Henry Welch
Do You...
Comedian Henry Welch took the stage at the Kansas City Improv April 17, 2007. Now hailing from Atlanta, GA, Welch had to follow 6 local comedians and win over the fatigued crowd. He did so with deft wit and by punctuating his jokes with unique phrases, such as, “Y’all ain’t ready for me!” Welch got his start in Birmingham, AL, where he began comedy in 1987. He began his full-time career in 1994, and now travels around the country each week, entertaining crowds in various cities such as Miami, Richmond, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Baltimore. This was Welch’s first time back to Kansas City since he performed about 6 years ago for a New Years party. Friendly and accommodating, Welch and I sat down in the Green Room so I could find out how he manages to energize new crowds yet remain so clean. (Inside tip: he performs as if the women in his family are in the audience!)
Henry Welch
New Kid in Town
Advice from the Green Room: How do you know how to get the crowd on your side when you’re new to the city?
Henry Welch: I try to do little clever stuff. It was a good crowd and I appreciated them.
My stuff is crazy in a unique and different way. I’m not intimidated. I like to be a little intelligent and have a lot of fun.
AGR: How do you prepare for a show in a different city?
Henry Welch: I read two different newspapers everyday so I know what’s going on in these cities. [I say], “I need to remember that when I get there.”
You want to make the people feel like they’re a part of it, too. You don’t want to come to these towns and make [them] think you’re better than the people. You want to make the people come and embrace you.
Clean Sweep
AGR: How important is it to be clean?
Henry Welch: You don’t have to be that dirty. Sometimes they think because it’s a black crowd we want to hear the N-word. They don’t want to hear that either. You don’t want to be like that.
I work churches and colleges and everywhere. I learned if I can be clean I can go anywhere.
It’s easy to be dirty--it’s hard to be clean…and I take that challenge. As a Black comedian they have that stigma—just nasty and raunchy—[but] I’m a very intelligent guy.
AGR: What’s your writing technique?
Henry Welch: I just read something and I can see the headline and I just take it from there. I used to write down a lot of stuff but now I’m at the point where I decided to keep it in my head because comics can’t steal it in my head.
AGR: How do you stay fresh and on your game?
Henry Welch: As a kid I used to read at my grandmother’s house…current events…
As a comic I feel like you’ve got to know what’s going on everyday. A lot of comics [are] stuck where they’re at. [No one] wants to book them because [they’re] cutting the same jokes.
As a comic, you’ve got to prove yourself every night. What I did tonight [doesn’t] mean [anything] tomorrow. To me being a comic is like being a porno star or boxer. You’ve got to come up with the work. They’re going to be expecting you to do the knock out…they expect you to be funny. It’s the most humbling experience.
AGR: Where do you get your work ethic?
Henry Welch: I’ve got the old school mentality. I come from the era where you had to take 5 to 6 years to learn how to be a comedian. But some people have been doing comedy for two weeks and then they got thrown on BET—now you can’t tell them that. Some people got the break and what do they do with it?
You want longevity. I set the example. If you’re a headliner you’ve got to be able to follow whatever comes in front of you.
AGR: What advice do you have for an up and coming comic?
Henry Welch: You need to know that you’ve got to keep doing your stuff. When people tell you, “Don’t talk about this, don’t talk about that,” in so many words [they’re] telling you, “Don’t be funny in front of me.”
You’ve got to listen and do what you think is best. You’re a comic. You want to be funny. You want to do your best stuff.
A lot of times people think they’re giving you good advice, and they’re not.
Do "you". Always do you.
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