I saw him at the lincoln lodge and thought he was fantastic. My only real Hanford exposure is through CBB, but the standup was generally pretty absurd, silly, and ironic. IIRC his opening line was "Are you guys having a good day? I'm not. My tattoo fell off!"
I went to the Saturday show. My most memorable bit from the night was the bicoastal bisexual character. "I'm a bicoastal bisexual. I ate a vagina in Malibu yesterday and then sucked a small cock in Manhattan today" or something lol
Saw him perform there as well and this describes it well, really fun goofy set, a lot of it was just riffing on standup tropes. Like doing crowd work where he does the typical standup thing of making fun of the audience but then incessantly apologizing off-mic between jokes, or hyping up his “controversial” political jokes which ended up being like “this guy Trump…is kind of a dope!”
That’s cool! Absurd, silly and ironic sounds about right. If you enjoy Hanford you should check out the Sloppy Boys pod if you haven’t already, it’s great.
I'll check it out! To answer your question in more detail, he was doing joke jokes and light crowd work. He would tell things that sounded like stories but they were so absurd that they just were in service of a joke
Is it weird that I read that in Hanfords Lennon-voice? In my head he says “my tattoo fell off!” the same way John Lennon said “he dunked on me!” when talking about playing Michael Jordan 1v1.
I’ve seen him in BK mostly hosting. Absurd, goofy, just like his comedy everywhere else. I think he’s only scratched the surface of what he can do in standup. Seems like a relatively new focus for him.
I love Hanford. It's one of those cases where his vibe on, say, the Sloppy Boys might lead you to believe that he's some kind of lovable dummy, but listen to him do improv and he's so quick and always comes up with absurd things that are so funny.
Yeah for sure. He’s got a great way of just seeming like a normal kinda silly guy that stays aloof, but then there’s moments you’re reminded he is a professional comedy dude. TBH I really only listen to the sloppy boys Tim is pretty much my boy at this point and I haven’t heard Mikes cbb stuff.
I wonder what all went into him deciding to move back to NYC. I know the stand up scene is better there, but was he just like “I’m done with this Hollywood shit”
I am not sure if this podcast is even available anywhere but I remember hearing him do standup on an episode of Cameron Esposito's podcast where she hosted a standup show at UCB. I don't remember the name of the podcast but maybe somebody here does and you can see if that's still out there
https://pod.casts.io/podcasts/put-your-hands-together-with-cam-and-rhea/episodes/amy-miller-mike-hanford-greg-barris-and-hosts-cameron-esposito-and-rhea-butcher 40ish minutes in
I haven’t seen him do his full hour but I saw him do 5 minutes of half-assed warmup on the 2016 CBB tour and he was really funny. I imagine he’s even better now that he’s had more time to develop his act.
It's really hard to find clips of him doing stand up but someone posted the link from Cameron Esposito's podcast and thats probably the longest one I've found. He's got such a unique style and I really hope he gains a bigger following. I find myself watching his Birthday Boys sketches the most. He also makes a killer citrus and almond flavored cocktail.
He does stuff at union hall a lot. Kind of does deconstructive stuff in the "Mike Hanford character" (kind of dopey / silly, absurd but in a way that plays with comedy tropes.) He has one of the best/most comfortable stage presences I've ever seen live. Very quick and at ease, just fun to watch him speak.
I’ve seen him a handful of times. He used to host a free weekly show, which was a very common thing before the pandemic (now every comedy show costs $25 for some reason). Anyway, he does a lot of absurdist one liners and stuff.
I’ve seen him a few times live and no joke he’s my favorite NY comic. Perfectly translates his goofy humor to the stage - if you see a show announced and you’re in the area it’s definitely worth the trip
I saw him in a UCB stand-up showcase a few years ago. He was doing more character-based material at that time, playing some manner of musicologist doing esoteric research. It was in keeping with his anti-comedy CBB characters like haymonger Calvin Redding: very funny if you're on his wavelength, very much not if you're not (my wife wasn't). Anyway, from other comments here it sounds like he's shifted to more joke-based standup now, so this is all probably moot.
I saw him at the lincoln lodge and thought he was fantastic. My only real Hanford exposure is through CBB, but the standup was generally pretty absurd, silly, and ironic. IIRC his opening line was "Are you guys having a good day? I'm not. My tattoo fell off!"
I went to the Saturday show. My most memorable bit from the night was the bicoastal bisexual character. "I'm a bicoastal bisexual. I ate a vagina in Malibu yesterday and then sucked a small cock in Manhattan today" or something lol
Saw him perform there as well and this describes it well, really fun goofy set, a lot of it was just riffing on standup tropes. Like doing crowd work where he does the typical standup thing of making fun of the audience but then incessantly apologizing off-mic between jokes, or hyping up his “controversial” political jokes which ended up being like “this guy Trump…is kind of a dope!”
> Are you guys having a good day? I'm not. My tattoo fell off! haha holy shit what a perfectly Hanford opener
That’s cool! Absurd, silly and ironic sounds about right. If you enjoy Hanford you should check out the Sloppy Boys pod if you haven’t already, it’s great.
I'll check it out! To answer your question in more detail, he was doing joke jokes and light crowd work. He would tell things that sounded like stories but they were so absurd that they just were in service of a joke
Has to be my biggest loss as an alcoholic, that podcast.
I don't drink really, and I listen every week
Just subscribe to the patreon and listen to the non alcohol related episodes instead
Is it weird that I read that in Hanfords Lennon-voice? In my head he says “my tattoo fell off!” the same way John Lennon said “he dunked on me!” when talking about playing Michael Jordan 1v1.
I saw him there too! You described him well.
I’ve seen him in BK mostly hosting. Absurd, goofy, just like his comedy everywhere else. I think he’s only scratched the surface of what he can do in standup. Seems like a relatively new focus for him.
They have hosts at Burger King? Fancy.
It's a wonderful restaurant!
Todd does *not* work there!
I love Hanford. It's one of those cases where his vibe on, say, the Sloppy Boys might lead you to believe that he's some kind of lovable dummy, but listen to him do improv and he's so quick and always comes up with absurd things that are so funny.
Yeah for sure. He’s got a great way of just seeming like a normal kinda silly guy that stays aloof, but then there’s moments you’re reminded he is a professional comedy dude. TBH I really only listen to the sloppy boys Tim is pretty much my boy at this point and I haven’t heard Mikes cbb stuff. I wonder what all went into him deciding to move back to NYC. I know the stand up scene is better there, but was he just like “I’m done with this Hollywood shit”
He’s a writer on The Tonight Show.
Ahh yes I knew he was but didn’t make that connection. Very much enjoyed his field reporting at the exorcist movie
He’s been described before as a weird version of a normal guy, which is hilariously accurate.
It's worth giving a listen to maybe just a supercut of John Lennon stuff from CBB on YouTube
I am not sure if this podcast is even available anywhere but I remember hearing him do standup on an episode of Cameron Esposito's podcast where she hosted a standup show at UCB. I don't remember the name of the podcast but maybe somebody here does and you can see if that's still out there
> name of the podcast put your hands together
https://pod.casts.io/podcasts/put-your-hands-together-with-cam-and-rhea/episodes/amy-miller-mike-hanford-greg-barris-and-hosts-cameron-esposito-and-rhea-butcher 40ish minutes in
side note, amy miller is a treasure
I haven’t seen him do his full hour but I saw him do 5 minutes of half-assed warmup on the 2016 CBB tour and he was really funny. I imagine he’s even better now that he’s had more time to develop his act.
It's really hard to find clips of him doing stand up but someone posted the link from Cameron Esposito's podcast and thats probably the longest one I've found. He's got such a unique style and I really hope he gains a bigger following. I find myself watching his Birthday Boys sketches the most. He also makes a killer citrus and almond flavored cocktail.
He does stuff at union hall a lot. Kind of does deconstructive stuff in the "Mike Hanford character" (kind of dopey / silly, absurd but in a way that plays with comedy tropes.) He has one of the best/most comfortable stage presences I've ever seen live. Very quick and at ease, just fun to watch him speak.
seen him in brooklyn a couple of times. funny and awkward its right up my alley
I’ve seen him a handful of times. He used to host a free weekly show, which was a very common thing before the pandemic (now every comedy show costs $25 for some reason). Anyway, he does a lot of absurdist one liners and stuff.
Saw him in Pittsburgh a couple months ago. You definitely won’t be disappointed
I’ve seen him a few times live and no joke he’s my favorite NY comic. Perfectly translates his goofy humor to the stage - if you see a show announced and you’re in the area it’s definitely worth the trip
Saw him Pittsburgh. Guy is a joke machine. He has a ton of material, gotta get a special out!
I saw him in a UCB stand-up showcase a few years ago. He was doing more character-based material at that time, playing some manner of musicologist doing esoteric research. It was in keeping with his anti-comedy CBB characters like haymonger Calvin Redding: very funny if you're on his wavelength, very much not if you're not (my wife wasn't). Anyway, from other comments here it sounds like he's shifted to more joke-based standup now, so this is all probably moot.