Chris Fairbanks
A deliberately stumbling delivery that masks strange, precise visual jokes.
1 special · 2003
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Chris Fairbanks performs like a man trying to remember a conversation from three days ago. He scrubs his face, squints into the lights, and stammers through setups. He will pause mid-sentence to stare at the floor, letting silence stretch until the room gets nervous. The confusion is an act. He acts completely disorganized so the crowd drops their guard. The jokes hidden under the hesitation are tightly built. He will spend two minutes explaining exactly how a specific animal moves, hitting the punchline while staring at his shoes.
Specials
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Premium Blend: D.L. Hughley host (S7E3) with D.L. Hughley, Lisa Gopman & 2 more
A 2003 television showcase of emerging club comics.
Comedy Central · 25 min
On stage
He is a fixture in the Los Angeles scene, the comic other performers stick around to watch riff. Beyond the stage, he co-hosts the podcast Do You Need A Ride? with Karen Kilgariff, where they drive around the city picking up guests. The mobile format fits his instinct to follow a stray thought until it derails the original topic entirely.
His albums, including Rescue Cactus, capture his willingness to break his own rhythm. If a bit goes too smoothly, he will stop halfway through to complain about his posture or a noise he just made. When talking about skateboarding on an artificial hip, he describes the exact mechanics of the movement. It is a highly visual approach to standup that makes sense given his background in fine arts. He sketches scenarios in the air, letting his raspy voice trail off right as the joke hits.
Originally from Montana, Fairbanks spent time in the Austin scene before moving to California. He still carries the mood of a skater applying the logic of a weird notebook doodle to the structure of a comedy set.
Turning points
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Launch of Do You Need A Ride
Chris Fairbanks and Karen Kilgariff launched an improvised podcast format recorded entirely in a car while driving guests to and from the airport.
At a glance
Podcasts
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Do You Need A Ride? · co-host
Chris Fairbanks and Karen Kilgariff drive guests to and from the airport while recording conversations inside an '08 Honda Accord mobile sound studio.
Also on screen
- Punching the Clown
- Punching Henry
- One Mississippi
- Corporate
- Crashing
A clip to start with
What to Do if You Walk In on Someone Pleasuring Themselves - Chris Fairbanks - Stand-Up Featuring