'm always trying to develop new DVDs and projects to have product available to sell. About once a week I'll sit down and look at my notes and if there are a couple of bits I'll work on them.

Really most of the writing happens live on stage where I'll have an idea to throw out a line and see where it goes. And if it does work well, maybe I'll ad lib on it and then build it from there.

Do you record all your performances so you capture that?

Tim:    I try to. If not, and my brother's in the show, I have this little signal I'll give him to write something down that I just said. He knows my act well enough that he knows what I'm talking about.

But that's crucial, to record audio or visual, because we tend to forget. So that's a number one rule, to write down everything or you're going to forget. If you're driving and think of a funny idea, but think you'll write it down later, you'll forget it. I've nearly had life-ending wrecks in the car looking for a pen to write something on my leg or on a parking receipt, or something.

Years ago, my wife threw away some slips of paper and receipts I had in a drawer. I said, "Honey, that's money right there. We're going to retire on those little pieces of paper. They're very important."

You said you do what you're passionate about. What is that right now?

Tim:    Most of my stuff is pretty observational, be it about candy bars or kids or marriage topics. I actually just wrote a song to the tune of "The Candy Man" called "The Government Can." It's going crazy on YouTube right now. It's about how our government is spending too much money. The way our system is set up, whether you're right or left, people are spending too much money we don't have.

I'm not a political guy on stage, I like sticking to general stuff, but that's been going pretty well right now. I've had to turn down 100 political rallies. They all want me to come and perform, but I tell them, "No, you don't understand. You're all screwed up and I'm not happy with any of you. Don't try to put me on your bus."

One of the unique parts of your act that's really catching on with YouTube (and that probably caught those people's eye) is your songwriting. Was that part of your act from the beginning?

Tim:    It kind of came together with the comedy. My shows are mostly for audiences of all ages, so the music is good because you can engage more people. It's a really powerful tool to get people's attention. Everyone likes music, whether they know the song or they don't, they may laugh at the words or the way I sing it. I try to give audiences as many reasons to laugh as possible, and music adds energy and variety to the show. It mixes things up a bit.

I love music, and I think I've gotten better as a musician and I'm going to keep doing it in my shows. I think I'm a decent singer and people respond to that, so it adds to the entertainment value. Music is a great thing to enjoy or poke fun at or both, so I try to do all of that.

When "Cletus Takes the Reel" came out, we were howling over that. Whenever anyone came into the office, we'd show them the video and laugh all over again.

Tim:    When we did that video, we used a lot of the country clichés. The slow motion in the weeds, and you're in a field walking all passively. The twirling moves that are so common, the old pickup truck with the dog, stuff that's been done a million times. That stuff just needed to be called out.

I think what's funny is that when people first watch it; they think maybe it's a serious song. The humor in it takes you by surprise. The way it opens, it could almost be a serious song.

Tim:    Oh yeah, I sell out to it. We're really into this, man. Yeah, check me out!

When you get an idea to do a song like that, it must be a pretty involved process to do a video of it. Is there a particular time of year you focus on it?

Tim:    What seems to happen is that usually there's one song sort of in the forefront. I've written something and maybe done it a few times in shows and think it has to be a video. I can see it playing in my head. There's normally one song I'm thinking, "I need to do something with this." I don't know if we're going to do it as a cartoon, or act it out, or use green screen technology, but it has to be done. That's kind of the way we've been doing it.

Getting these on YouTube, Tangle, Facebook, and other places has totally changed things for us, so a lot of our energy has gone into these little three-minute video pieces that someone will like and want to forward and share.

How much work goes into those videos?

Tim:    Sometimes it's more than others. Honestly, when I get done acting and singing it, I pass it over to my brother and the video guy and let them do the editing and put it together. I've done some editing before, and that's sometimes the hardest process: taking all that raw footage and making something that works.

I think with the "Government Can" video, it took two weeks of editing to finalize it, and it usually takes one to three weeks to complete it.

What about vacation time for you and your family? You're writing, performing, filming. Where are the breaks?

Tim:    This year we were actually able to block off dates. This is spring break, so we'll block that off. In March, I'm performing on a cruise, and they're paying for us all to go. I think we're going to take some extra time in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and hang out for a few days.

Really, the vacation time we have to block off on the calendar so we can do things together. But we get a lot of good time together out of town and seeing family, and we have a little more control over that.

How old are your kids?

Tim:    13, 11, 8 and 3. We're finished. We're going to do something else now.

Now that you're parents of teenagers, you've reached the best part. You should get some good material from it.

Tim:    I don't know whether to laugh or cry. They seem to be doing pretty well so far. Right now, it's all about cell phones. They want cell phones, and the reasons my 13-year-old gives for wanting a cell phone are hilarious. It's really just to pick up chicks. He won't say that.

He says, "Dad, what if I'm out with my friends and I need to contact you?" I tell him to borrow his friends' phones. I'm thinking I might buy him a flare gun or something so he can shoot it up in the air.

Maybe you can teach him about pay phones, although those seem to be extinct.

Tim:    Pay phones? That's like seeing someone with a beeper, or having someone ask you to fax something. I haven't seen a fax machine in ten years. Or mailboxes. I don't even use mine any more. I'm not sure why we have those things.

Do you mentor younger comics?

Tim:    I'm part of CCA (Christian Comedy Association), and believe it or not I'm actually on the board this year. That's scary, isn't it? I get people asking me for advice and that's pretty cool.

My first advice is "Quit." There were many times I was told to quit, but I couldn't. I knew this was it. It's an honor to be at the place where people are asking for advice or help so I'm glad to give it when I can.

What are some important things that people going into comedy need to know?

Tim:    To be yourself. We all think we're funny, but most people go up on stage and try to be someone else. Why not just try to be yourself? Be the same guy you are in the car when you're cracking up your friends. Why change that? It's where it comes from. Don't try to be another Jerry Seinfeld or someone you're not.

You can learn structure from other comedians, and how they do their jokes, but there comes a point where it's not the words you're saying, but it's you. People want to see you.

The old school of comedy was to just stand up and talk a bunch, but now it's more story based, more experience-based. People need to know what makes you different, what makes you stand out.

How would you describe yourself as a comic?

Tim:    It's like a rock and roll comedy show. It's very physical. I try to become the joke, not just tell them. If I'm carrying a chicken, I act like I'm carrying a chicken. If I'm doing a bit about riding a motorcycle, I get on a stool and act like I'm riding a motorcycle. If I'm drinking sour milk, I'll give the same faces I would when drinking sour milk. I become the joke and act it out, I don't just talk about it.

©2009 ChristianCinema.com

All photos from Tim Hawkins' website: www.timhawkins.net