Austinist Comedy: The Rob Nash
One of Austin's best-known solo performers is
How long have you been doing solo shows?
Twenty years standup, fifteen years solo shows, ten years of teaching people how to do both.
Where did you get the inspiration to write this sequel (College Freshman Year Sucks!)?
It's the next in a series of shows called The Holy Cross Sucks! Quadrilogy. This will be the seventh in a four part series. Its forerunner--Holy Cross Sucks--combined Freshman Year Sucks!, Sophomore Slump, Junior Blues and Seniorits. Those featured our heroes Ben the homo, George the fat kid and Johnny the punk through their Catholic high school years: 1981-85 in Houston, Texas. College Freshman Year Sucks! follows our heroes through their first year at UT Austin.
Your shows have been described as “ensemble theater performed solo.” How do you keep all the characters distinct in your head and performance?
I lock the body and the voice together so when I hit the pose, the proper voice comes out. If I do a voice, their body comes to being, too. Also, practice.
Do you find yourself changing the show over time? How has Holy Cross changed since you performed it initially?
Well, Holy Cross Sucks combined four shows, so it had to be cut from 5 1/2 hours to 83 minutes. College Freshman Year Sucks is significantly shorter and will contain some Holy Cross Sucks scenes to get you up to date for their college years.
In addition to your solo shows, you’ve been performing stand-up for sixteen years as well as other comedy-related projects in town. How does stand-up inform your solo work? Do you find them to be interchangeable or distinctly different from one another?
Some jokey jokes make their way across the lines of standup and my comedy plays, but they remain quite distinct otherwise.
Who is your favorite monologist or solo performer?
Lily Tomlin. She is the mother of the kind of work I do. I adore her! She saw Senioritis, and I shit!
How would you describe your sense of humor?
Dark. Funny. Tragicomedy. College Freshman Year Sucks! is hysterical, but definitely the darkest I've ever written.
Steve Martin or Bill Hicks?
Steve. No, Bill. No Steve. Beve, Still. Can you repeat the question?
The Carol Burnett Show or Mama’s Family?
Mama's Family is a fat bag of shit.
Complete this sentence: prop comedy is __________.
Carrot Top has great pot. And when he's Scott -- not Carrot Top -- he's way hot!
What is really interesting to you right now that's not related to comedy or performance?
My seven nephews and nieces, whom I love to pieces.
Got any favorite random "overhear"?
What?
Rob Nash Presents: College Freshman Year Sucks!
Thursday - Saturday, 8pm
Through June 16th
The Vortex Theater [map]
$10 - 30 (Pick your price)
