You’ve been covering comedy in the Twin Cities for many years. When did you decide this would be your beat?

I moved to Minnesota in 2007 and started getting interested in the comedy scene right away. I had been to comedy shows before moving here, but this was the first time I had ever been somewhere that you could see real (in my mind at that point, real meant seeing them on stage at places like Acme) comics every night of the week, working on their comedy and building their sets. I had started freelancing for City Pages within the first few months of moving here, and I realized they didn’t have anyone covering comedy on a regular basis so I pitched the idea and they bit. I started off interviewing a few of the up-and-coming comics of the moment — my first ever write-up was on Tommy Ryman, who is a national headliner these days — and realized that this was a natural fit. That led to me meeting more comics, getting referred to headliners when they would come to town, and just sort of building from there.

You also run the MN Comedy website and conduct interviews with stand-ups who appear in town. What is it about comedians that make them so compelling?

Short answer — everything. Longer answer — I think comics are the bravest of all performance artists. They’re on stage alone, trying to create a connection with an audience and being expected to constantly be new and original. If you’re in a band, you can have a bad night and no one will notice since you have the rest of your band to cover for you. If you’re an actor, you can blame a bad performance on the script of the director. But if you’re a comic? It’s just you and your thoughts. To be able to talk to people who have that kind of bravery, that kind of mindset, and in some cases, that kind of insanity, is incredible. Every person has a unique story of how and why they do comedy, and the personalities of the performers off stage are often more interesting than they are on stage.

It seems like Scott Hansen was our Mitzi Shore. But unlike Shore, he also wanted to be on stage. Do you think that impacted his business judgment?

To a degree, absolutely. I think that when you’re an artist who wants to work on your craft, but you’re also running a business that is directly connected to that art, you’re bound to have some conflicts. And in a lot of ways, you don’t have the luxury of being completely true to the art at all times. I think the way Scott ran his clubs was based on business instead of artistry. There’s no question that he provided stage time for countless performers, many of whom had never been given a real chance up to that point — Lizz Winstead, Fancy Ray, Joel Hodgson — but when it came to booking shows that he wanted to be successful, he dipped into the talent pool of who he knew he could rely on, like Bill Bauer, Alex Cole and Jeff Gerbino. Do I think he gave more opportunities to the people he came up with? Absolutely. Do I think it was wrong of him to do? Not at all. And to your point, I think Scott absolutely booked himself into some big spots — opening for Jerry Seinfeld at the Guthrie, for example — but I think all things considered, he never abused his power as a club owner to unfairly advance his career as a comic. Even though, quite honestly, I wouldn’t blame him if he had.

Your reporting on the feud between Louis Lee and Hansen was stunning. Lee today is revered here and by comics around the country so I imagine his version is accurate. Is that fair?

The reality is that no one besides Louis and Scott truly knows what happened. I think that if you read the book, you’ll find yourself picking apart both of their stories. In my opinion, I believe that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and after almost 40 years I’m sure both may have forgotten some details. But read the book and form your own conclusion.

Bill Bauer seems like he had some Sam Kinison in him. Was his comedy explosively funny or was it just explosively shocking?

I think it’s the former. He was saying things that were definitely taboo and hadn’t been said on stage before, especially here in Minnesota. But if he wasn’t also funny, he wouldn’t have lasted. There were other comics who came along after Wild Bill who just got on stage and tried to shock people. And most of the time, it worked. But once you get over the shock, if someone isn’t funny, you stop caring about what they have to say real fast. Bill always had the crowd laughing, even if they were cringing at the same time.

Alex Cole seems like he was the Pete Holmes of his day with his clean comedy and college work. But ironic that he got up with a lot of bad behaviors. Do you remember his jokes?

I don’t know if I remember a specific joke, but the interesting thing about Alex Cole is that he was the first real “performer” on the comedy scene. What I mean by that is he didn’t just do jokes. He was like an actor on stage. His personality, the way he would act out bit, the way he filled into a role; all of those things were unique to Alex early-on. The rest of the comics just wanted to tell jokes — Alex wanted to put on a show.

The Twin Cities has a strong stand-up scene today, with folks like Mary Mack and Ali Sultan and Bryan Miller. Do you think it’s enjoying an up-swing?

Absolutely. I think that comedy today in the Twin Cities is objectively better than it’s ever been. The comics continue to get better and better in terms of their writing, and the material you’ll see at a show in Minnesota is miles ahead of comedy in other parts of the country. Plus the scene now is a lot more cooperative than it was in the past. In the old days, it was extremely competitive between both clubs and comics. Now, everyone works together. The clubs work together because they realize that giving comics more stage time creates a better product for everyone. The comics work together because they want to see the scene grow as a whole, which creates more opportunities for everyone. And in terms of the talent, we’ve got an amazing group of features and headliners like the ones you mentioned, plus people like Robert Baril, Elise Cole, Ellie Hino, and Greg Coleman, and a whole new crop of up-and-coming comics like Malory Manderfield and Grant Winkels and Courtney Baka who are carrying on the tradition and taking it to the next level.

Have you ever done stand-up yourself?

Oh man. OK, so yes. When I first got into the local stand-up scene, I thought I want to do this. I did a handful of open mics, and I would say my performance was OK. Not terrible, but forgettable. That said, when most comics try comedy for the first time, or first few times, they say they get that feeling like they know this is what they were meant to do. I never got that feeling myself. I love comedy, but I quickly figured out that I’d rather help grow the scene from the outside as a writer.

What is next for you?

Right now I’m proud to be doing a lot of work for Racket, covering stand-up comedy and helping to shine a spotlight on the clubs and comics that are helping it to grow. I’m still continuing to update MNComedy.com several times a week, as a way to spread the word about comics that are still grinding their way up the ladder. And I’m hopeful that there’s a second book about Minnesota comedy in the not-so-distant future. Whether it’s about the history of a specific club or a deeper dive into a different group of comics, I think there is still so much left to tell, and I’m proud to be able to play a part in telling that story.