Auggie Smith
A high-volume ranter who wrestles club crowds into submission.
3 specials · 2022–2023
Start with Cult Following, the breakout (2022 · Stand Up! Records)
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Auggie Smith performs at a full sprint. He builds a joke by pacing the stage and raising his pitch until he is shouting at the ceiling about a bad driver. Then, right at the peak of his volume, he stops, drops his shoulders, takes a slow breath, and resets his voice to a quiet murmur. He controls a room simply by dictating the noise level.
Specials
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A fast-paced comedy album full of loud, sarcastic rants.
Stand Up! Records · Album
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An album of loud, sputtering stand-up rants against public hypocrisy.
Stand Up! Records · Album · 48 min
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A loud, early-2000s comedy album targeting municipal hypocrisy.
Stand Up! Records · Album
On stage
He is a road veteran who has spent three decades headlining clubs. In 2010, he became the first comic to win both the Seattle and San Francisco International Comedy Competitions in the same year. He remains a staple of satellite comedy radio, where his breathless outbursts fit perfectly into afternoon rotation.
Smith is funniest when he is being petty. He works best when the stakes are low. He will yell himself hoarse over a bumper sticker or the noise an emergency broadcast system makes, and the intensity of his reaction is entirely disproportionate to the actual problem. When he tackles broader political issues, the shouting occasionally overtakes the premise, making the jokes feel less sharp than his smaller grievances. His later work leans into his delayed arrival to fatherhood, treating his toddlers with the exact same exhausted, adversarial energy he once reserved for strangers.
He spent his early career wearing a suit and attempting quiet, deadpan material. He only developed his signature yell out of self-preservation, realizing the easiest way to make a noisy bar listen to a setup was to scream over the room.
Turning points
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Sam Adams Contest Win Sparks National TV Debut
Winning the Sam Adams Comedy Contest in Boston earned Smith his national television debut on A&E's An Evening at the Improv.
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Historic Double Win in Seattle and San Francisco
Smith became the first stand-up comedian to win both the San Francisco International Comedy Competition and the Seattle International Comedy Competition in the same calendar year.
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Co-Founding the Big Sky Comedy Festival
Smith co-founded the Big Sky Comedy Festival in Billings, Montana, where he frequently co-hosts the event's annual two-team competition.
At a glance
- Born
- 1970, Santa Rosa, California
- On stage
- since 1989
- Style
- rant, political satire, observational, storytelling
- Breakout
- Cult Following
- Influences
- Bobby Slayton, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, Norm Macdonald, Fozzie Bear
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Fans also like
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Lewis Black
Both comics specialize in cathartic, fist-shaking, rapid-fire rants that vent furious indignation at the hypocrisies of society and politics.
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Greg WarrenA fellow touring comic and Bob & Tom Show favorite who collaborated directly with Smith on comedy video projects for Funny or Die.
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Josh Sneed
A fellow fixture of the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom Show circuit who has co-headlined touring dates with Smith.
Podcasts
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Motivationally Speaking · host
An interview podcast where Smith sits down for in-depth conversations with fellow stand-up comedians.
Also on screen
- An Evening at the Improv
- Live at Gotham
- Last Comic Standing
- I Am Road Comic
- My Favorite Movie
A clip to start with
If You Don't Have Kids, Don't Judge My Parenting. Auggie Smith