After a night spent telling jokes back in his hometown of Detroit, Alex English is hungry for some damn pancakes.
鈥淚鈥檝e literally been coming here since I was a kid,鈥 he says, sitting in a booth at on Woodward Avenue in Birmingham. 鈥淚 applied to work here like, so many times鈥 he adds with a laugh. 鈥淚 keep giving them business, and they don鈥檛 want me.鈥
They might keep him as a customer, but they missed their chance to have him serving pancakes. The Detroit native now only visits when he returns from New York, where he makes his living writing for听.听
This fall marks his return for his second season to听厂狈尝听after what he calls a successful first year.
Newbies don鈥檛 always get their ideas on the air, but one of his original ideas 鈥 a sketch called 鈥淣ice Jail鈥 that featured Willem Dafoe 鈥 made the cut.
鈥淚t was great. It went really well,鈥 he says of that first year. 鈥淚 mean, I was scared as hell.鈥
Despite his success on the late-night show, English鈥檚 focus is stand-up 鈥 a career he fell into by accident. After graduating from college in 2012, he moved to New York with no other goal than earning enough money to pay rent. Waiting tables and working temp jobs, he attended an open mic night with a friend. Not planning to perform, he told some jokes on the fly 鈥 and was invited back.
That led to more open mics, which led to some paid gigs, which led to getting an agent, which led to writing for TV shows like听The Rundown with Robin听Thede, The Fix听补苍诲听狈补迟颈辞苍补濒听Lampoon听Radio Hour 鈥 and, after three attempts,听SNL.听
He spent this summer touring with and opening for Colin Jost, with the hopes of, in time, getting his own TV special. Being among a group听called 鈥淭he Queer Young Comics Redefining American Humor,鈥 he may be on his way.
鈥淢y stand-up is so special to me,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t just continues to grow.鈥
Keep your eye our for where Alex English lands next 鈥 he鈥檚 hungry for a lot more than pancakes.
This story is from the September 2022 issue of 香港六合彩图库资料 magazine.听Read more in听our digital edition.
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