arts & culture
For This Comedian, Standup Counters
the Really Dark Sides of Life
D rew Landry, 29, recalls when his friend Tucker,
8, was crushed to death by an elevator.

“It was very hard to deal with,” he said. “I think the
elevator wasn’t up to code. It was really hard on me.”
Landry said he ended up in a mental hospital
and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as well as
depression. He lived in Baltimore until the age of 5, when he
moved to Chicago. In the Windy City, he went to
a synagogue, found comfort there and was drawn
to Judaism. He identifi es as Jewish, noting that his
favorite Jewish musical artist is Matisyahu.

He returned to his home city at the age of 15.

“I’d grown up idolizing Chris Farley and Jim Carrey,”
he said. “They were really great, but I realized from
seeing standup that I’d be better on my own.”
Now living in Los Angeles, he has a monthly show
at the Hollywood Improv. He’s also performed at the
prestigious Just for Laughs festival in Canada, and
toured with Iliza Shlesinger, Carlos Mencia and Dana
Gould. And he was recently named one of the top
50 humor writers on the online publishing platform
Medium. “The big diff erence is that in Baltimore, you’re one
of a few dozen comedians, and in LA, you’re one of
thousands,” he said.

He thought back to age 13, when he said he was
too young and dumb to know that he wasn’t good.

Still, he honed his craft, and it took a few years to get
better. He noted that all comedians bomb, and it’s
just a matter of being patient; you have to see what
works and what doesn’t.

He recently dropped a mini-comedy special on
YouTube called “All My Friends Are Dead.” A tribute
Drew Landry
to his two best friends who died, it’s about the griev-
ing process. Landry noted that this was a particularly
dark personal set, so he didn’t bother trying to get
it on Netfl ix and instead released it on his own via
YouTube. He reported that it has already been well-received
by other publications, including Paste, a monthly
music and entertainment digital magazine headquar-
tered in Atlanta.

In the special, he described his mom Googling
famous people who were also diagnosed as bipolar.

“She was like, Drew, you’re gonna be fi ne,” he
recounted, adding that she named Nirvana front
man Kurt Cobain, comedian Robin Williams and chef/
author/TV travel host Anthony Bourdain.

Of course, they’re all dead by suicide.

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20 FEBRUARY 9, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
Landry said he wasn’t surprised by the rise in antisem-
itism by musician and rapper Kanye West, now known
as “Ye.”
“I went to two concerts and was a big fan, and then
to see that what he actually believed — that was crazy!”
he said of the rapper and musician’s comments about
his vow to “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Nonetheless, asked about whether or not the public
has become too sensitive when it comes to comedy,
he said that social media causes everyone’s reaction
to be heightened.

“I think free speech should go both ways,” he said “A
comedian should be able to say what he or she wants
on stage. And then, if you don’t like it, you should be
able to say whatever you want about it. It all balances
out, in my opinion.”
But the challenge remains: “How do you talk about a
dark topic that is serious, yet still show the humor of it?”
Landry said staying positive is extremely important.

He said his mom has been very supportive, and it’s
crucial to be around people who believe in you.

While his material can touch on hardcore issues (in a
video from 11 years ago at Baltimore Comedy Club, he
joked that he once snorted Frosted Flakes), it is clear
that he has good timing, cadence and knows how to
hit punchlines.

“Rejection happens in life, and in comedy, it happens
a lot,” acknowledged Landry. “The important thing is
to keep going. Comedy is therapeutic for me, and if
people watch my videos and related it to whatever they
may be going through, and it puts a smile on their face
and they know that they’re not alone … well, that makes
me happy.” ■
Alan Zeitlin is a freelance writer.

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Courtesy of Drew Landry
‘The important thing is to keep going’
Alan Zeitlin