Comedian Myq Kaplan returns to his comedic roots this week to headline LaughBoston over three nights, tonight to Saturday (January 14), all while gearing up for next month’s release of his new album, No Kidding.
Recorded at Doc’s Lab in San Francisco, No Kidding is the Boston and Brandeis University graduate’s fourth comedic release and third stand-up album. While it will no doubt be chock-full of the fast-paced, expertly-crafted linguistic hilarity the comedian is known for, fans will see an evolution in Kaplan’s comedic approach as he ventures into more long-form comedy — particularly around the theme of not wanting to have children. Smart and silly all at once, Kaplan’s brand of comedy translates well into his “Hang Out With Me” podcast.
“I basically just started it because I wanted to hang out with friends more often and have a reason to do so,” Kaplan tells Vanyaland. “Inviting comedians you like to just talk for an hour not recorded in the middle of the day is weird and seems less productive, even though it could be just as fun. Recording podcasts, you get to hang out with your friends and feel like you’re doing something that is accomplishing work. It’s pleasure; it’s professional; it’s everything you could ever want. It’s a podcast.”
Never one to slow down, Kaplan is constantly working out jokes in notebooks and on social media, building an impressive library of jokes and ideas that could put some comedians to shame. When he’s not busy churning out high-quality comedy, Kaplan delights in one of his first loves — music. After releasing an acclaimed comedic music album with fellow comedian Micah Sherman called Please Be Seated, Kaplan recently shifted gears, releasing a music album that wasn’t focused on comedy.
“I also just put out a music album that isn’t specifically comedic — or, is comedic, but isn’t a comedy album,” Kaplan states. “I did a Kickstarter earlier in the year and raised a small but reasonable enough amount of funds to hire various friends to help me produce an album of songs that I have called Many Many Music, because most of the tracks are probably about a minute. Maybe a couple minutes, but some are much shorter. I’ve been writing songs for a while and enough people wanted it. It just came out this past December and is on iTunes and Bandcamp, and wherever else I send it to.”
Despite his new album not having been released yet, Kaplan is already hard at work preparing material for his next comedic project. Speaking with Nick Zaino of the Boston Globe, Kaplan describes the concept behind his next recording. “The way that the whole hour is structured is kind of Inception-themed,” he tells the paper. “I will start a joke at the beginning, and at the very end, I will finish that joke. And in between, there will be different points at which there are different levels where a joke will go into another joke, will go into another joke, and eventually, all the jokes will be finished.”
With so many projects, podcasting, and constant joke-writing, it’s hard to imagine that Kaplan ever sleeps.
“I slept last night, but that’s it.”
MYQ KAPLAN :: Thursday, January 12 to Saturday, January 15 at LaughBoston, 425 Summer St. in Boston, MA :: 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on Saturday, $15 to $25 :: Advance tickets