How to go
Who: Derek Richards
Where: Funny Bone Comedy Club & Restaurant, 88 Plum St., The Greene, Beavercreek
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, Nov. 26 and 29, and 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 27 and 28
Cost: $12-$42 Thursday and Sunday, and $15-$45 Friday and Saturday
More info: (937) 429-LAFF or www.daytonfunnybone.com
Artist info: www.derekrichards.com
Getting sacked from a job isn’t normally a high point in anyone’s life. For comedian Derek Richards, however, losing his day job as a radio disc jockey in 1993 was a game changer.
“I always had an interest in comedy,” the Detroit native said last week, speaking by cell phone from a one-nighter in Bowling Green, Ohio. “I got fired from my last full-time radio gig, which is known to happen, so I decided to try comedy. In the meantime, I waited tables and stuff like that and tried to get as much stage time as possible.”
Richards devoted himself wholeheartedly to his new profession, but says it took years of hard work to feel completely natural on stage.
“I’d say it took a good seven or eight years before I really started feeling like I was going in the direction I wanted,” he said. “You’ve got to get out there and throw yourself into a number of bad situations so you can understand how to handle yourself in the face of any crowd.
“You give any quarterback seven seconds to throw the ball each time and he’s going to throw for 800 yards and seven touchdowns every game,” Richards continued.
“First you’ve got to put yourself in those situations where everything isn’t always perfect. You learn from that and either you learn and grow, or you don’t learn and you end up in rehab. Those are your options.”
Richards performs at the Funny Bone Comedy Club Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 26-29.
“I grew up in the Midwest,” he said. “It’s always nice coming back here because the Midwest has a different element of people than you get elsewhere. “People are nicer. They work hard and they like to drink and have a good time. That’s a crowd I like to do shows in front of, and you don’t always get that elsewhere around the country.”
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