Q&A: Chatting Comedy with Tom Segura | Arts & Culture

Navigating comedy in the age of social media and keeping an audience engaged are things comedian and podcast host Tom Segura gets his practice in for. Segura spoke to The Red & Black as he gears up for his current tour, “Come Together,” which will come to Akins Ford Arena on Thursday, Jan. 30.

The Red & Black: What inspired you to get into comedy, and who were your early influences?

Tom Segura: I was a big fan of stand-up. I liked laughing, obviously, like making people laugh. I thought I was into comedy acting more, but I kind of fell into stand-up. There were a lot of early influences, you know, [Bill] Cosby, Eddie Murphy, [George] Carlin, Bob Newhart. As you age, you start to consume more of it, you know, it went into Robin Harris. As I started doing it, David Attell, [Dave] Chappelle and Louis C.K..

R&B: Do you have a favorite bit or a favorite joke that you have written over the years, and if so, why is it so special to you?

TS: I wouldn’t say I have one. Usually, when you look back on your different hours, you have a few things that stand out from each hour. They can be your favorites for different reasons. I think oftentimes the ones that are ones that you look back favorably on, for me, at least, are ones where I go, I took that from life, I had an interaction, or I experienced something, and I just took that to the stage and talked about it and built it into a strong bit.

R&B: What is your perspective on how comedy has changed in the age of social media, if you think it has changed at all?

TS: I mean, comedy is broader and more consumed in different mediums than ever before; we’ve never seen anything like this. So anybody can grab a phone and upload any type of video, and it’s good in that the truly talented will stand out, you’ll notice them. And then you’re also bombarded with just, obviously, so many awful things, but that’s just kind of the nature of it, like you have to deal with the bad to get the good. With stand-up, we’ve never had a more popular era for stand-up. We’re literally in an unprecedented golden age, and it’s for sure because of accessibility and the internet and some of that is social media too. But you kind of have to remind people that there’s nothing wrong with being great at it on social media, but you’re not in the same category as people who get on stage. If you want to get on stage, you’ve got to do it.

R&B: How do you navigate feedback or criticism, especially with how personal comedy can be?

TS: The thing that most comedians probably listen to the most when it comes to feedback or criticism is usually if it’s from another comedian. You’ll never please everybody. There’s this thing you learn about doing stand-up, there’s the idea that you’re going to make everybody happy, or make everybody laugh. It’s not real, it doesn’t matter who you talk about. There’s no comedian, no matter their level, that everybody goes, “Yes, I agree that person is the best.” The audience also dictates without telling you with words, you kind of know when something is working or not.

R&B: Has podcasting shifted the way you approach comedy and storytelling while on stage?

TS: Podcasting kind of works a little bit almost like minor leagues for your stand-up material, because you’re just kind of chatting, and then all of a sudden, you realize that there’s something there for the stage. You’re not conscious of it a lot of times, it just kind of happens and then you give yourself a little note, like, oh, that thing that we talked about in the podcast — I think that’s a bit, I think I could actually make that work.

R&B: You have over two million followers on TikTok, the future of which is extremely uncertain right now. If TikTok does get banned, what does that mean for you and other comedians with strong social media followings?

TS: I would not be concerned. I know that everybody always does when they have their favorite platforms and the reality is that if that were to not exist tomorrow, other platforms would pop up, the ones that already exist would see an uptick in their growth. There’ll always be someone, so somebody will come and fill a void if any of these places go away, and honestly, I wish they would all go away. I hate it.

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.