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Meet Benjamin “Dr. Drollery” Gibson

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin “Dr. Drollery” Gibson.

Benjamin “Dr. Drollery” Gibson

Hi Benjamin, “Dr. Drollery,” thanks for sharing your story. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
I could make people laugh all my life, but I didn’t always understand why. Once, a coworker told me I should go into show business. I read scholarly articles and books on comedy. I listened to comedy for years. Next, friends told me they were interested in standup, but I was worried I would be canceled if someone found my jokes dull after I read a story about a man who had that problem and ultimately got another job. After the pandemic, I met more comedians who encouraged me to start my journey. And I don’t want to let them down.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?

Years ago, I attended two open mic nights as an audience member. I didn’t want to come back. Comedians start out performing in smoke-filled open mic nights at bars late in the evening. Secondhand smoke gives me headaches. Staying out late makes it harder to get your 8 hours of sleep.
I knew about sketch comedy and thought maybe this is my jam. An acquaintance raved about an improv class. I went to an improv comedy performance, but I didn’t like the blue jokes.
Then two friends told me about a dance class. It was so much fun I promised I would take a dance class, even though it conflicted with the comedy class. Thus, I skipped a standup comedy class. That venue went out of business.
Years later another venue offered standup classes. I missed their classes a few times. I would see classes more than an hour away, and know I wasn’t driving that far. I almost gave up until I heard a recording of a comic say how he started out driving that distance or more just to perform at an open mic, and I remembered a guy drove almost 5 hours to perform at an open mic.
I thought about that during the pandemic and regret. I had given up on my dream. Yet I still had an urge to perform on stage as a comedian even though if I saw some celebrities being cancelled for offensive jokes.
I read books, participated in a writing challenge, and watched videos, but felt like I leaned nothing. I enrolled in a comedy class, and the start date was delayed.
 I went to some open mic nights and people didn’t laugh. I told one comic I didn’t know how to write, and was worried about bombing daily for a year, and creating a reputation as not being funny.
 He told me everyone writes unfunny material for the first year before they get consistently better daily. It encouraged me to not give up. Another comic reassured me that some audiences like my performance better than others so I should not give up.
Local comedians are super supportive by giving advice. Like any craft, you start out being super critical of yourself and improve a tiny amount daily. Success is only possible after falling on your face and getting up daily.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to be more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I have liked clean observational comedy since I encountered absurdity as a child. I would see adults act unexpectedly; people would laugh. Also, as a kid, I read a story about Kit Carson discovering Yellowstone geysers. When he told people about it, they didn’t believe him, and he created a reputation as a clown. Sometimes I had that experience. If I ever encountered wacky truths, I loved sharing them, and people loved laughing. Other times, unexpected things happened. I then felt like l my life was a joke, so why not share that with others? My favorite joke experience was in Spain. There is a song with the lyrics “Ay, yi yi, yi, canta no llores.” It translates as ” ay, yi, yi, yi, sing, don’t cry.” During a conversation, one student was venting about his day. He sighed and ended his venting by saying, “Ay, yi, yi, yi.” No one else spoke, so I said, “Canta no llores.” Everyone laughed and was happy that I knew their beloved song.

What are your plans for the future?
At an open mic night, I witnessed a host do impressive crowd work. The other audience members were thanking him and praising him. He was even asked if he wanted to come back and host more often. He agreed to do that. It inspires me to become as good as him. Attending more open mic nights will make me a good host over the next year and improve my crowdwork skills through practice. I will enroll in an improv class. I enjoy listening to comics on podcasts and would like to share humor as a guest. I will be traveling to NYC for a comedy class graduation. Hopefully, comedy clubs will book me for shows afterward. Email is the best way to get ahold of me. I use other socials at different rates.

Pricing:

  • inquire via email drbengibson@gmail.com

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Benjamin Gibson

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