Stephen Lynch
Cigarette smoke hangs in the air as Lynch and two buddies sit hunched over a poker table that takes up most of the room. A hand is already in play. We are introduced quickly. When the hand is finished, Lynch inches his chair in a bit so I can squeeze into a spot on a couch behind the table. Seated eye level with guys as the game continues, I can't help feeling like the girlfriend no one really wanted to tag along on poker night. I lay my tape recorder next to some stray chips on the edge of the green felt and dive in, hoping to find out what the comedian thinks of Broadway and what keeps him busy…besides poker.
Do you mind if I tape record? I always ask…sometimes people get nervous.
Lynch: No, I actually prefer it. I've been misquoted enough in my life. [laughs]
Poker Guy #1: Is it rolling?
Yeah.
Poker Guy #1: Balls! [laughter from the table] Check.
Poker Guy #2: Check.
Lynch: Check. [He turns to glance at me as he waits for the next round of betting.]
OK…so the Tony hoopla is a couple of months behind us now. As a first-time nominee, what did you think of the whole experience?
Um…it was really just nerve-wracking. I mean, I wasn't particularly concerned about the nomination or winning the Tony. I was more concerned with my performance [during the telecast] because there were billions of people watching. Yeah…[turning his attention back to the game] So once I got done with that, I could relax and not worry about the rest of the night. Four dollars.
Poker Guy #2: Relax and enjoy losing!
Lynch: Yeah! We all knew I was going to lose anyway, so it didn't really matter.
We do it between shows, and once in a while we might get here early and play.
Do you still have time to greet the fans? And speaking of fans, what's the Lynch Mob?
Oh, Lynch-mob.net? Is that what you're referring to?
Yes. Do they come to the show?
Well, it's just a fan site, so the girl who runs it has come to see the show. I know when fans show up because they have CDs and things of mine to sign. But they never identify themselves as being with "the Lynch Mob." It's not like a gang—terrorizing the streets of Broadway doing jazz hands and knife fights. [laughs]
Have you seen the YouTube videos of people singing along to your songs?
I love it. I was just watching one the other day where…um [pauses to check out his hand]…some girl who goes to Cal Arts or something made a video to one of my old songs, "Peep Show Girl." And it was pretty good! Yeah, any time people give me CDs or DVDs to watch, I'll give them a chance. Sometimes they're so awful you just have to turn them off right away.
Has anyone done that using the Wedding Singer cast album yet?
Well I tend to not google The Wedding Singer. [laughs] Just because I live it every day and I don't need to read about it.
Do you get bored doing the show?
Um… [scans his cards] The biggest challenge I face is doing the same thing every day. Sometimes twice a day. But it comes with the territory, so what am I going to do?
That's true. It seems up until now you've never really done the same thing for long.
I grew up in mid-Michigan. I took acting classes in college and I did musicals. When I got out, I did summer stock for a couple of years. And then I started doing the comedy thing…[shuffle, shuffle]
Right. What actually got you into that?
Into comedy? A buddy of mine and I used to write together in college. [shuffle] We started writing funny songs to amuse ourselves. We'd play them at parties and do little shows here and there. Then I moved to New York and he stayed in Michigan. And a guy I knew ran a theater—the West Bank Café—and they did a variety night there and he remembered that I used to do these songs in college and asked me if I wanted to audition. I did, and people seemed to really enjoy the songs. So I kept doing it and before I knew it I could quit my job and it was a career.
That led to touring around the country?
Yeah, I started to do a lot of radio and then I did stuff for Comedy Central. I never really got into the comedy clubs. I did Caroline's and Gotham here a couple of times. But I really just enjoyed touring and playing small music venues and rock clubs and folk clubs. It suits my type of comedy a lot better than, you know, Yuk Yuk's Comedy Café.
Did you have comedy or musical icons that inspired your writing?
My buddies and I were obsessed with This Is Spinal Tap in college, so that was probably what first got me writing comedy songs.
Did you have a goal in mind when you were touring around? To get a sitcom maybe?
No, I knew I wanted to perform but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I was in a couple of bands. That was really what I was interested in. Theater was just kind of a hobby and comedy was sort of a hobby, too, that happened to turn into a full-fledged career.
I just told my agent that I had a theater background—that I had done shows—so if anything interesting came along, to give it a shot. This was one of the first things they suggested for me.
Lucky you!
Yeah! It worked out.
Did you have to go through a lot of auditions and callbacks?
For this? No! I just had to audition once. I think they were familiar with my work and kind of figured that if I didn't fuck up the audition too bad I was going to get the part. When you come from a background like mine, the producers say that they hired you for a reason and they want you to bring as much of your own sensibility as you can without compromising the script or the song.
And now there's a giant billboard in Times Square with your face on it…
I haven't seen that. [laughs from the table] I know it exists…
Ha. It has a sweet message plastered right near your face: "Love Is What I Do." Is love what Stephen Lynch does? Would your real-life friends laugh if they saw it?
[belly laughs from the table] Oh, they've made trips to Times Square just to laugh at it. No, that's just from the show. [coy grin] I didn't write that line.
Were you comfortable dancing before you did this show?
[quickly] No. [laughs from the table] I am not a dancer. I don't like to dance. But, I knew I was gonna have to in this show. Fortunately [choreographer] Rob Ashford made it pretty easy for me. He didn't give me anything too difficult to do. He played to my strength, which is goofiness and not…actual physical ability.
A lot of '80s song lyrics are referred to in the show. If the score had been recycled '80s anthems, what would Robbie's big number be?
An '80s anthem? Oh, I don't know…
Or a band—what's Robbie's band?
Van Halen
Poker Guy #1: Are you gonna raise?
Lynch: Oh…no. No.
Uh-oh, am I making you lose?
No, no. I am losing, but I would have been losing anyway… Yeah, Van Halen is clearly Robbie's band.
Do you have a favorite number in the show? I know you've mentioned getting to jump in the dumpster and listen to Laura Benanti [as Julia] serenade you…
Yeah, that's always fun! "Casualty of Love" is a great song. One of my favorites.
The audience goes nuts over that one.
Well, thank god, because they could really hate me for that number, but they usually end up not.
What about "Let Me Come Home?"
Yeah, getting molested by Felicia [Finley, as Robbie's ex Linda]. [grins] That's a good one.
Have you found that it's a burden to be the star of the show?
Ha ha ha ha! A burden. Um…there was a lot of stress at the beginning but I'm over that now. The show is what it is. I don't see it as a burden just because I have, maybe, the most lines or sing the most songs. I'll tell you what the burden is…that fucking picture in Times Square. That's the burden. [laughs from the table] It's a burden to my ego and my sensibilities as a human being.
You had that mullet.
Yeah thank god they got rid of that. Mercy.
So do you see Broadway as a pit stop in your career, or is it something you plan on pursuing?
Oh I'd consider it in the future, but I miss what I used to do for a living, so I'm sure when this is over I'm going to go back to that for a while. Recording and touring are always fun.
I haven't yet. This has been kind of all-consuming. The only breaks I get are when we play cards for two hours between shows. But eventually as I settle into this a little more [shuffle, shuffle] and things die down to the point where I'm just doing the show, I'll try to start writing again. See if I'm still funny. Who knows? I may have lost my mojo.
Would you ever consider writing a musical?
Yes, I would write one. I haven't started anything yet but I have a few ideas.
Want to share any of them?
No. I don't want people to steal my ideas.
Poker Guy #2: The sharks and the jets!
Lynch: Yeah, there are these two street gangs…
Do you think that doing Broadway has changed the direction of your career at all or how people perceive you?
I don't know. We'll find out when I go back out on tour. My hope is that this has raised my profile a little bit out in communities that I wouldn't normally have reached. And so when I do shows here in New York or in Philly or Boston, which are already pretty successful markets for me, I'll have even more of it. That's what I'm hoping anyway. I'm hoping my diehard fans don't abandon me. [mimics fan voice] Sellout!
OK, well I guess that's about it…
Cool.
Sorry to interrupt the game.
No, no, that's all right! Nobody thinks that I can talk and play at the same time...[he trails off as another hand begins].
See Stephen Lynch in The Wedding Singer at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.