Comedian Melvin George

Melvin George, a comedian, will be performing at St. Jude Parish in Hopatcong on Saturday. He is excited to bring new material and fondly remembers performing in Hopatcong years ago. Melvin praises the honesty of the audience in New Jersey and is flexible about his performance order. He shares that his inspiration for comedy came from watching comedians on TV and using jokes to diffuse tense situations. Melvin mentions his online presence, including a Dry Bar Comedy special and his website and YouTube channel. He ends the conversation by expressing his anticipation for performing in a church and calling himself "God's favorite comedian." My guest who's joining me now is one of the two headlining comedians who will be there on Saturday. We had a chance last week to meet comedian Jim and Jim DeLakes, and now joining me live here at the RNJ Morning Program is the other headliner, Melvin George, who is going to be there on Saturday night as well. Melvin, good morning. It's Burt Barron, RNJ Radio in Hackettstown. How are you today? I'm just fine, Burt. How are you today? Great, great. Thank you so much for a little bit of your time today, and looking forward to having you doing your thing at the St. Jude Parish in Hopatcong on Saturday, Melvin. So looking forward to some big laughs. You got some good stuff for us that you're going to bring out on Saturday? I am so looking forward to it. I am so looking forward to it. I have nothing but big stuff to bring out, and I'm bringing it all to Hopatcong. I was in Hopatcong before, a long time ago. There used to be a comedy club I think called, it was either Freddy's, or it was in Lake Hopatcong. Okay. And we had to drive from New York City to Lake Hopatcong, do a three-act show, and then drive back to New York. I always got back around one or two in the morning. So fond memories, is that what you're trying to tell me? Very fond memories. I'm looking forward to going back, and I have a new act from 30 years ago. I'm not doing the same stuff I did 30 years ago. Oh, I'm sure you weren't. I'm sure you weren't. We're a good group of people in Jersey, right, Melvin? We're a good breed of human being that you get to do your work for here, I would think? The absolute best. The honesty is unfathomable. Everybody, they'll let you know whether they like it immediately. They'll let you know when they don't like it immediately. They keep you on your toes. We're an honest group, that's for sure. Melvin, with a night like this, when there's two headlining comedians, is there a code in the comedy world as to who goes on first, and how do you determine the order? Is that something that you and Jim are, I don't know, maybe you're going to throw hands or something that night to see who goes on first, or how do you work that out? Normally, it's up to the person that hired us. They know our strengths and our weaknesses, so whatever choice they make, I run with it. If it's first, it's fine. If it's second, it's super. Yeah, okay. You have a preference? You want to be the headliner? You want to go last or first, or either way is cool with you? No, I go wherever I'm assigned, because I don't do anything that's not predestined. Usually, when I make a choice, it ends up being the wrong choice. I let the choices be made for me. You and I have a lot in common, apparently. Exactly. I took a job that I have to get up at 2.30 in the morning for, exactly. 2.30 in the morning, good Lord. See, that's about the time I started to go to sleep. I was going to say, how many comedy gigs have you gotten home at 2.30 in the morning from over the years? Right, right. Oh, please. Yeah. My day doesn't usually end until 5 a.m. when I'm working. Oh, man. Man. Any inspirational, who inspired you to get into comedy, Melvin? Were you watching the comedians when you were growing up? When I was growing up, a long time ago, I watched comedians on the Tonight Show. My parents used to fight a lot. In order to keep me from fighting, I found out if I would tell them jokes, they couldn't fight. I found out if I was telling the bullies jokes, I wouldn't get beat up. I found out if I was telling my wife jokes, she wouldn't leave. Okay. You got it all worked out, it sounds like. So far, so good. Man, oh, man. I cannot wait for your show coming up on Saturday. By the way, get some tickets, stjudehopatcong.org. Great night of comedy, St. Jude Parish. Doors open at 5. Showtime is 6.30. We'll give away some more tickets coming up over the next couple days here since the show is coming up on Saturday. What's the holy grail of comedy rooms, Melvin? There used to be places like New York, Los Angeles. Is it anywhere nowadays where you can get an audience and just have a good time? Is that as good as it gets in stand-up comedy nowadays? When I first started, the holy grail of comedy was the improv, Catch a Rising Star, Dangerfield, Comic Strip. But now, because comedy has gotten so big over the years, an audience is wherever you develop it. It can be on the internet. It can be in a club. It can be in an arena. Wherever you develop it, that's where the holy grail is. It went from being outside to inside. It's all in you now. Very cool. Do you do any social media, Melvin? Can people find you online and take a little look at your work? Yeah. I have a Dry Bar Comedy special. My website is notcool-1.com. I have a YouTube channel, notcool1.com. I wasn't always notcool-1. It used to just be notcool. That was when AOL first came out. I had to change it because when I first signed up, I forgot my password. Is that what happened? I couldn't get in, so I changed it to notcool-1. Ten years later, I remember what my password was. Right on time, of course. My password was Alan Ludden. Wow. Is that right? Alan Ludden was the host of a game show called Password. Right. I thought if I made that my password, I'd never forget it. That's true. That's brilliant. Right. Former Mr. Betty White for a while there, too, right? Wasn't he? Yes, he was. Wow. How about that? That's good. Maybe I'll try a variation of Alan Ludden for my password going forward. Very cool. Melvin, thank you for the time this morning. I'm looking forward to catching you on Saturday in Opatcong. I really appreciate it. Good luck with everything. We'll see you then on Saturday in Opatcong. I'm looking forward to being in a church because I call myself God's favorite comedian. There you go. God needs a good laugh. He looks into my life. There you go. We're in for a great show on Saturday. Melvin, thank you again for the time. We'll see you then. Thank you.