On Saturday, April 5, a few of Seattle’s funniest comedians will take the stage as a part of The Stranger’s annual Undisputable Champions of Comedy showcase. It’ll be hilarious! The lineup was curated with assist from everybody’s comedy bestie, Emmett Montgomery, co-host of Joketellers Union at Clock-Out Lounge and purveyor of all issues delightfully bizarre. And this yr’s lineup is stacked with expertise, from an area comedy legend who as soon as gained over a crowd of bikers at an Aurora bar within the ’80s to a comic book who makes use of laughter as a technique to cope with grief. We actually have a bunny and a fundamentalist Christian pastor on the invoice! It’s gonna be nice.
Talking of the fundamentalist Christian pastor, meet the hilarious Andrew Frank! They will be becoming a member of our Champions of Comedy lineup in character as Pastor Frank, a God-fearing, woman-controlling, Bible-loving preacher hoping to unfold the gospel to evil Seattleites. There will even be music! Learn on to study extra about how Andrew developed their stunning method to stand-up.
Describe your comedy in 5 phrases.
Queer, ecstatic, playful, radiant, JOKES!
What’s the very first thing you probably did whenever you discovered you have been chosen as considered one of The Stranger’s Champions of Comedy?
I reached out to my pal, the very gifted Spencer Earl, to see if he would offer musical accompaniment on the piano, synth, and vocoder. He stated sure, and I can’t wait.
You do stand-up as your self but additionally typically carry out as a personality, a fundamentalist pastor. Are you able to inform us who we’ll be seeing on the showcase?
This set can be carried out in character as Pastor Frank. Final August, I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Pageant and delivered my one-hour “sermon” for 25 consecutive nights. The inventive journey of constructing this character and this present has been one of many best joys of my life, and I believe it is going to be so enjoyable and significant to share it with a packed theater within the metropolis I like and name house.
I’d think about your fashion of comedy, which is impressed by your upbringing within the Christian fundamentalist neighborhood, could be considerably cathartic or therapeutic for individuals who’ve skilled a few of that very same trauma. Have you ever discovered that to be true?
Completely. There’s therapeutic and transformative energy in storytelling, play, and the communal expertise of humor. Particularly humor that helps us untangle indoctrination, repression, and all of the difficult emotions and recollections of time spent in church and faculty. I like telling my jokes, and I like the vantage level from the stage the place I get to see everybody’s faces throughout all of the laughter. I get to see the way it strikes via all of the our bodies within the crowd. It’s stunning.
The place is your favourite place to see comedy in Seattle proper now?
I train an Intro to Stand Up course at Laughs Comedy Membership within the U District, and I actually get pleasure from watching all the brand new comics. The primary week, I simply ask them questions whereas they stand onstage, and we get a glimpse of their persona and their life story.
Then, over the subsequent 4 weeks, they check out materials, and I get to witness the expansion of the jokes. I get to see all people develop their sense of self and their sense of play.
The ultimate night time of the semester is the commencement present, and it’s so unimaginable to observe every comedian have their second to shine in entrance of their buddies, household, and classmates. The laughter feels actually particular on these reveals, and it means the world to me to see every comedian have a euphoric night time onstage early of their stand-up journey.
The Stranger Presents: The 2025 Undisputable Champions of Comedy!, Sat April 5, Washington Corridor, $25, 21+. Tickets accessible right here.
