Troy Baxley was the first comedian I was ever in awe of. Sure I was in awe of many of the comedians whose albums I listened to initially, the guy’s whose specials I watched on television, but Troy was the first comedian that I got to see regularly, in person, who I was continually amazed by. And that left an indelible impression. He ran the open mic where I started at a great little dive bar in Denver called The Lion’s Lair. All of us who started out at that mic – an impressive array of comics that includes Ben Roy, Andrew Orvedahl, Ben Kronberg, Greg Baumhauer, Brian Hocker, to name a few – looked forward to heading to that Monday open mic for an opportunity to run our jokes, but also because we got to see do Troy do his thing. He was so unique, so original, and in his own, decidedly-hands-off way he showed us how to be great comedians. Open-mics tend to take on the flavor of the MC and Troy was so pure in his joke-writing, so unique in his voice, that we were all left with no choice but to try to do the same. To try to be originals. And when we inevitably failed, we could still sit on those ragged bar-stools in that dive bar on Colfax, where the windows were completely blackened out and the stalls had no doors, and watch Baxley be Baxley. He led by example.
Ten years later I’m still in awe of Troy Baxley. In that time my understanding of stand-up comedy has increased dramatically, my knowledge of the landscape is much more filled in, and now I’m fully able to realize just how lucky I was to start at Troy Baxley’s mic. Dude’s a legend. Certainly around Colorado, but truly savvy comedy-fans, and any good comedian, is a gigantic fan of Troy Baxley. Put it this way, Doug Stanhope loves Troy Baxley. Never have I seen a green-room empty faster than when Troy goes on stage. He’s a comic’s comic, a back-of-the-room kind of guy but there’s nothing precious about what he does. It’s just funny. Trying to describe his act is pointless, attempting to attach adjectives to a bizarre cavalcade of grifters and oddballs all operating under a cloud of quite desperation. I suppose that’s as decent an attempt as any. But the point is Troy is just fucking hilarious. And has been for nearly two decades.
He’s also recently off of a very traumatic head injury that saw him in the intensive care unit for days on end and is just now starting to foray back into the comedy world. You can hear his injury in this episode and Troy points it out again and again: how his thoughts don’t come as fast, how he slurs some words, how it’s hard to catalog the memories in the correct order, etc. Still it’s a great conversation. Troy is a guy who keeps his cards close to his chest, someone not really all that into talking about himself. But he opened up a lot here and it was a great thrill for me to hear it. I hope it is for you too. Simply put, Troy Baxley is one of the best comedians I know. What an honor to have started at his mic. What an honor to watch him work. What an honor to chat with him for an hour. Here’s hoping he’s back on stage soon, with renewed perspective and focus.
Or at least a couple more jokes about she-hobos.
If you’re not aware of Troy Baxley, you should be. I’d recommend you start by watching this video.
Check out the episode on iTunes here.