Dan St. Germain
Dr. Grins, Grand Rapids
Aug. 8-10, show times at 8, 9 and 10:30 p.m.
$5-$10
thebob.com, (616) 356-2000
Dan St. Germain knows where a good Internet short can get a comedian and has spent time perfecting that art. As a result, his shorts have appeared on the front page of Funny or Die and his series "Kicking Dan Out" is featured on the My Damn Channel Comedy Network.
St. Germian puts all his efforts into writing, producing and acting in his shorts and readily dismisses the notion that just simply focusing on being creative will get the job done. “You can't do that in this day and age,” he said.
“You kind of have to do all the s*** yourself.”
St. Germain didn't start out with Internet shorts, however. His first experience with comedy was in high school.
“I did stand-up three times in high school, and it was pretty f***ing miserable,” St. Germain said. “I bombed. I just quit.”
He began focusing on his writing, specifically on scripts for plays, and would later incorporate these writing skills into projects on The Onion's news and sports networks.
He also branched out into acting, landing his first big gig on "The Electric Company" (yes, the PBS kids show). St. Germain became Referee Jeffrey, a ref who taught math equations to kids.
“It was a nightmare as far as memorization,” he said. “I was terrible at math, so none of it made sense to me anyway.”
St. Germain took the money he earned from the show, and added with his pension he was able to quit his day job and give the stand-up thing another try.
His routines often incorporate uncomfortable, personal aspects of his life, most notably his stint in rehab early on in his stand-up career for alcoholism. He attributes getting clean to boosting his stand-up performance. He laughs as he recalls meeting a fellow comedian at a comedy festival and pouring his heart out to the stranger.
“Before I was headed to rehab I was at a comedy festival, and I sat next to him,” St. Germain said. “I never knew him, and I was like, 'I'm going to rehab. I'm falling apart!'”
Since getting clean, St. Germain is part of a variety of projects. He hosts a podcast titled “My Dumb Friends,” and can be seen regularly on VH1's Best Week Ever, in addition to a few more projects in the works. As to where he wants to be long term?
“Hopefully just doing whatever I'm doing. Or just super rich and sitting on a pile of skulls.”
