Steve Gillespie and a Cup of Joe: A Week of Stand-Up Comedy in the Triangle
We met stand-up comedian Steve Gillespie at Esteamed Coffee in Downtown Cary, for a quick cup of joe. Gillespie’s in town this week, performing at venues across the Triangle.
We were fortunate to catch his first of three sets organized by Matthew Hahn of The Comedy Experience, before he headlines shows Friday and Saturday at Goodnight’s Comedy Club.
While Gillespie brought a healthy dose of his tried and true material while performing at The Matthew’s House in Cary, he mixed in lots of fresh new jokes along with a splash of side splitting crowd interaction. A true professional who’s been featured on Conan and CMT’s “Next Big Comic”, and shared the stage with household names like Dave Attell, Tom Segura, Jim Breuer and many others, its easy to see why there’s been so much excitement to have him in the Triangle this week.
Sipping our coffee on an unusually warm winter day, Steve Gillespie admits the travel schedule of a stand up comedian can be quite the grind. You would never know it from his demeanor, though. Fresh off little sleep after flying from Denver, CO to Cary and doing a show the night before, our conversation was a bit like catching up with an old buddy. Gillespie was friendly and engaged, never mind the promotional interview that followed our chat, and the need to prepare for another performance later in the evening at Fruit, in Durham. A good sport, he never let on that he was likely answering the same questions for the millionth time.
Who were your favorite comedians when you were a kid?
“I watched a lot of Def Comedy Jam, Brian Regan, George Carlin…and at 12 or 13 years old, I was blown away by Gallagher.”
Who are your favorite contemporary comedians, or ones that influence your work?
“On one end of the spectrum, I really enjoy Harland Williams. He’s goofy…and absurd. There’s not an ounce of seriousness in his act. On the other end of the spectrum, I like Doug Stanhope. His act is a lot of social commentary. Very dark. He’s got something to say.”
What projects are you working on right now?
“We have a podcast called Comedy Mainline, that I do with two comedians in Minnesota, Robert Baril and Chris Maddock. The premise is that we’re fielding phone calls from other comedians (often calling in as different characters), and pulling as much funny from a specific topic as possible. Everything’s unscripted and relaxed. We have a lot of fun with it.”
We want to thank Steve Gillespie for taking the time to chat with us.
You can catch him tonight at Clouds Brewing in Raleigh.
Tomorrow night(Friday) and Saturday night, he’ll be headlining at Goodnight’s Comedy Club!
Grab your tickets before they sell out. See you at the show!
![Cary Homecoming Parade [PHOTO RECAP]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ccba9d6a9ab9538c2bf37cc/1665237786545-JU8WJRER5V7ER1D81FF8/DSC_8505.jpg)
One piece of the story has fallen in to place, as we asked police whether Ian Delauder had interaction with the Cary Fire Department (first to arrive on the scene) or the Cary Police Department prior to the self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sergeant Alexander told us, “In listening to radio traffic, it is believed that Mr. Delauder suffered his gunshot wound after the arrival of the fire department. We do not know the timing of his wound in relation to the arrival of police officers. He did not have an interaction with the police.”