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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Alonzo Bodden

A deeply calm baritone treating the news with amused exhaustion.

6 specials · 2001–2022

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Alonzo Bodden owns a room simply by standing still. He is a huge guy with a resonant voice, and he uses his size not to intimidate, but to anchor. His delivery is slow and deliberate. For crowd work, he doesn’t interrogate people. He asks a question, leans on the mic stand, and waits. If the audience gives a weird answer, he doesn’t yell. He stares out at the room and lets the silence do the heavy lifting before offering a soft, flat verdict.

Specials

On stage

He occupies a specific space as the designated grown-up. As a long-time regular on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, he bridges the gap between club comedy and public radio. He works a late-night basement and a Sunday morning theater with the exact same material, because the joke isn’t built on shock. It is built on exasperation. He is the comic you watch when you are tired of people yelling.

Bodden does not write tight, isolated jokes. He builds conversational blocks of material about politics, cars, and the general failure of common sense. He starts bits by summarizing a news item with total detachment, pausing only to point out the plain absurdity of whatever politician he is mocking. He works best when slightly annoyed. When he gets too enthusiastic about a topic like his beloved motorcycles, the tension in the act slackens.

Before comedy, Bodden was a jet mechanic and trainer for Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas. He realized he liked making people laugh while teaching aerospace workers, and the habit of patiently taking a broken thing apart to show why it fails never left his act.

Turning points

  1. Transition from Aerospace Mechanics to Standup

    After working for a decade as an airplane mechanic, Bodden discovered his comedic talent while teaching and training new mechanics in classroom environments, prompting him to take a comedy writing class and start standup.

  2. New Faces Showcase at Montreal Just for Laughs

    Bodden achieved his first major industry breakthrough performing at the prestigious New Faces of Comedy showcase during the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.

  3. Victory on Last Comic Standing Season 3

    After finishing as the runner-up in season two earlier in 2004, Bodden won the third season of NBC's reality competition series Last Comic Standing, which served as his breakout introduction to mainstream audiences across America.

  4. Kidney Donation to His Brother

    Bodden donated a kidney to his older brother, subsequently using humor to lighten medical discussions while hosting benefit performances for kidney organizations.

At a glance

Born
, Queens, New York
On stage
since 1995
Style
topical, social commentary, satire, observational, storytelling
Breakout
Last Comic Standing (Season 3)
Influences
George Wallace, George Carlin, Lewis Black, Richard Pryor, Dave Chappelle
Topics
Elsewhere
Website, Wikipedia

Fans also like

  • Lewis Black

    Both comedians focus heavily on topical social commentary and pointing out systemic absurdities and political hypocrisy in current events.

  • George Wallace

    Bodden credits Wallace as a foundational mentor and comedic hero whose veteran standup craft helped shape his perspective.

    Photo: USAG- Humphreys U.S. Army photo by Steven Hoover and Terese Toennies / CC-BY-2.0

  • D.L. Hughley

    Both share an audience and a performance style that balances sharp observational standup with biting political and racial commentary.

Podcasts

  • Who's Paying Attention? · host

    Alonzo gives his unique take on what is going on in the world, current events, and the news.

    Apple Podcasts

Also on screen

Bringing Down the House Bear
The Girl Next Door Steel
Scary Movie 4 Jamison
The Onion Movie Prisoner
Californication Alonzo

A clip to start with

A clip of Alonzo Bodden