James Adomian

Episode notes

(Photo: Daniel Spear)

James Adomian is a comedian with a foot in two worlds.

The first world is stand up comedy, which he’s been doing for two decades now. He’ll make smart observations and jokes about his personal life. He’s really good at that stuff.

The other world he’s in is impressions. He’s really good at that stuff, too. His impressions of folks like Al Pacino, Paul Giamatti, Bernie Sanders are all unreal.

Now one may think that stand up and impressions aren’t really that different. I mean, it’s all comedy, right? But think about the effort both take. To get good at stand up, you spend years on stage, workshopping joke after joke until you have something that the audience responds to. 

To master an impression, it’s kind of the opposite. You study how Bernie Sanders talks, how he moves, and practice it in the mirror until you’ve got it. Then you go on stage and get that big laugh. 

Adomian’s comedy is a mix of both of those things, and it’s what makes him unique, and one of the best in the biz.

He’s got a new special out called Path of Most Resistance, and you can watch it for free on YouTube now.

(Photo: 800 Pound Gorilla)

James Adomian joins us to talk about his career in comedy and how he got into doing impressions – and even does a few for us. He’ll also tell us about the time he opened for Joan Rivers… and bombed.