During his first day here in CoMo, Mike E. Winfield was exhausted but excited to perform at Deja Vu, the comedy club downtown. He said the first show was draining. But he said the second show, the one I got to see, was really invigorating. It showed; he was hilarious.
“I love standup, and I’m always surrounded by laughter,” said Winfield, who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.
Mike’s wife and step-man (young adult stepson) travel with him a lot when he tours the west coast. He said it’s harder now because he’s doing a lot more with his comedic career, but his relationship between him and his wife is tighter than ever. He’s got a good balance between his work schedule and his home life, doing two weekends per month and having the latter half of the month to relax with his family.
He was in Austin last weekend and in Sacramento on Tuesday, then here in Columbia on Friday for Valentine’s Day weekend at Déjà Vu. He said that being a comedian and living this lifestyle is sometimes a mental challenge, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He’s been a comedian for over 10 years now. His first network appearance was on “The Late Show With David Letterman,” and he’s hoping for a second appearance on the show sometime this month. When he was younger, he didn’t know he’d become a comedian. He actually wanted to go to school for business. He ended up going to college and majoring in English because he wanted to write. And it was during a speech class when a teacher asked him if he had considered doing standup that encouraged him to become a comedian.
He said the hardest part about becoming a comedian was learning to do it without expectations because whenever they’re not met, it leads to unhappiness.
He said: “It’s a better process when you just work off the love,” instead of working off of expectations. “You need to do it because you love it,” or you shouldn’t be doing it. Since becoming a comedian, the hardest part has been keeping up with demands for content: “I’m very patient, but I’m backwards.”
He’s fine not putting out content, even though there’s a constant need to give people new material.
“I’d like my product to grow stronger,” he said. “If people are exposed too soon, then they don’t get to see the best work.”
When asked what his favorite part of being a comedian was, he said that “people can actually relate to the dumb stuff I talk about. It’s a very rewarding experience, and I’m glad to be original and different in this.”
His favorite show was when he had a guy pass out in the front row, and he got to riff on it. (You can see it here.) His least favorite show was when he opened for a music group, and he had to perform for five minutes between each act, but he didn’t prepare for that, so he only had 10 minutes of material prepared and had to riff for the rest of the show. He was booed at and cussed out and all for only $200, which he thought, at the time, was a great deal.
Mike credits rappers with being his role models. He’s a big fan of Lil’ Wayne and Michael Jackson, as well as Lauren Hill.
“I feel like I’m in similar career points and can relate,” he said.
He’s a massive fan of creativity and original work. The fact that you could actually make a living off of telling jokes and don’t have to be a doctor is what inspired him to become a comedian and do what he does. He said he saw Eddie Murphy on a VHS tape performing in an arena, and he just knew that it’s what he wanted to do. He also relayed some advice for aspiring comedians.
“Don’t be discouraged, listen to as few people as you can, and don’t quit,” he said. “Also, drugs don’t help you become a better artist.”
His current goal is “Step-Man,” a family-appropriate, “Modern Family”-style TV sitcom that he will produce and star in. All he needs to get the show off the ground is a buyer, which he’s looking for now, and he hopes to have it aired on a network that has a little edginess to it, like Fox.
The biggest difference between performing on a sitcom and performing live is that there’s more pressure to be on a TV sitcom. He’s comfortable with standup comedy because he does it everyday. He thinks about getting involved in acting all the time. He’s even taking acting classes right now.
During our interview, he received an email about an audition for an upcoming part of a Nigerian cab driver in “Taxi 22.” He’s very excited, especially since he’s got until Monday to practice his Nigerian accent. He also just recently created what he calls the “dumbest show,” called “Kicking It with Mike E. Winfield.” It’s got three episodes so far, and it’s on YouTube.
Check out Mike on social media. Instagram and Twitter: @MikeEWinfield. Or go to his website: mikewinfield.com