Comedian and actor Chip Chinery had all these journals and pictures in his attic from his stand-up comedy days, so he decided to compile them into a book.
Charging Mount Stand-Up: My First Year On The Road describes not only his club dates in 1988-89, but also documents his hometown's vibrant comedy club scene in the 1980s, with more than a dozen local comics trying to establish themselves in the business.
He calls it "a scrapbook with stories," with a separate chapter on each town, club, fellow comics on the bill and his pay. From October 1988 to October 1989, he saw his compensation increase from $75 for being the opener-emcee in Paducah, Ky., to $475 as the feature act in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
"I know chronicling is weird to many, but not me," says Chinery, a St. Xavier High School (1982) and Miami University (1986) alum who grew up in Anderson Township sneaking out of bed to watch The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
"I even kept my stats in grade school pick-up softball games played in my front yard. I tracked for whom I caddied, the date, and how much I was paid," says Chinery, who was inspired to keep a journal by Miami University Delta Tau Delta fraternity brother Bill Hemmer, the Delhi Township native and Fox News Channel host.
From age 9, Chinery knew he wanted to "be a guy on TV, being funny." His book tells about his transition from a bank marketing officer to stand-up comedian, which enabled him to fulfill his childhood dream: to move to Los Angeles in 1994 and land sitcom roles and lucrative national TV commercials.
At 16, he made his stand-up debut in 1981 at the old d.w. eye comedy club at 277 Calhoun St., across from the old University YMCA and Calhoun Hall. It was torn down years ago for DiBella's Subs and the U-Square parking garage. (Comedian and author Alex Bernstein from Wyoming High School also made his debut at d.w. eye in 1981.)
In the next seven years — through high school, Miami and working as a WCPO-TV camera operator — he made 101 appearances at d.w. eye, the Wishing Well at Reading and Galbraith roads, Giggles in Union Terminal, Fairfield's McLevy Pub, The Balcony in Oxford and other joints.
In his first year as a full-time comic, he writes in Charging Mount Stand-Up about working with local comedians Steve Caminiti, Bert Chalis, Ray Combs, Michael Flannery, Drew Hastings, Jimmy Gilliece, Jeff Jena, Roger Naylor, Nathan Posey, John Riggi, Blair Shannon, Mike Sullivan-Irwin and Bernstein.
He also describes the soon-to-be-famous comics he encountered his first year in the biz: Drew Carey, Chris Rock, Gilbert Gottfried, Ron White, Richard Belzer, Brett Butler and Bobcat Goldthwait. He added a postscript about working with 17-year-old Dave Chappelle in 1990. Chinery wrote in his journal: "He's very likable on stage, nice presence, big smile. Not high energy. He'll probably be big in this biz. I predict TV and movies. He's so young."
Life on the road had plenty of bumps. After a rough night at Joker's Comedy Club in Dayton, the manager suggested to him: "Only do the funny stuff." He quickly learned it was a mistake not to prepare any comebacks for hecklers at his first gig.
"I got good at crowd work. If a heckler popped up, you engage with them and let them talk, and eventually you let them hang themselves," Chinery explained in a phone interview from his Los Angeles home.
That first year he worked with 148 comics in 331 shows in 66 cities. For many of the comics he includes a photo and writes a few lines about their credits and sometimes one of the jokes from their act. For many he also notes what they're doing now.
More than a couple comics found success as a TV writer — not a performer — such as Riggi, the Emmy-winning 30 Rock writer who also wrote for The Larry Sanders Show, Bernie Mac and Will & Grace.
Chinery enjoyed enough success to move to Hollywood in 1994, just five-and-a-half years after committing to a comedy career. He quit the road in 1997, the year he made his sitcom acting debut on Third Rock from the Sun and booked TV commercials for Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Key Bank, Lincoln Mercury and Bud Light.
He never considered a career writing for TV. He wanted to be on TV.
"I tried writing a sitcom (script) in 1982 when Cheers came out. I didn't like it. It was too hard. It would have killed me," he tells me. He can't fathom creating a funny sitcom character, or a Saturday Night Live sketch, for someone else to perform. "It would drive me crazy. I guess my ego is too big."
In 25 years he has assembled animpressive list of TV credits:The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Conners, The Goldbergs, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Mom, The Middle, Anger Management, Speechless, Life In Pieces, The Kids Are Alright and Reba. Five years ago he branched out into TV dramas, landing parts in American Horror Story, NCIS, Shameless, Homecoming and the Battle Of The Sexes movie about the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Robby Riggs.
"I was on the third to the last Seinfeld (in 1998). It was the last one that they shot in the studio. I remember being thrilled that I was on it. I said that it was like being on M*A*S*H. Somewhere some kid is watching M*A*S*H and saying, 'Hey, Grandpa's on-again!' I think Seinfeld will run that long and I will be able to see myself in reruns 20 years from now," he says.
Every time he gets a TV role, he brings his old blue-and-white St. X Bombers gym bag with him to his dressing room. "It reminds me that I started this journey in high school, where it all started," he says.
Chinery knows he's lucky. Only a few who dream of a Hollywood career find sustainable success in show business.
"I'm reminded of that all the time. I have so many friends who are doing a back-up job, and barely getting by (in L.A.)," he says.
After quitting his bank job on Aug. 24, 1988, "I thought I'd make it. It was very foolish when you think about it. I didn't know how risky it was, or what a long shot it was."
