Sam Tallent
A hulking, sweating road comic screaming meticulously structured filth.
2 specials · 2021–2023
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Sam Tallent weaponizes his size. He paces the stage like a bear looking for a trash can to destroy, sweating through his shirt and leaning heavily on the microphone stand. He barks out setups that sound like belligerent threats, then immediately unpacks them using precise grammar. He builds jokes entirely on the friction between his intimidating physical presentation and his delicate phrasing. He will yell until his face turns red, demanding the audience appreciate the exact adjective he chose to describe a repulsive act.
Specials
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A rapid-fire barrage of filthy jokes from an indie comedy workhorse.
YouTube · 45 min
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Comedy Dynamics · 49 min
On stage
He is a relentless road comic who commands deep respect from his peers. After spending a decade grinding out forty-five weekends a year, he broke through to wider audiences partly on the strength of his fiction. He wrote Running the Light, a bleak novel about a failing standup. The book earned him an immediate audience of comedy fans who recognized a writer who understood the job.
The standup swings from aggressive filth to surreal absurdism. He leans into the character of an unhinged dirtbag, but the material is entirely too crafted for the persona to be real. When he talks to the crowd, he never asks people what they do for a living. He assigns them bizarre, insulting backstories and steamrolls them until they agree.
Tallent grew up on the plains of eastern Colorado, played high school football as an offensive lineman, and later lived in an anarchist commune in upstate New York. That specific collision of meathead aggression and radical weirdness drives everything he does on a microphone.
Turning points
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Publication of Acclaimed Novel Running the Light
Tallent self-published a gritty novel examining the dark reality of road comedy, which became a widely acclaimed cult favorite among comedians.
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2020–2021
Last Standup Special Filmed Pre-Lockdown
Tallent wrapped filming on his debut special Waiting For Death to Claim Us the final evening before nationwide COVID-19 entertainment venue shutdowns.
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Release of The Toad's Morale Special
Tallent published his special on Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast YouTube channel, receiving critical praise for its joke density and filthy craft.
At a glance
- Born
- , Elizabeth, Colorado
- On stage
- since 2008
- Style
- black comedy, blue humor, surreal, anti humor, crowd work
- Breakout
- Waiting For Death to Claim Us
- Influences
- Norm Macdonald
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Fans also like
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Shane GillisBoth share an unapologetic, joke-dense sensibility rooted in modern podcast culture, and Gillis's platform hosted Tallent's standup special.
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Nathan Lund
Lund is Tallent's longtime Denver scene contemporary, writing partner, and co-host on the Chubby Behemoth podcast.
Podcasts
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Chubby Behemoth · co-host
A comedic podcast hosted by Sam Tallent and Nathan Lund featuring casual conversation, riffs, and stories.
Also on screen
- Legends & Oddities
- The Lot
A clip to start with
Sam Tallent | The Toad's Morale | Full Special