For the better part of the last year, Zachariah Porter has loved every minute of being able to bring his comedic perspective and character work to a live setting. Now, as he closes in on wrapping up the first leg of his latest tour, he’s looking forward to presenting his work in front of his main source of inspiration — a hometown crowd.
With the finish line in sight for the first run of his highly successful Strip Mall Tease tour, the New Bedford native is, of course, looking forward to his sold-out shows at both Chevalier Theatre in Medford on Friday (February 28) before moving to a packed Wilbur Theatre on Saturday (March 1), as any locally-grown artist would be. On the surface, the accomplishment is impressive in and of itself, but for Porter, the connection to a hometown crowd is unlike anything else he’s encountered thus far.
“It’s pretty surreal. There’s nothing like performing in front of people who understand my humor like no one else does,” Porter tells Vanyaland. “Doing these shows in places like Texas and Arizona, they love what I’m doing, but there’s something about performing in front of a Massachusetts crowd where every character I bring out feels like someone’s mom, aunt, or the lady at Cumberland Farms. It’s so much stronger in front of hometown people.”
Structuring his live show in a way that is full, but not overloading, Porter isn’t necessarily bringing anything to life that hasn’t already been tested and approved by his audience. From the characters he’s introduced over time, to the stand-up approach and crowd work he’s folded into his vision, Porter just wanted to expand his universe in a way that made something like a live show more enticing to his followers, and the direction he’s taken has proven to be not only creatively fruitful, but also an experience that he can gear fully toward his audience.
“I don’t want to say it’s been easier, but it’s been more fun for me to write this show, because when you’re working online, everything has to be so condensed and bite-sized,” says Porter. “With this, though, I get to really stretch it and enjoy it, and see what’s working with the audience so I can mold it around them.”
While the show he’s built is geared toward a connection with the people sitting in front of him night after night, Porter lends the inspiration for many of his beloved characters to his New Bedford roots. Whether it be his tried and true “Mom” persona or the crass and erratic Crystal, who he is quick to acknowledge is truly the most accurate representation of a ranting hockey mom who loves her hot coffees from Dunkin’ that he could deliver from his perspective on his hometown, Porter has a blast laughing at the intricacies of his suburban upbringing, and in the process, writing a love letter of sorts that extends far beyond just playing a character on stage or on camera.
Combining that with his fascination with the normalcy of life, and mundane tasks like going to the post office, Porter is only continuing to build onto what his local DNA engrained in him early on. His career may have taken him away from Massachusetts, but even the name of the tour is a nod to life before moving to New York City, so he’s only further cementing the idea that you can take the man out of the city, but you can never take the city, or the chaos of strip malls, out of the man.
“I moved to New York City three years ago, and it’s been such a culture shock, and so great for my career, but there’s a part of me that still appreciates that small town aspect of my life,” says Porter. “I worked in malls my entire life, and my favorite thing to do on my days off was to be in my car with an iced coffee, doing minimal shopping, and just observing the chaos that is retail and the culture around that. So the ‘Strip Mall Tease’ is my sexy little twist on my favorite pastime, and my love of the suburbs.”
With that love of the ‘burbs at his foundation, Porter has also made his way to where he is today, over the course of his six years in the spotlight, by the beat of his own drum, trusting in what he thinks is funny, and delivering that to the masses. By following his gut, Porter has found that the perspective he shares with audiences all over the country has been received incredibly well, and while he’s touched by the reception, he knew what he was capable of all along, in terms of relating to crowds and bringing them something that is of high quality and also genuine to who he is as a person and artist.
“It’s really about accepting what’s in front of you, and believing you’re worthy of the opportunity,” says Porter. “I think we all have this doubt in our minds about our lives where we don’t think we can do something like stand-up, but there was a period of my life where I didn’t think I could just do videos full-time, either. So I just had to shake that because what I bring to the table is different, and people relate to it.“
As a self-proclaimed class clown, and someone who sees his years of working in restaurants as performing “seven hour sets every night” for his customers, Porter has been inadvertently preparing for this opportunity for quite some time.
Not to mention, he never thought he’d be able to do what he’s doing in his wildest dreams to begin with, so to have the opportunity to show an even bigger home crowd what he’s capable of in a live setting is just that — a dream — and he can’t wait to feel that home-cooked energy that truly gives him life once again.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the women in my character work sitting in front of me, because I know they’re coming,” says Porter. “I’ve seen their comments on Instagram, and I know they bought tickets, so for most of the show, I feel like it’s gonna be like looking into a big mirror in a really fun and chaotic way, and that’s always a treat.”
ZACHARIAH PORTER :: Saturday, March 1 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 6 p.m., $27 to $37 :: Advance tickets