Comedy works for PR's Mike Strecker
The key to a being great comedian is observation, interpretation and, finally, delivery. Mike Strecker, executive director of public relations at Tulane University, has been honing these skills for 19 years in shows around New Orleans and throughout the country, including the Improv in Los Angeles and New York"s HA Comedy Club. The New Wave interviewed him for our Staff in the City series.
Q: How long have you been doing comedy?
A: Since 1995. I said to myself, “I"ll do it once, if it goes well, I will do it again.” For my second show I said to myself, “If this goes well, I will do it again.” For my third show I said, “I really need to stop talking to myself.”
Q: What was your favorite gig?
A: One with Jake Johannsen, a comic I have long admired. If you ask Jake his favorite gig, he would probably name one of the 44 times he has been on Letterman. Fine. If I ever get on Letterman, I am dropping him immediately. Jake who? Is that Norwegian?
Q: Is comedy an extension of yourself?
A. It"s definitely an extension of my love of writing. I didn"t grow up on stage. I was in one play in school. I was a corpse. Seriously. I felt it was a role I was always destined to play. But I have always loved to write. I worked for many years on the Great American Novel without much success. Now, I"m working on the Great Japanese Novel, which is coming along quite nicely, domo arigato.
Q: Last words?
Domo arigato. And I encourage all my friends at Tulane, and even those who don"t care for me much at all, to see me in the Me, Mike & Mike Show Sept. 26 at The Castle Theatre in Kenner, Louisiana.
“I have always loved to write. I worked for many years on the Great American Novel without much success. Now, I'm working on the Great Japanese Novel, which is coming along quite nicely, domo arigato.” -- Mike Strecker—