Interview: Altercation Punk Comedy Festival Organizer JT Habersaat

How do you define “Punk Comedy”? Is it just comedians on display at this festival or do some punk bands perform as well?

A lot of people ask about what I'm getting at with the 'punk comedy' tag, but to me it has always been about attitude and the DIY lifestyle more than anything else. I could certainly make more money by performing in comedy clubs, but I'd rather make less and not have any 'guidelines' in place as far as what subjects are off limits, etc. Some of my material does tend to reference the punk music scene, simply because that is where I come from and I think there is a lot of humor to be found there, but an audience with zero knowledge of Minor Threat can still enjoy the show, you know? I never want to be exclusionary with it. No bands at the Festival, although the tour performs with bands quite a bit. We'll be doing The Fest 8 in Florida this October, and I will be returning to Fun Fun Fun Fest in November as well, both with some big bands.

You opened for Henry Rollins on July 4th in Austin -- how did you get involved with that gig?

I was traveling along with the Vans Warped Tour for the third year in a row, and it was a party for the tour, and I got the nod.

Hank's spoken word stuff was hugely influential on me early on, and he rarely has other spoken performers open for him, so it was a huge honor. I'm a giant Black Flag nut and try to run my tours accordingly, so it was definitely a big deal for me. I've interviewed him a few times before for my punk zine Altercation, but having him watch and enjoy my set was something totally on another level. So yeah, that was pretty great.

[JT Habersaat MySpace]
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