140 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco has seen a lot of famous faces: Barbra Streisand, Lenny Bruce, The Mamas and The Papas, Richard Pryor and Jonathan Winters. Poet Maya Angelou debuted there, singing and dancing. The Smothers Brothers got their start there as did Phyllis Diller and The Kingston Trio. These were the legends of the ’50s and ’60s that made the Purple Onion’s cellar stage, the gold card for comedy gigs.
With its current day lineup of comics such as: Zach Galifianakis (currently starring in the movie, “Hangover”), Todd Barry, topping off Entertainment Weekly’s “It List” for Standup in 2003, and Pacifican Kelly McCarron, 2007 Battle of the Bay Finalist – it’s no wonder Caffé Macaroni’s Purple Onion was voted the “Best Back-from-the-Dead Nightclub 2005” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay. Tonight Kelly McCarron returns to the infamous Onion stage.
Standup comedian, actor and writer McCarron (www.kellymccarron.com), who has lived in Pacifica since she was 4, with a few outside stretches, had her early school years at Oddstad and Ortega. She said it wasn’t till she took drama at Terra Nova that a life of comedy became a personal goal.
“I never thought I was funny,” said the 2009, Rooster T. Feathers’ Amateur Competition Semi-Finalist. “I was never the main person, or the life of the party. I was just around, your regular student.”
“I always loved comedy — watching it, movies and TV, but it never occurred to me that it would be something to do,” McCarron continued, “Something to create.”
Junior year at Terra Nova, McCarron was assigned to write a monologue for her drama class. She wrote a comedic monologue, with characters. “I didn’t think anyone else would get what I wrote except me and my friends,” said McCarron laughing. “But they did! And it’s been an addiction since.”
Kelly’s drama teacher invited her to ‘perform’ her monologue for all the other classes. Two and 1/2 years later, she did her first open mic at the San Francisco Comedy College and she definitely liked it.
“All the experts say you should expect to bomb your first time,” said McCarron. “You don’t know what you’re doing. It’s like painting for the first time — it’s not going to be a masterpiece. This time, I talked about me and didn’t hide behind characters. I did 3 minutes and I got laughs and there it was again, instant addiction.”
The comic said she went to San Francisco State right out of high school, but it wasn’t for her. She would skip class to write in the cafeteria, which she noted, didn’t bode well for her grades. So she signed up for a college program that was a six month internship in Disneyworld. “My job was to work with the characters,” said McCarron. “I was pretty much a glorified bouncer.”
Back in California, Kelly decided not to go back to school. “I wasn’t that interested and I didn’t want to take out all those loans for something I didn’t like,” said McCarron. “I got some books about comedy writing and they all said, stand-up was the way to start. I remembered seeing the Comedy College online so I signed up for it. The course made it feel right.”
McCarron said she’s never had stage fright and she is more excited than nervous each time she stands beneath the house lights. Along with previously listed credits, McCarron’s comedy showcases include: The Audacity of Youth, The Ladies Room, Naked Comedy, Scantily Clad Comedy, Speech Therapy, The Un-Lady Like Show (which she wrote and produced) and Young Guns of Comedy. She’s toured nationally with The 5 Funny Females Tour. She’s played at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC, the Underground in Seattle, the San Jose Improv and San Francisco’s Club Deluxe, the Clubhouse and the Punchline. On July 17 and 18, she did “Live At The Purple Onion.”
McCarron said she has been lucky to meet so many comic greats, some of whom are on her beloved SNL such as Bobby Moynihan and Casey Wilson. She also met Eddie Brill, Talent Coordinator for Comedians for Late Night with David Letterman and Brill told her, he was a fan.
Does she have a favorite gig to date? “Yeah,” laughed the comedienne, “The ones that go well! But more specifically, I did a show in Sonoma and there were 300 people, and I got paid for it and that’s always good! It was a benefit and people were drinking and talking and I was the first one up. And when I got up they all stopped and listened. When I told my first joke, it was overwhelming. You could feel it.”
McCarron said when she first started out she talked about things that made her laugh like pop culture. “What I have been doing lately is finding universal things. I talk about my weight, for instance. I’m not a really big person, but I’m not a small one either. I didn’t want to talk about it, but I was real about it and people respond to honesty. Everyone relates to body image. My childhood however is tragically normal, no divorce, no abuse — still, I am trying to find the oddities!”
What does her family think about her career? “My parents are very supportive,” said the comic. “They used to go to comedy clubs all the time when they were dating. When they saw me the first time they said, ‘Thank God you’re good at this!’ They would have supported me no matter what, but that makes it easier.”
Comedy goals? “Short term, I would like to have a week at the Punch Line. The ultimate goal would be Saturday Night Live. I will totally be a standup forever. I will do movies, write and do television. I want to support myself doing this!”
“I just love going up there and talking and having people respond, laughing when I went them to,” said McCarron. “Afterwards, some people in the audience will go out of their way to tell me they enjoyed it. I love that!”
With the start date of July 1, 84 comedians will compete over 10 weeks at the Purple Onion. The championship round will be held on Sept. 2 and one winner will be crowned the SFstandup.com Bay Area Laugh Leader (B.A.L.L.). Scoring will be based on a combination of votes from judges and audience members.
“I’m on tonight,” said Pacifica’s own Kelly McCarron, “And I want your vote!”
If you go:
Where: Bay Area Laugh Leader Competition at San Francisco’s Purple Onion, 140 Columbus Avenue near intersection of Columbus and Kearny
When: Wednesday, July 22 at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10 — can be purchased through www.brownpapertickets.com/event/70819
Contact: call (415) 520-6682. Additional info at www.sfstandup.com/ball/
