Chris Munch, a local comedian with a nationwide following, spoke with LeAnne Taylor on News On 6 about his career and his upcoming show at the Loony Bin Comedy Club.
LeAnne: That’s funny, because apparently our paths crossed.
Chris: You came to my high school when you were 19. It was a career day and you were doing a journalism thing, and I was there, totally stoked and excited to see you.
LeAnne: And he obviously didn’t choose journalism.
Chris: No, you were very honest. Yes, that day I realized that journalism is not for me.
LeAnne: I basically said, “Do you want to make a living or do you want to have fun?” Well, it sounds like you’re having a lot of fun.
Chris: I’m having a blast. It’s incredible. I can’t believe I get to do what I get to do today.
LeAnne: So you graduated from Owasso High School and then worked at a church doing a lot of creative things. When did you say, “Hey, I think I want to work in social media and do stand-up comedy”?
Chris: So, things changed in my job, I couldn’t be as creative as I had before. I just felt like it was time for me to get out. I always dreamed of being on Saturday Night Live and being a professional performer. For me, social media was kind of a way to be my own Saturday Night Live, like, ‘Hey, I can play whatever characters I want and be as crazy and silly as I want.’ So I got out, started doing that, and realized that people relate to what I do. It’s so cool.
LeAnne: You have a whole cast of characters. There’s Pastor Bobby, and there’s Steven Stevens. And where do you get your inspiration from?
Chris: Honestly, it’s everywhere. I’ve always been fascinated by people. I love watching how people do things or why they do things. I just find that so fascinating. And I think a lot of inspiration just comes from everyday life and kind of exaggerating certain things. I’ve always found it really funny, people, myself included, who lack confidence. Just that obvious confidence, even when you think maybe you shouldn’t have that much confidence. I’ve always found that really funny. And you know, in the movie Dumb and Dumber, there’s a lot of that kind of stuff. So that was a big inspiration for me when I was younger and you see a lot of it in my humor.
LeAnne: I love it. And the Olympics allow you to present current events in real time. That’s the great thing about it: you can let your creativity run wild.
Chris: That’s exactly right. Yes, I always look at the current events that are happening so I can place Steven in that world. How would Steven react to the idea of being inspired by the Olympics? And that he thinks he has what it takes to be in the Olympics, but he clearly doesn’t. I’ve always found that kind of stuff funny.
LeAnne: Yeah, what kind of answer? I know because of social media. I mean, you get an answer right away.
Chris: Yeah, you do, and not always the reaction you want. So there were a lot of comments. You just have to say, “OK, but there are a lot of great comments too.” So it’s been really special to connect with people. I do personalized greetings and stuff for people all over the world. You know, it’s just mind-blowing. I do messages for people in Scotland or Australia or wherever, and that’s been really special. But yeah, also the reaction when you put yourself out there, it’s kind of scary, just doing what you think is funny, but finding people that resonate with that, and it’s just been really cool.
LeAnne: You’ve also been seen in some commercials. Yes, you’ve been doing that for some time.
Chris: I’ve been doing commercials for a while now. I have a lot of friends who work in production and stuff like that, and yeah, like the one with Braums, if you saw that one, that was really fun. I could basically eat ice cream all day.
LeAnne: It’s a really hard job. Getting paid for it. It’s great. You have a special stand-up comedy routine. Tell us about it.
Chris: Yes, it’s coming to the Loony Bin on September 24th, there will be a little bit of stand-up, but I’ll also be bringing the characters. I love live performance; honestly, it’s my favorite. So the opportunity to interact with an audience is really, really fun. So, yeah, come along, come on over and see us.
You can purchase tickets here.
