Mike Trainor’s career in comedy started off simple enough. He went with a friend to a comedy show in the City and watched the crowd tear the comedian apart. Rather than be intimidated, Trainor stepped up to the challenge.
“Some guy on stage was getting heckled so bad he was on the verge of tears. Phil and I looked at each other and said, ‘We can do better than that.’ Turns out we were right,” Trainor said. “But we had an understanding that being awful at first is not unheard of, in fact it’s kind of mandatory.”
After that night, Trainor switched from being in the audience to being on the stage. For the last 10 years, he has been performing stand-up throughout the country.
Although his passion and sense of humor has not diminished, his style has changed as time ticked forward.
“I’ve gone from unemployed former frat boy to professional journalist to road comic to comedy writer,” he said. “I’m also two weeks away from getting married. So my act has changed to reflect all that wonderful development and growth.”
Trainor has expanded his comedy into a written format with “101 Fat Things,” which was published in late 2009. The book came about when he was on stage in Washington and started talking about how he is not fat, but fat things happen to him. When he got off stage, The Laughing Devil’s owner, Steve Hofstetter, said he should write a book based on that routine.
Trainor can also be seen on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on “truTV Presents: World’s Dumbest,” a show that makes fun of the world’s dumbest criminals, parties and more.
“They sent me 50 clips to write jokes for in less than 24 hours. I called another comic up, ordered pizza and spent all day and night working up jokes with him,” Trainor said. “I went in and I guess they liked what they saw because that was 2008 and I’m still on the show.”
Although Trainor recently moved to Manhattan, he spent eight years living in Astoria, which he said has become a hotbed of comedy in the last few years, along with Long Island City.
“When I first moved there, it was because I heard it was cheap, close to the City and full of bars with girls in them. All three were totally true! And apparently every other comic in the City heard the same thing I did because in the time I was there the neighborhood just exploded with comics,” Trainor said. “I still find myself back in the old ‘hood once or twice a week to make with the jokes.”
To find out more about Trainor’s comedy and upcoming shows, visit www.miketrainor.com or facebook.com/GiantComedy.
