From once he hits the stage, this Michigan comedian doesn’t let his foot off the accelerator, as he keeps audiences engaged with his full arsenal of jokes.
For Wesley Ward his influences in comedy were a mix of his dad playing vinyl albums of comedians such as George Carlin to Comedy Central’s early beginnings, when they would feature an assortment of different stand up comedians on their own Comedy Channel.
Ward’s career began when he was 26 years-old, which can be considered a late start in the comedy circle. For Ward, it took being able to overcome the mental part of having the ability that he could get on stage and actually do it.
“Coming from a working class family and with my parents beliefs of holding a traditional job, it was something that I had to overcome,” Ward said. “For many of our parents they were raised in an era with different ideas. It was more of following the course of getting a job at one of the car factories or in your specialized industry from the degree you earned in school.”
His start came close to nine years ago at an open-mic night at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, Michigan, Ward points out that a combination of nerves and adrenaline had him blank out after his set.
“When I went up on stage I was more nervous than I had ever been in my whole entire life,” Ward said. “After I got off stage, I went to use the washroom and I literally blacked out and found myself coming out of it after a minute on the bathroom floor.”
Ward admits that the toughest part of being a stand-up comic isn’t coming up with funny material, but the business side of the industry.
“Honestly, I don’t worry as much about the joke telling part of being successful as a comic,” Ward explained. “It is more the business side. There are many aspects of things off stage that will influence your success. For example, besides being able to keep your audience entertained on stage, you must step up your marketing game to get noticed.”
[automatic_youtube_gallery type=”video” video=”4cicfUYBnpA” player_title=”0″ player_description=”0″]
Recently, Ward released his own comedy album entitled “The White Forest Whitaker.” The album consists of 40 minutes of jokes that Ward had relied on, but was looking to both change up his material and at the same time have a way to document some of the various parts of his career.
“Best way I can put it, it’s just a comic coming into his own,” Ward said. “My goal is not have people learn anything from this album, it’s solely for them to just laugh.”
When Ward has time to reflect on his accomplishments to date, he acknowledges having the opportunity to do stand up comedy all across North America, is just amazing to him. Currently, he has performed in 15 U.S. states and this weekend, Ward makes a trip across the border to perform in another country in Windsor, ON (Canada) is one of the special perks of his career.
Make a point to check out the non-stop jokes from Wesley Ward this weekend at Haddon’s Comedy Club in the lower level of Rockhead Pub at 1444 Ottawa St in Windsor, ON.
Do we have your attention? Ward will have shows beginning on Friday night at 9 p.m. and two shows on Saturday night at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 cash at the door if you prefer to purchase your tickets in advance click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haddons-comedy-club-presents-wesley-ward-tickets-62451962501to have them in hand before taking in a night of comedy. See you at the shows!
