Lorrie Link is no doctor. But the executive director of the Maple Grove Arts Center has a theory.
“Comedy is good for you,” she says. “It’s good for your health.” With all the funny business in town, Maple Grove should be feeling great.
Nationally known comedian and Maple Grove resident Scott Hansen and his friends—improv comedians Kim Thomassen and Gust Alexander (The Stagebenders), and Emmy Award winning comedy film writer Jeff Cesario—began teaching Comedy Tech classes at the Maple Grove Arts Center last summer and continued them through the fall. Hansen led the charge with his Extremely Serious Standup Comedy Workshop, designed for onstage beginners. “I define what comedy is, how to write a joke, how to tell a joke,” Hansen explains of his class. “Some people are befuddled that there is a system to comedy.”
But after the six-week program, Hansen’s once-green students were transformed by their experience. “(They were) really good,” Hansen says. “I’ve already hired a couple of them to do professional work.”
Comedy Tech mentored students with a range of experience—some rookies, some with standup experience—but no matter the student, Hansen aimed to make them better the only way he knows how. “I know how tough it was for me to do this, so I make them work hard,” says Hansen, who once struggled with stage fright himself. “I am honest. I take it seriously. It’s my business.”
For the extremely serious students, Hansen’s style was exactly what was needed. “I was blown away by the amount of information Scott crammed into the class,” says student Carolyn Herfurth. “From how to build a set, to industry lingo, to joke structure, to in-depth writing exercises, he didn’t miss a beat. His depth of knowledge and willingness to share decades of comedy industry experience is jaw-dropping.”
Link saw Comedy Tech blossom in front of her eyes at the arts center, as each of the classes offered in the summer and fall filled up. “The classes are taking right off,” says Link. So much so that Hansen’s original Extremely Serious Comedy class had to be split into two to accommodate the overwhelming registrations. All the classes—Scott’s Extremely Serious Standup Comedy Workshop, The Stagebenders’ Improvisation for the Comedy Stage Workshop, The Business of Comedy: How to Sell Yourself!, Scott Hansen’s Comedy Tuneup and Advanced Comedy Writing Workshop and Writing for TV and Movies: the Basics with Jeff Cesario—will be offered again this winter.
That’s good news for aspiring local talents. “I had nothing on the first day, and by listening to Scott describe the process, and through writing down everything, I was able to create my first stand-up set.” says Patrick Stuart, who along with the other students, got a chance to use his new-found skills at a live performance—a culmination of the class session.
Hansen carves out all kinds of opportunities for new comedians, and the resulting hilarity may be just what the doctor ordered. “If more people get involved, after a couple years of developing their craft, either as a part-time thing to just a hobby, Maple Grove could become a center for comedy,” Hansen says. He currently has his eye on the Maple Grove Town Green and Bandshell for free comedy performances. “I know this area would definitely support comedy,” Hansen explains. “If you have a recital at the arts center, that’s 100 people who want to go out to eat.”
Until the chuckles commence at the center of Maple Grove’s community life, the newly-opened Maple Tavern has comedians tossing out punch lines two times a month in the basement. Performances have featured headliner-comedians such as Joe Tanner, Mary Mack, Alex Cole and Bob Larson. “The comedy has been a good draw,” says owner JT Toledo, “and its ‘cable-clean’ nature reflects well on our family-friendly establishment.”
The performances at Maple Tavern are emceed by local mail-carrier-turned-funny-guy Joe Tanner, who ran for office in Brooklyn Center, was a cartoonist, a bar bouncer—and even a pro wrestler for a while—before settling down to deliver letters through rain or shine. Six years ago, radio station KQRS ran a challenge: Are you funny enough to open for Louie Anderson? Tanner became one of 30 finalists. “I didn’t tell my wife I was doing it,” Tanner recalls. “I was on my route one day and my wife calls and says ‘Some Scott Hansen guy called and said you were going to be in a comedy show.’” Busted!
After Tanner and others opened for Anderson at the Northrop Auditorium to a crowd of over 4,000, Anderson put Tanner in touch with Hansen to learn the trade. After a couple of years, Tanner decided to get his comedy fix by opening a venue in Coon Rapids that plays to ‘standing room only’ crowds these days. “We’re booking more well-known comedians in Maple Grove,” he assures. “It’s kind of my goal to have it be something I do part-time when I get older. I don’t want to be a mailman ‘til I’m 65. Your legs fall off.”
Between his mail route and growing up with eight siblings in Anoka, Tanner has a plethora of material. “It doesn’t work for me to make stuff up,” he says. “If I use the real stuff, I get the best laughs.”
Tanner warms up the audiences at the Tavern with his own humor and then shares the stage. “Louie Anderson gave me this chance many years ago, and I want others to have the chance too,” he says. If wannabes hanker to take a crack at it, he reviews their material, introduces them as a ‘guest set’, and allows them three minutes to exercise their chops. “If they bomb, I have to get the crowd back up,” Tanner says. “And if they’re good, I merge right in to the headliner.”
With a capacity of approximately 170, the basement provides a coziness where audiences can relax and enjoy themselves. “It’s a perfect room for comedy,” says John Bush, one of the inaugural acts in August. “I do a lot of facial expressions and they all worked. The lights and sound there are great—everyone can see everything.”
When Tanner needs those transition lines, he’ll sometimes draw upon local, topical subjects like, “Poor Tiger Woods, he’s had a rough time, losing sponsors left and right. I heard he picked one up today though—Denny Hecker.” Tanner says he especially likes that joke because his car was repossessed in ’81. However, Tanner can’t transfer that one to Las Vegas, where he has a standing invitation to open for Anderson anytime he wants to drop in. “I’ll do it someday, too,” assures Tanner, “when I get a break from the route.” Anderson is likely to be booked into the Maple Tavern before that time. After all, people count on their mail.
With the influx of health-boosting, convulsive giggles and guffaws, Maple Grove may see a decrease in the number of visits to its new hospital. On the other hand, the North Memorial emergency room may need to open up a special unit for the stitching of split sides.
