Jimmy Pardo to New Comedians: Stop Thinking About It and Do It!

Jimmy Pardo says, "Whenever people ask me for advice on comedy and how to get started in stand-up, there's no way to get started but to do it. Write down your ideas, things you think are funny. And then do it."

The Chicago native will be here for two shows Friday night at The Purple Onion. He spoke to us recently about his early years as a comic, and his award-winning podcast, Never Not Funny, now in its ninth season.

For Pardo, "doing it" meant leaving the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena after one year of classes, moving back to Chicago, and focusing on stand-up.

"I worked in a record store," Pardo says. "Before he was known for Mr. Show, Bob Odenkirk used to come into the store every weekend and we'd talk and make each other laugh. At one point he said, 'You should do stand up!' And I said, 'Yeah, I've always thought about it.' And when you hear someone say that, you wanna punch that guy in the mouth. You say, 'Well, just do it. Quit thinking about it.'"

Odenkirk invited Pardo to attend a local weekly stand-up showcase. Pardo soon performed on that show and was on his way.

"I got lucky with this invitation," he says, "but really it was just a kick in the ass to follow my own advice, which is to do it."

Pardo has worked as the warm-up act for Conan O'Brien since O'Brien relocated to Los Angeles. (He also puts together behind-the-scenes webisodes of The Pardo Patrol for the Team Coco website.) His heart remains in stand-up and improv, as we'll see at The Purple Onion on Friday, when Pardo tapes an episode of Never Not Funny, followed by Running Your Trap, his comedic game show.

The podcast grew out of Pardo's live talk show, a regular feature at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles.

"[Producer and co-host] Matt [Belknap] was a fan who also ran aspecialthing.com, and he would come to all my shows," he says. "At one point, he sat me down and said, 'I think this podcasting thing is going to go somewhere. We should do this.'"

Pardo says he was never one to embrace the newest fad or technology, but that podcasting struck him as a right place/right time opportunity.

"Up to that point, most podcasts were just people talking into the microphone on their computer -- a couple of guys sitting there screwing around," he says. "But when Matt came to me with the podcast, something about it felt right to me. And you see what's happening now -- podcasting has become this crazy boom."

While it's certainly true that comedians in particular are using the web and social media to establish their brands (such as Marc Maron's WTF podcast and Eddie Pepitone's Puddin' web series), Pardo is emphatic that traditional comedy legwork is key.

"I would imagine it's still as intimidating today as it was back then," Pardo says. "When [you walk] into an open mike, you're walking into a room of desperate, equally scared guys. A lot of young comics will go to the open mikes, but then they'll say, 'Okay, I'll see you next week.' They don't go to watch the headliners. Even if that guy sucks, you should watch him. This is your craft. That's part of learning, it's part of the whole thing."

Jimmy Pardo appears at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at The Purple Onion as part of SF Sketchfest Summer Nights. Admission is $20.