Bryan Gutmann Knows How it Works

I don’t always get to sit in on Valerie’s inter­views, but it’s always a treat when I do. This time I was lucky enough to host for­mer Fun­ni­est Per­son in Austin Bryan Gut­mann at [the undis­closed secret branch of] Com­e­dy Wham North, and he couldn’t have been nicer. We even got the chance to geek out over the Mar­vel uni­verse, movies, kids, and more after the inter­view. Gut­mann is a gen­uine, affa­ble man, a kid at heart, and both come through in ​“real life” just as it does in his comedic perspectives. 

Anoth­er East Coast com­e­dy alum, Gut­mann grew up in the small town of Pleas­ant Val­ley, just out­side of Pough­keep­sie (thank you, spellcheck), New York. In such a small locale, expo­sure to com­e­dy isn’t always easy to come by, but he found a win­dow into the indus­try through basic cable as well as albums his fam­i­ly had around the house. Gut­mann always had cre­ativ­i­ty in his blood, explor­ing illus­tra­tion, and admir­ing ani­ma­tion and how it makes the jour­ney from hum­ble cels to the big screen. 

Luck­i­ly for us, a fam­i­ly move brought Gut­mann to his cur­rent home with us in Austin. It was here that com­e­dy found its pur­chase in his life, with mile­stones like the time he had a chance to see the unequalled Mitch Hed­berg live. Around this time, Gutmann’s inter­est in always see­ing the ​“sto­ry behind the sto­ry” again took hold and cement­ed his love of how com­e­dy is tru­ly built, both on and off the stage. 

Catch up with Gut­mann and Valerie as they cov­er his start in Austin com­e­dy, from open mics to earn­ing the title of Fun­ni­est Per­son in Austin. We also get to hear about unique oppor­tu­ni­ties with Com­e­dy Cen­tral, Moon­tow­er Com­e­dy Fes­ti­val, rub­bing famous elbows on tour, and more. 

After the inter­view, go grab your copy of Bryan Gutmann’s lat­est album, That’s How Sci­en­tists Talk at Sure Thing Records. Fol­low him on Twit­ter, and check out the Austin Ses­sions episode with Gut­mann that Valerie ref­er­ences in the interview.