Lord Carrett’s comedy is like an
iceberg. There’s a lot that doesn't immediately meet the
eye, both in the jokes themselves, and the way he puts them together.
Lord says: “People don't realize how
much they really learn about me from the jokes. Ninety
percent of my subject matter is the truth: my dad did
own a bar, my sister is super religious, and my second
wife did tell me "I want my life back"
90 days after I moved cross country to start our life together.
Most of my comedy comes from my trying
to make sense of nonsense, or vice versa."
He's a ‘recovery artist." Lord
elaborates: "There are a whole lot of jokes that don’t
have a set place in my act… they ‘float’—they're
insults to the audience, or jokes
about my own discomfort, or the situation I find myself in, and
I fall back on them when a joke doesn’t get a response.”
The result is a little like watching a high-wire act nearly
fall, and it holds the audience's rapt attention--it’s one
reason people come to see him again and again. “It creates
tension when a joke fails, and I use that tension to springboard
onto an even bigger laugh with the ‘recovery’ line.
It frees me up to work on new material, and to improvise, during
every set.
"My detractors say I should lose the
jokes that don't work... but no one can predict
when a joke is going to fall flat. If a waitress drops
a tray of drinks, or someone heckles, the best joke is
going to fail. I prefer to have a 'Plan B' and audiences like
the cat-and-mouse quality, because they never get the
same show twice.”
One of Lord’s biggest influences, Johnny Carson, was famous
for the same ability. Lord maintains: “Anyone my age that
says they weren't influenced by Carson is lying.”
His other influences include radio comedians Groucho Marx, and
W.C. Fields, which seems fitting, because radio is where most
people know Carrett from.
Lord’s managed the rare feat of headlining theaters without
a sitcom or major television exposure. While he's appeared on
television ranging from Showtime to"A Dating Story,"
radio is where he's made his reputation. His ability
to work within that medium's verbal confines without sacrificing
any of the impact led The Baltimore Sun to describe him as: "A
cross between Sid Caesar and Sid Vicious."
He's made eighteen appearances on the nationally syndicated BOB
& TOM RADIO NETWORK--reaching more people with each appearance
than he would on The Tonight Show. His CD "UNSWEETENED"
is in heavy rotation on both XM and SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO's comedy
stations. He also had his own comedy special on XM. All the exposure
led to his first CD: UNSWEETENED
being re-released on the KOOL KAT imprint and receiving international
distribution. (Ask for it at a major retailer near you!)
The idea behind "UNSWEETENED" is as unique as Lord himself.
It was recorded in one show, one take with no editing or laugh
track added. It's the only comedy CD with "the heckling left
in and a woman thrown out!" Lord explains the concept (from
the liner notes:) "Why UNSWEETENED? I figure any idiot can
record a couple of week’s worth of shows and edit them into
a killer comedy CD, but it takes a special kind of idiot to record
and release a single show intact. This is one show, one take,
exactly as it went down, with the mindless heckling left in (and
a woman tossed out!)"
The unsweetened approach drives home his knack for consistently
coming off a joke that's fallen flat with one that's worthy of
applause, which gives his act an interesting punch/counter-punch
rhythm. The Sacramento Bee's Jim Carnes said: "His 'Unsweetened'
CD was recorded live, in one take of one show, without any editing
or laugh-track manipulations, and it shows why he's so good at
what he does. A joke that doesn't work merely becomes a set up
for one that does."
Lord’s reaching an estimated ten million people with each
of his appearances on "Bob & Tom" and gets as many
as 10,000 hits to his website from each spot. He got another nationwide
boost when XM Satellite Radio (with over two million subscribers)
gave him his own hour-long special/interview.
XM regularly
plays cuts from "UNSWEETENED," and led to Lord being
quoted in The
Wall Street Journal in an article about XM Satellite Radio's
Comedy Channels, and featured alongside Brian Regan in another
in The Journal entitled Comedy
Comes Clean. SIRIUS Satellite
Radio requested recordings of Lord in action, and he provided
them with exclusive clips recorded at two shows at Gary Field's
Comedy Club, a previously promo-only CD called "Lord Battles
Battle Creek". Lord has also been on The Craig Shoemaker
Show, The Tom Leykis Show, The Joey Reynolds Show (4x), First
Wives World, and Court TV Morning (on SIRIUS).
Like his heroes, the "radio comedians" of the 30's,
Carrett comes across effectively in that medium because he simply
writes good jokes. Most of which can be done on morning radio—jokes
that are frequently shocking, but rarely vulgar. Like Groucho
Marx, W.C. Fields and Jack Benny, Lord has a strong visual image,
but his jokes can stand on their own when stripped of it.
He’s a master of misdirection whose punch lines land with
the unexpected, thud of a sucker-punch. Frequently shocking, but
rarely vulgar, Carrett somehow manages to distract your attention
from exactly what he's saying by combining tons of stage presence,
a killer smile, and a slick "who...me?" likeability.
He combines a traditional joke-based approach with "rock-star
swagger" which has frequently landed him in the company of
music acts--he's appeared in concert with acts as diverse as Weird
Al Yankovich (on two tours) Taylor Dayne, Bigger Than Elvis, Billy
Preston, Rita Rudner, Bobcat Goldthwait, Emo Philips, Deke Dickerson
and Los Straitjackets. He was co-founder of the Sick,
Sick, Sick, but Funny, Funny, Funny Comedy
Tour, and has appeared in concert with top comics, including Jake
Johannsen, Bobby
Slayton and Patton
Oswalt.
Growing up in his dad's bar, Lord was equally enthralled with
comedy and music. He was always fighting sleep to either stay
up to watch the bands, or to see the comics on The Tonight Show.
While a generation of musicians saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan,
and immediately went out and bought guitars, Lord's "Beatle
moment" came while watching HOLLYWOOD SQUARES. They asked
gravel-voiced Jan Murray what the penalty for bigamy was. He said:
"TWO Mother-in-laws," and a comic was born. Lord says:
"I remember thinking at nine years old that it was a perfect
joke--one that would still be funny a hundred years from now--one
you could translate it into Japanese, and it would still get a
laugh. I started writing my own jokes the next day, with an eye
toward making them just as universal!"
Lord must have met that challenge, as January of 2006 saw him
wrapping a successful six-week tour across The Netherlands as
well as headlining clubs in Amsterdam, England, Paris and Milan!
Lord's quick to point out that they were club and theater shows--not
U.S.O. shows. As he jokes: "Anyone who's willing to get
shot at can get booked on U.S.O. shows!" He's on his
second tour of Europe right now.
In February, Lord headlined a show at (legendary punk club) CBGB's
Gallery that included Air America writer Bruce Cherry, Shaffer
The Dark Lord (a white rapper), bombshell burlesque artist Nasty
Canasta, and peerless pop band, The Cucumbers. Two months later
Lord and the producer of that show got married at that very
same venue in a ceremony that was covered in The New York
Post Unfortunately, the doomed punk club lasted longer than their
marriage... by November, he was wifelessly wowing crowds in Montreal
with jokes like: "I learned a LOT from my second marriage.
I learned they won't sell you a hand gun if you're crying."
Lord's fortunes turned in 2007, when he
was chosen to be part of the prestigious New
York Underground Comedy Festival, starting it off with
a headline set in Tompkins Park.
Check out Lord's interview in SHECKY MAGAZINE:
sheckymagazine.com,
Underground TV ugtv.org,
The Cincinnati Enquirer CinciEnquirer
a nice feature article Rapid
Fire Comedy, and The
Wall Street Journal
Lord's hard at work on his second comedy
CD. A departure from "UNSWEETENED," it will contain
portions of sets from around the globe, and will focus on his
(always original) audience work--material every audience
doesn't get to experience. The working
title is "Frankenstein's Monster," a reference to the
technique of sewing together comedy CDs from lots of shows (from
the liner notes of his first CD). "Frankenstein's Monster"
will contain cuts from (the promo only) "Lord Battles Battle
Creek" as well as cuts from his first attempts to get "UNSWEETENED"
in the can, recent shows, radio show appearances, and concerts
across Europe.
Writing Credits:
Guest Blogger for PUNCH LINE Magazine
(2007)
Co-wrote CD ROM Game "Code Head"
Co-wrote CD ROM Game "Austin Powers: Operation Trivia"
Produced the short film "The Bobby Bitter Story" (2000)
Co-wrote and produced the short film "Bachelor Cooking" (1999)
SCL Productions "Videotomy Volume I (home video)
Night Moves (Rock and Roll) Magazine (articles)
Just for Laughs Comedy Newspaper (cartoons)
Campus Circle Magazine (record reviews)
HA! Humor Magazine (cartoons/articles)
Greenway Blues (TV Pilot) 2004
Directed Bigger Than Elvis' "Hot Rod
Concerto" Music Video
2004
Radio Appearances:
Regular guest (18x) on The Bob & Tom
Radio Network (on their "best of" CD BACK IN '98)
"Lord Carrett: New Comic On the Block" Comedy Special
on XM Satellite Radio.
In heavy rotation on XM Satellite Radio's
Comedy Channels
Comedy clips playing on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Comedy Channels.
SIRIUS' Court TV Morning with Vinnie Politan,
Manhattan NY
The Tom Leykis Show (syndicated) Los Angeles CA
The Joey Reynolds Show (syndicated) Manhattan
NY (4x)
First Wives World, Manhattan NY
On The Line with David Stein, on SIRIUS Satellite Radio
The Craig Shoemaker Show (syndicated)
The Bob Rivers Show, Seatlle WA
The Big Dumb Show, Indy IN (8x)
Lannigan and Malone, Cleveland OH (2x)
The Maxwell Show, Cleveland OH (3x)
The Kirk and Mark Show, Baltimore MD
Recovery Radio, Bakersfield CA
Interviewed on All Comedy Radio's "Comedy
Isle".
AOL's "Comedy On Demand"
(internet)
ComedyNet.com Interview and Live Footage
(internet)
ComedyNet.com
Clips, interview and road story (internet)
Has Headlined The Following Clubs/Venues:
(a partial list)
The Green Room, San
Francisco CA (3x)
Just For Laughs in The Sands Hotel, Reno NV
Hilarities Comedy Theatre, Cleveland OH (5x)
The Comedy Nest, Montreal
Canada
The Comedy Cafe, Washington D.C.
Slapstix, Baltimore MD (10x), Kansas City MO (3x), Wichita KS
(3x)
Bananas, Hasbrouke Hts
NJ
Laugh Lines, Madison WI (2x)
La Java, Paris France
The NorShor Theater, Duluth MN
The Punch Line, Greenville NC (3x)
Charlie Goodnight's, Raleigh NC (4x)
Another Goodnight's, Raleigh NC
Rooster T. Feather's, Sunnyvale CA (4x)
The Carson Valley Casino (5x)
Crackers, Indianapolis IN (4x)
One Liners, Indianapolis IN (11x)
The Orpheum Stage Door Theater, Madison WI
Penguins Comedy Club, Cedar Rapids and Bettendorf IA
The Funny Bone, Columbus OH
The Funny Bone, Pittsburgh PA
The Funny Bone, Davenport, St. Louis, Sioux Falls, Covington,
South Bend, Indy, Boise (3x)
Acme Comedy Co. Minneapolis MN (5x)
The Joke Joint, Minneapolis
MN (2x)
Jokeboy's, Ocala FL
Downstairs At The King's Head, London
England
The Gold Coast Casino, Oroville CA (2x)
La Salles, Chico CA (2x)
Chaplin's Detroit MI (3x)
Connxtions, Toledo OH (3x)
Connxtions, Lansing MI (4x)
Dr. Grin's, Grand Rapids, MI (5x)
The Comedy Den, Grand Rapids MI (2x)
Laughs Unlimited, Old Sacramento CA (6x)
The Scimmie, Milan Italy
The Bear's Lair, UC Berkeley Campus (2x)
The Comedy Underground - Seattle & Tacoma WA
The Comedy Spot - Seattle
WA
The Comic Strip - El Paso TX (3x)
Stitches/Tootsies Comedy Club, Fallston MD (2x)
Joey's Comedy Club, Livonia MI
Wiseguys, Novi MI
The Ann Arbor Comedy Club,
MI
The Comedy Club on State Street, Madison WI
The Madison Theater, Covington KY
The Comedy Caravan, Louisville KY
The Ventura County Comedy Club, Ventura CA (3x)
Laff's, Lakeport CA (3x)
The Bassa Vita, Lakewood OH (4x)
The Comedy District, Culver City CA
Flip's Comedy Club, Avalon CA (4x)
The Thoroughgood Inn, VA Bch (8x)
Giggles, Seattle WA (2x)
The 4th & B Theatre, San Diego, CA (3x)
The Carlsbad Village Theater (2x)
8th Street Comedy Club, Odessa TX
Comedy Texas, Beaumont TX (3x)
Comedy Tenessee, Memphis
TN
Branson Music Mall Theater, Branson MO (2x)
Bonbonniere Theater, Maastricht, The Netherlands
The Comedy Cafe, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Wiley's Comedy Club, Dayton OH (6x)
Bear's Place, Bloomington IN (4x)
The Fat Cat, Modesto CA (2x)
Doc Rickett's, Monterey CA (2x)
The Amused Moose, London England
Mason City Limits, Mason City IL
Comedy Off Broadway, Lexington KY
The Canyon Club, Agoura Hills CA
The Comedy Zone, Jacksonville FL
The Comedy Zone, Tallahassee FL
Comedy Zones in TN, KY, NC, WV, FL, PA, OH.
Corporate Shows Include:
Toyo Tires
Hewlett Packard
AT&T
Asplundh
BMW of Riverside
and many, many more!
He's also graced the stages of many of LA's finest clubs including:
The Improv, The Laugh Factory, Luna Park, Hallenbeck's General
Store, Lulu's Beehive, The Cat Club, The Ha Ha Cafe, Comedy Schmomedy,
The Comedy District, Kulak's Woodshed, The Galaxy Theatre, M-Bar,
Beyond Borders, Comedy Death-Ray, The Steve Allen Theater, and
Sardo's (R.I.P.).
In New York City, he's appeared at CBGB's, The Comic Strip, Stand-Up
NY, Dangerfield's, Gothan Comedy Club (in the Master Stand-Up
Series), HA! Comedy Club, The Broadway Comedy Club, Invite Them
Up, Carolines and Brooklyn's Pete's Candy Store and The Lucky
Cat. He was also featured in '07's New York Underground Comedy
Festival.
In London, he's appeared at The Amused Moose with Noel Fielding
(of The Mighty Boosh!) & Ed Byrne.
Performances For Charitable Organizations:
Lord has helped raise money for the restoration of several historic
theaters and has worked with Bread and Roses (SF-based organization
that brings entertainment to hospitals and institutions) and done
fundraisers for The United Way, The American Cancer Society, Junior
Achievement-type appearances (speaking in grade schools) and many
others. He's in demand to perform at 12 Step Conventions and performed
at The 2000 Pamona N.A. Convention and 2004's Winterfest in Redding.
College Appearances Include:
Stanford University, Palo Alto CA
Cal State University, Stanislaus CA (2x)
St. Mary's, Moraga CA (2x)
Tulane University, New Orleans LA
Montana Tech, Missoula MT
University of Idaho, Moscow ID
University of Kentucky, Lexington KY (2x)
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA (2x)
Washington College, Chestertown MD
Georgia Tech-Atlanta, GA
Indiana Universtiy,
Bloomington IN
West Virginia University, Morgantown WV
(3x)
Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster
PA
Representation:
International, Colleges, Corporate,
Clubs:
Dana Gibson
310-663-6768
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