MANCHESTER, NH – Since the turn of the century, comedy has increasingly had a major presence on the Internet. It began with various videos and memes that have now become cult classics, but now various comedians are getting in on the action through podcasts, short clips and other forms of content. A recent example of this is Joe Fenti, a Boston-based comic who has thousands of followers on various platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. On January 16, he’s going to be performing at The Rex Theatre in Manchester. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and it promises to be a fun night of stand-up for anyone who is looking for a laugh.
We recently had a talk about what made him want to get into comedy, how he goes about creating online material, and a special he has due out soon.
Rob Duguay: While growing up in the Boston area, what made you want to get into stand-up comedy and what made you realize that you could do it? It’s a pretty hard thing to do, going up on stage by yourself and trying to make an audience laugh.
Joe Fenti: When I was a little kid, I was just fascinated with the art form. I remember discovering it on Comedy Central around second or third grade, and then I started remembering whole sets from Brian Regan and reciting them to my class when the teacher wasn’t in the room. That was my first introduction to stand-up, and I thought it was really cool. Then in college, I wrote satire, and once I graduated I knew how to write a joke, which made me want to revisit stand-up. What started as a fun little hobby turned into my career, so it was just an early fascination that wouldn’t die.
RD: Brian Regan is one of my favorite comedians and it’s wicked cool that he was an influence on you. Your YouTube channel has gotten a lot of traction over the past couple of years with all of these little short videos focusing on various topics like working in corporate America and a lady teaching men how to be friends with each other among others. How do you come up with the ideas for this hilarious content? I also know that you get other people involved in them, so are they just friends of yours or do you hire actors?
JF: Typically, I do six videos a week, so I have a notes app that I’m constantly adding to with ideas that I think could work. They usually just start off with one headline or one quick sentence like “boss who is actually an infant,” and when I sit down to actually write it, I figure out what the punchlines are and what the jokes are. I write all of my own sketches when I work with other people or other comedians in my videos. After I write it, I reach out to them to bring them in and have them be a part of it, and usually they have their own sketches that they want to film that day, but for me most part, I’m writing all of my own stuff. There’s not just one source of inspiration, sometimes I’ll read news articles or I’ll think about what actually happened to me at work.
Sometimes I’ll just have a “what if” thought that turns into something that could be a video. I don’t have a single source of where I get my material from.
RD: Alright, cool. It’s mentioned in your Instagram bio that you’re a “chicken enthusiast,” and in fact, your Instagram handle is @fentifriedchicken, so I’m willing to bet that fried chicken is your favorite food. What’s your favorite place to order fried chicken from? Next time you have a hankering for it, where do you usually go?
JF: In terms of power ranking fast food fried chicken, which is usually what people ask for, I think Popeye’s has to be my No. 1 for their chicken sandwich. It’s the right amount of crispy and it’s just a big piece of chicken, so Popeye’s has my heart, and number two is probably KFC. They’re almost there, but not quite as good as Popeye’s.
RD: Those are two great spots. You have this show coming up at The Rex Theatre, so what are your thoughts going into it?
JF: I’m very excited to come to The Rex Theatre, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I have my friend Sam Mangano opening for me, and he’s a New Hampshire guy as well, so we’re putting all the pieces in the right places. I’m coming off a 35 city tour, so the set is really tight and it’s really good. I actually just recorded it in Boston last month and it’ll go out for distribution in May, but I’m happy to be giving New Hampshire the live version of it.
RD: That special you just mentioned, is there a name for it? Is that going to be your main focus for this year?
JF: Yeah, the title of it is called “Partner,” and it’s really going to take all of my time and effort once I get the edited version back from my videographer to promote it, market it, and make sure that everyone sees it. This is my first real, big, recorded stand-up event and I want people to see it while seeing me more than just this guy on the internet who does these corporate sketches. I want people to know that I also do stand-up, I work really hard at it, and I think it’s pretty good, so it’s the culmination of all of my efforts into one piece and I just hope everyone watches it and likes it.