“Comedy is not as easy as it appears!”
Take it from comedian Taylor Dunn, whose day job is in the Navy. He expresses that people are surprised that stand-up comedy is not like being funny in front of your friends. “It’s a whole different scenario on a stage in front of strangers,” he reflects.
Dunn started Crown City Comedy and has brought outstanding comedy shows to Coronado at Emerald C Gallery since October 2021. Mark Christopher Lawrence, who many will recognize from his appearances in The Pursuit of Happiness, and Terminator 2, Judgement Day, will be headlining the next show on Friday, April 22, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20, for guests 18 years and older, and are limited, so act fast. Other top notch performers include Kimbles Hume, Sue Baker Shirey, Taylor Dunn, Walter Ford, with Kristel Dela Rosa hosting.
Growing up in a conservative family, Dunn wasn’t popular until high school, when he discovered he could make friends by being funny. Two of his major influences were Jim Carrey in The Mask and Ace Ventura and also funnyman Adam Sandler. Initially gravitating towards acting, he signed up for a high school theater class and instead discovered a knack for writing. One of the first scenes he wrote won a state competition. After high school graduation, he started down the path to becoming a comedian, and quickly performed a stand-up comedy routine in Birmingham, Alabama, where he won his first competition. “I thought it was easy, but I was naïve as to how the system worked,” he remembers. After a couple of years of performing monthly shows and working as a radio DJ, he joined the Navy to better support his family.
His first command was in Gulfport, Mississippi and then he requested to be stationed in San Diego, partly for the booming comedy scene. He even organized an open mic night, while on deployment in Guam. Arriving here in September 2019, along with his navy duties, his comedy gigs were going well, until COVID hit and shut everything down in March 2020. When he saw independent producers setting up shows in backyards and outdoor venues, he decided to produce his own show. He started a workshop class with three students, who met for six weeks, and he found he enjoyed walking them through the basics of stand-up comedy watching them progress as they learned their craft. Emerald C Gallery was the perfect venue for the graduation show, where the students opened the show, and then he and other local talent performed. A day before the event, only 20 tickets had been sold, and gallery owner Penny Rothschild asked him if he wanted to cancel the show, but he felt the show had to go on. Much to his surprise the next day, people were lined up and the show sold out. “The audience laughed throughout the show, and all the comedians loved the intimate space, with good acoustics,” he comments.
He has found the sweet spot of producing one show per month at Emerald C Gallery, with current shows adult-focused, but he is considering a family friendly show in the future. In fact, it’s a family affair, with his wife and daughter attending every show. Six-year-old Lily sits in the back of the room playing her Nintendo Switch, wearing gun range certified hearing protection while others are on stage, and then she closes out the show with a kid-friendly joke.
Guests can bring their own alcoholic or other beverages or pick up to-go drinks from The Brigantine or McP’s for the show. As producer and host of Crown City Comedy, Dunn typically does a four to five minute warm up set, then has several opening acts, with 30 minutes for the headliner. He’s not strict about time limits. “If the comedian is on a roll, I won’t snatch them off stage,” he says. Observational is how he classifies his type of comedy, where he talks about growing up and his life experiences. That way he doesn’t have to worry about duplicating material with other comics, who often highlight popular themes. Sometimes he throws in a military experience or two, all positive, all funny. He stays away from politics because it causes too much angst. His goal is for everyone to have an amazing time.
“It’s vital for comedians to practice and perfect their performing techniques to make the show a great one, rather than just a good one,” he emphasizes. He stresses that simple things matter, like how close you hold the microphone, facial expressions, movements, wordsmithing, and so many other subtleties, that all make a difference.
“Comedians shouldn’t just recite a memorized or scripted monologue. It’s important to focus on your relationship with the audience and go with the flow, based on their reactions,” he explains. Dunn is also producer and host of Laugh Factory’s “Got Your Six.”
Dunn shares that the comedy scene in Los Angeles is super competitive, and he feels that San Diego is phenomenal and more relaxed, with more opportunities and time for comedians on stage. He loves that Coronado has been so receptive, and with great comedy so close to home, it’s easy to check it out. “I want to produce shows that brighten people’s lives,” he says. He likes how comedy can be an escape for people from their everyday lives.
For details and tickets, check out Crown City Comedy on Facebook and Instagram. Personally, I can’t wait to experience the upcoming show on April 22.
