Dave Odd is, well, an oddity on the local comedy scene.
If you utter his name, you’ll get just as many grimaces as chuckles. Maybe more grimaces than chuckles.
“I’m not sure where this intense hatred comes from,” Odd says. “I guess my detractors just have a much louder voice than the people out there who actually back me up.”
Which is why it will be interesting to see which faction has the biggest impact as Odd attempts to get his fledgling Edge Comedy Club, the city’s latest venue for stand-up, off the ground this month. Located in the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts complex, 777 N. Green St., this cabaret-style room is being touted by Odd as the place to see the best up-and-coming local comedians. The ones who are far from ready to command the mic at the Improv or Zanies.
This is a touchy subject for Odd. It’s a subject that always seems to get him into trouble, giving his detractors plenty of ammunition.
You see, Odd, 30, often attacks the local comedy community as elitist, a clique of a few names that get all the stage time. Odd, who has performed stand-up himself for almost 10 years, believes that because of this clique, the rest of the city’s funny men and women have a difficult time honing their skills. Odd’s club is a byproduct of his Edge Comedy Shows, which over the past few years offered young comedians a chance to get onstage at different venues all over town.
“The reason I even started doing shows was to break up what I saw as an injustice on the local scene,” Odd says, his voice getting increasingly animated. “Every comedian that has ever started a room of their own, they do it for two reasons — one, to get more stage time for themselves and two, to combat that ‘cool kid, jock table’ vibe I was getting at all these places.”
This kind of talk just tickles people like Bert Haas, who runs Zanies. He’s been hearing Odd gripe about this so-called clique for years.
“It really cracks me up because the only people that ever distinguish a comedy scene as elitist are the people who aren’t a part of it,” Haas says. “Stand-up comedy is very simple. If you can make the audience laugh for the right amount of time, you have a job. And if a comedian doesn’t work for Zanies — or any other club, for that matter — they don’t have to. There are plenty of other places to go.”
T.J. Miller is an Odd backer and detractor rolled into one (“I’m the comedian Dave Odd made,” he says with a sarcastic chuckle). Miller, who just landed a role in the ABC sitcom “Carpoolers,” says Odd was one of the first people to give him a shot in town. But he’s also quick to point out that Odd is his own worst enemy.
“Love him or hate him, he is a fixture of the Chicago comedy scene,” Miller says. “He feels that he’s always been shunned by the Chicago comedy community. But it’s not a clique. Good people like to work with good people who are easy to work with. For some people, Dave Odd is funny but too hard to work with. But you have to give him credit — he does give new comics a chance and he’s always looking for new talent.”
And whether you love him or hate him, Odd thinks that’s all that should matter.
“If somebody is funny, why not put them onstage?” he asks, his voice becoming animated again. “Why make them jump through hoops? I’m trying to combat that back-stabbing, high school [stuff]. I’m trying to develop a legitimate venue for stand-up in Chicago. I am not trying to compete with Zanies. I am not trying to compete with the Improv. I’m not trying to compete with anybody. I’m just trying to offer something completely different.”
———-
tarmour@tribune.com
