Valerie Lopez
Richard Goodwin
A transplant from his birthplace in upstate New York, Andrew Murphy is a face (and voice) you’ll be familiar with from the Funniest Person in Austin finalist lineup the last few years.
Like many Austinites, when he landed here he first pursued the twin passions of college and music. (Don’t miss his fiery endorsement of rhythm instruments in the interview.) But when he discovered the local comedy scene, and tried his first open mic at – of all places – a furniture-shop-cum-part-time-theatre, the beginnings of Murphy’s comic fire started kindling.
While drummers literally keep the pace of a show, he found moving from the back of the stage to front and center very much to his liking. In another similarity to musicians, comics know that proficiency requires practice and repetition, so he set himself to the task of nurturing his style and presence on a regular basis.
In Austin, that means not only individual open mics, but getting into shows like PUNCH, and running others Bounce House (which sadly had its last installment in June of this year). There are a ton of great shows and venues of all varieties to be found in Austin (check out Last Gas Comedy for a comprehensive calendar), and Murphy gave Valerie Lopez some great advice for honing your performance and “building your calluses” (in a good way) in the rich local scene.
Get out to see Murphy performing with Lisa Friedrich and JR Brow at Cap City Comedy June 29th through July 1st. After that, catch him in the next Six Shooters at Barrel O’ Fun, a recurring freestyle wild-Western themed show co-hosted by Mac Blake and Aaron Brooks, that runs the second Wednesday of every month. He also co-hosts The Joke of Painting with Avery Moore, the fourth Monday of every month at Spider House Ballroom.
Valerie Lopez
Richard Goodwin