Since quitting his day job and pursuing his passion full time, Brooklyn-based comedian Jordan Carlos has built up quite the resume. He is MTV’s resident nerd on “Guy Code” and “Girl Code,” he played Stephen Colbert’s “Black friend” Alan on “The Colbert Report,” and his impersonations of President Barack Obama on College Humor have earned him quite the following. On Friday and Saturday, Carlos is bringing his wit to Crackers Comedy Club in downtown Indianapolis. Tickets start at $13.50 and can be purchased at crackerscomedy.com.
The Indianapolis Recorder recently had a chance to chat with Carlos about his comedic take on life.
Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper: You have a background in media and advertising. How did you gain an interest in comedy?
Jordan Carlos: Growing up, if you wanted to hang out with my mom, you had to watch comedy. She had me watching everything from “The Golden Girls” and “The Cosby Show,” to British comedies like “Monty Python.” She loved to laugh; she’s got great taste in comedy.
You have expressed in the past that you felt it was difficult to find an audience as a stand-up comedian because you aren’t a “stereotypical Black man.” Can you expand on that?
It’s all cultural. Growing up, I was the token Black kid in my class, and when I first started out (in comedy), the things I was talking about weren’t reaching a wide audience. That was one of the growing pains. I was learning how to make all people laugh. These days that’s not the case. These days I can go before any audience and hold my own, which is really great. Once I started doing shows like “Guy Code” and “Girl Code,” the audience grew. They were like, “Oh, you are kind of, you know, the nerdy Black guy.” I was like, yeah, because that means you are still family. So it’s like, don’t try to be something that you are not, come and lead with what you are.
You will soon premiere a new show, “Headliners.” Tell me about your show, and when we can expect to see it?
That’s the same question I’m asking. I want to know as much as you do, but hopefully it will come out in the fall. The emphasis of the show is headlining comedians from different political affiliations. I think a lot of comedy can be very siloed, and I wanted a comedy show that’s not an echo chamber. You will hear one voice all the way through, then you will hear another opinion all the way through. It will be streamed on Now This, which is a very popular news website that’s very good at getting young, millennial viewers.
You impersonated Obama on college humor. What role do you think comedy plays in how we interact with more serious topics, such as politics?
You’ve got to laugh. I did something called Politicon this weekend, with journalists and pundits and comedians. We had really insane topics coming up, from a woman’s right to choose, or gun control. I was in a panel. They said I could jump in when I had a joke, and that’s what I did. The comedy was relief in these sessions. I got my point across, because humor is another way to negotiate issues. Everybody is so salty and tight right now, but they will come out to a comedy show. You’ve got to laugh to keep from crying, that’s the alternative.
What do you hope people who come out to your show in Indianapolis take away from the experience?
This tour is called The Whale Sex Tour. When I make fun of animals, it makes us think of what us humans have in common. I want to, with one joke at a time, help show people that we have so much more in common than how we differ. I think it’s really fun to have an hour of that. If two people realize they couldn’t get divorced in the audience, like in my last set of shows in Michigan, that would be really great, as well.
