The Jones Center's Center Stage comedy series will end its first year tomorrow night with a set from Rob Haze. Haze, an Atlanta native, is a veteran of clubs and television, with credits including "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "The Late Late Show." He also hosts "The Inconsistent Podcast with Rob Haze." He says performing stand-up seems like a natural fit for him.
Rob Haze: I don't know, to me, talking to strangers is way easier than talking to people who I know. Something attracted me about just the microphone and just being able to have that little bit of authority and just being able to make complete strangers laugh.
Kyle Kellams: When you're in front of those complete strangers, are you thinking about what they want to hear, what you want to tell them? Some sort of mix of that?
Haze: It's a mix of that, I think. Early on it's 100% what do they want to hear? How does this work? And then as I go further in my career, it's been more what do I want to say? What am I excited about? And understanding that, OK, I'm skilled enough that I can take us anywhere. And then there's kind of a responsibility with that of, OK, well, where am I taking this?
Kellams: Responsibility, I like that. Can you turn it off? Are you always, when you're up and about in your home, out on the street, always picking up things that might make it in?
Haze: I'm married, so I'm forced to turn it off at certain points. I'm constantly thinking of things, but I'm married to someone that doesn't value silliness in every scenario. So there are some points where I turn it off.
Kellams: You have — and I can't remember whether I saw this on YouTube or one of your television appearances — but you have this one anecdote that I think is so relatable. It's when you go to somebody's house and it's a no-shoes house. It's like, ah, damn, this is the day I have the sock with the hole in it. We've all been there.
Haze: That's one of those things where I'm like, is this only me? I don't know. And then the first time I do it, it's like, OK, this is hitting with all kinds of people. And it doesn't even matter — I have tons of socks, but still somehow end up in those situations.
Kellams: You have the podcast where you talk to other comics and other funny people. I know that through your career you've befriended and helped and supported other comics. What is the bond between comics who respect each other?
Haze: It's like a fraternity. One of the funniest things about doing comedy is getting to hang out with the funniest people in the world — calling the funniest people in the world, living with the funniest people in the world. If somebody's in town and they need a place to crash for a couple of days, they'll crash over our place. I do the same thing. I've been well acquainted with a lot of comedians' dogs and cats and couches over the years. There's nothing like it.
Kellams: And yet is it ever competitive? Do you ever see or hear someone else say something funny and go, man, I wish I would have come up with that?
Haze: All the time. Sometimes there's a good one and I'll be like, man, that was a really good joke. I wonder how they got there, how they made those connections. Sometimes it's like, oh man, this was so relatable that I feel like I could have gotten there. We have strict rules and scruples about copying each other's jokes or doing other people's jokes. That being said, I think that's the mark of a good joke when people are like, man, I wish I had come up with that.
Kellams: You travel a lot, you're in different cities, sometimes first-time cities. Can you get any sort of sense of place while you're on tour?
Haze: A little bit. There are certain things that cities have that are so similar. There's kind of a uniformity to hotels. Comedy clubs do a lot of things similarly — the way they start the show, the way they hold the room, how much time, the way comics act, the way new comics act, the way veteran comics act, the little goofy song that they play before the show starts. There's a uniformity that all feels kind of familiar, slightly different in different places, but still familiar.
Kellams: When people come to the Jones Center to see you perform, what can they expect?
Haze: Don’t come with expectations. Just come knowing that you're going to have a good time. You don't have to chime in. I'm not one of these people that is just searching for clips. I'm not going to question the audience to death. There might be some times where I open it up to questions, there might not be. But if anything happens, I'm a pro, I've been doing this. We're going to have fun regardless. Mic goes out, light goes out, whatever — I'm prepared. We're going to have a good time.
Kellams: Rob Haze, thank you so much for your time. Safe travels. Look forward to seeing you at the Jones Center.
Haze: Thank you, thank you. This is really pleasant. Shout out to everybody that's listening out here. Please come through to the Jones Center, April 10.
Rob Haze will perform his comedy tomorrow night at the Jones Center in Springdale, beginning at 7 p.m. The set will end the first season of the venue's Center Stage comedy series. Our conversation took place on Zoom yesterday afternoon.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
