STAND-UP TUESDAYS: Adam Norwest

July 10th, 2012

Grant Trimboli

Stand-Up Tuesdays is a weekly comedy spotlight written by the wonderfully talented Angie Frissore. Covering both known and unknown comics, Stand-up Tuesdays is your new source for all things funny.

This week, Angie puts a spotlight on Adam Norwest. If you or your comedy troupe would like to be featured on Stand-Up Tuesdays, please email utgjames@gmail.com.

For the time being, the barbecues are cold and the fireworks have gone out after a much-needed holiday break – but summer comedy releases are still smoking hot, and this week’s is no different. Turn up the laughs with the latest release from Rooftop Comedy, Adam Norwest’s One of a Kind.

Practically born into comedy, Norwest began performing professional improv at the age of 13, and just a few years later stepped into the stand-up spotlight. Within a short period of time, he was featured on “Comcast on Demand”, was the youngest comedian ever to compete in the prestigious Seattle International Comedy Competition, and has been seen on cable TV’s “Man Up, Stand Up”, as well as “Comedy Brew”. Originally from Seattle, WA, Norwest uses his energetic style and natural confidence onstage to make his stories about dating, his famy, and looking so young not only funny, but relatable and engaging as well. Adam mixes his clever material in with crowd interaction for a truly memorable experience.

Recorded at The Skyline Comedy Café in Appleton, WI, One of a Kind puts Norwest in his comedy zone. Although he is quick (and hilarious) at pointing out his “manliness” shortcomings, he has a comedic style that is confident, tight, and focused. Whether it’s (not) getting with girls or relying on Groupons for dental work, Norwest’s comedy is quick without veering into self-deprecation.
Norwest is probably the most self-aware comedian I’ve encountered to date. He knows he isn’t manly, and is more than aware of how, well, gay he appears. But while most comedians will take such an observation and run with it down the highway of self-deprecation, Norwest channels such statements into pure hilarity. While riffing about living at his parents’ house, he mentions the tribulations he’s faced when attempting to bring a girl home to get intimate with under mom and dad’s roof:

“’Aren’t they going to hear us?’ I hope so, they think I’m gay.”

The ability Norwest has to make fun of himself in one breath and immediately channel that into a whole new joke is simply delightful. With his fast-paced, upbeat stage presence, there’s simply no time for self-pity before Norwest has taken you on a completely different route:

“I wish I was an athlete. Even Michael Phelps, he’s an amazing, amazing athlete – especially for being the ugliest person ever. And I think that’s why he’s such a good swimmer; when he was a little kid, his parents kept trying to drown him.”

While it may seem that Norwest is firing off a rapid-paced slew of randomness (as he quickly changes topics by randomly stating: “Let’s talk about stingrays. They’re amazing. “), he’s carefully constructing a path down which he will take his audiences.

“To me, comedy is like an adventure book,” Norwest told Marlena Chertock in a 2011 interview on her blog. “I have to figure out where to take you guys.”

If standup comedy is, in fact, a guided journey, I’m all about having Norwest be my pack leader. His craft is incredibly creative, carefully meshing self-deprecation with a slightly slanted view on the world around us. While comedians will stick to the tried and true societal observations, Norwest seeks out new and surprising territory about which to lament:

• “Stingrays, I don’t know if you know this – seven feet long, they weigh 800 pounds, their best friends are sharks, and they have TWO dicks. How is that not one of the Avengers?”

• “Polar bears can mate with black bears, did you know that? But only if the polar bear has a large ass and wants to disappoint her family.”

Adam Norwest’s One of a Kind truly is exactly that – one of a kind. Norwest’s brand of upbeat, quirky, (and sometimes silly) humor is a refreshing change of pace from comedians who are simply more negative in their views of the world. Pick up your copy of One of a Kind on Tuesday, July 17 via Rooftop Comedy and get to know Norwest before he totally takes over the comedy industry!