"Four Stand-up Dads" takes comedic perspective on parenting

 

Last updated 12/25/2013 at Noon

It’s just four guys, a microphone and a laptop that can plug into a projector. “That’s all we need. We don’t have any roadies or anything like that. All we have are our voices and our stories, that’s all the equipment we have to bring,” said Dan St. Paul about their upcoming show at the Lutcher Theater.

“Four Stand-up Dads”– Dan St. Paul, Tim Bedore, Kelly McDonald and Milt Able will take the stage at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 3 for their first time in Orange.

It’s four different perspectives on parenting by four middle-aged stand-up comedians. “Most comedians talk about what is going on in their lives and hope that it connects with the audience,” said St. Paul in a phone interview. “As we’ve gotten older, gotten married and had children, our acts reflected more and more of what we were doing and who we were.”

Comedy club audiences in general are pretty young and childless according to St. Paul. He said in San Francisco, they tended to be between 20-30.

“They don’t get it. They don’t understand it. They haven’t been through it. They don’t know what a parent-teacher conference is all about. Or the frustrations of trying to have a second child and its not working. All these things that happen; calls from the principal’s office and all that kind of stuff. So we decided we would create a show together where we could find our audience and that is how it came about. It was my idea.”

He said he was asked to come up with a show for a venue in the San Francisco Bay area. “I thought this was a time for this show to be put together. These other three guys are all friends of mine I’ve known for 25 plus years, so we all know each other really well. We all kind of started around the same time in the 80s.”

He said Bedore and Able got their start in San Francisco with him. “The fourth guy, Kelly, cut his chops in Las Angeles and Vegas.”

“Over the years we’ve gone on to different places, Tim lives in Minneapolis, Kelly lives in Las Vegas and Milt lives in Portland, Ore.

“We’re all in different places, but we love coming together and seeing each other and doing this show. It’s great fun,” said St. Paul.

They all have different perspective.

“I have one child, a boy, who has mild aspergers syndrome. Tim has a girl who is in high school. Kelly has two boys and Milt has three kids, so we let him go last because he’s the most tired.”

St. Paul said they each do a set about 25 minutes. There are also slides for visual support, “so people can see who we are talking about.” We talk about our relationships with our kids and our parent’s relationship with us and how that all goes along; that circle of life.”

He said it’s a lot of fun, because the people who come can relate to it.

They have been doing the show for 11 years. This is their first Texas performance. They will perform in Orange, then in Galveston the following night.

St. Paul said they will meet up in the Houston airport then rent a car and drive to the venue together.

Their kids have grown since they started the show. Now they are all in their teens and 20s.

“The biggest thing at my house is my son finally finished college...he quit. When you’re a senior in junior college, it’s time to weigh other options.” he said with a laugh.

“Everybody likes to think everything is going to be honky dory and their kid is going to become a doctor when they grow up, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. It’s more about your relationship with your kids and how healthy that is, that’s what makes life more enjoyable, not whether they are bringing in a ton of dough. I don’t care about that,” he said.

They do between 20-25 shows a year, mainly in the fall, winter or spring.

St. Paul said they get quite a few gigs in September because colleges and universities are having their parent’s weekends. They want to have a show that both the parents and students can enjoy together.

When they are not doing “Four Stand-up Dads” they are busy with their own careers.

“I have my own show, ‘What’s funny after 50?’ about aging, I’ve been in my 50s for 12 years now, so I’m sort of an expert,” he said.

St. Paul said he does other club and theater dates, along with a fair amount of corporate work.

He said the show is suitable for about ages 14 and up. There is no profanity, but some of the subject matter might not be suitable for younger children.

If you would like to find out more about the comedians, check out their Web site: standupdads.com

Tickets are $35-45. Student tickets are discounted $5. To purchase tickets got to lutcher.org or contact the box office at 409-886-5535. The theater is located at 707 W. Main Ave. in Orange.

 

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