Sam Tallent needs new headshots. There I said it. Google Image searching him I found a delightful abundance of head-shots from days of yore – internet age translation: two years ago – but the man has changed since then! Molded himself into a comedy vessel and evolved; he’s got a second set of teeth now, like a shark! And one of his eyes moved to the center of his forehead recently! It would kind of be like a bodhisattva if it were a third eye, but it’s not! It’s just his normal second eye all ghoulish stacked in the middle of his face like a Picasso painting!
Bodhisattva, Picasso, okay, man I’m really hitting those pretension points here early in this entry, which I almost just spelled eatery but corrected myself.
Point is, this is pretty much what Sam looks like right now but if you see him out and about and he looks slightly different, DON’T BLAME ME. Blame Sam. And his need for updated headshots. Want to see a picture that will always reflect Sam Tallent accurately, though? Of course you do.
Those are his feet. Muhfucker has “Joke Life” tattooed on his feet. It’s an inside joke that started between him and his brethren in famed Denver four-headed comedy beast The Fine Gentleman’s Club as both a means of celebrating and commiserating the highs and lows of the stand-up comedy game. I believe they use it as a hashtag as well.
Just got to open for Doug Stanhope! #jokelife.
Just got stiffed $150 and had to drive to fucking Kearney, Nebraska #jokelife.
That tattoo can mean both opposite side of the comedy coin and no one knows that better than Sam Tallent. At the relatively young age of 26, Sam has more comedy experience than many people far further along in the game than him. Because he is relentless. He lives and breathes comedy. He runs three weekly nights in Denver. And then he hits the road anywhere and everywhere he can to get stage time. No one’s giving him an hour in Denver this weekend? Sam will figure out someone in Oklahoma who will. He is a troubadour in the true sense of the word and I admire him for it. I also like Sam because he wears his heart on his sleeve. You never have to wonder where he’s coming from because he’s an open book. Sure he’s got some aces up his hobo, thrift-store shirt sleeves, if you can even call them sleeves at this point, like any of us do, but Sam is a guy who feels things deeply and is not afraid to show that side to his friends or his audiences. Or to strangers on the bus.
Denver is better for him. His energy is infectious and I always am excited to find out I have a show with Sam, because I know it’s going to be a great conversation to and fro, trading tales with a giant, amiably shooting the breeze. To wit: this episode.
Which rules.
Sam choose this bananas music video where Fear and their fans take over SNL back in the day. It’s fucking ridiculous.
Check out the episode on iTunes here.