Wayne Federman

Wayne Federman tells jokes like a substitute teacher who just decided to abandon the syllabus. He stands perfectly still, speaking in a low, even murmur. He leans into dead air. He will let a pause stretch out for an uncomfortable length of time, waiting for the audience to laugh just to break the silence. Sometimes he sits at a keyboard, playing soft chords as a dramatic backing track to a very boring complaint.

He is the comedy world’s resident historian. He drops in for a single, perfectly dry scene in dozens of comedy movies, and he literally teaches the history of standup at USC.

His act is about seeing how little he can get away with. He strips away the volume and the pacing of a standard club set. Instead, he talks about mundane historical facts or strange idioms with absolute, straight-faced patience. He looks and sounds like a guy who should be approving loan applications, and he uses that expectation to catch the room off guard.

He spends his off-stage time writing books and producing documentaries about giants like George Carlin and Garry Shandling. You can see that research in his own material. He knows exactly how a traditional joke is supposed to function, which makes it funnier when he decides to just let a premise wander off instead.