A quick piece of advice - If you have asthma, a heart condition, or even like breathing without gasping for air...you might want to avoid seeing one of Don Gavin's performances.
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At Giggles, an unglorified banquet room turned comedy club attached to a Prince Pizzeria in Saugus, He waits patiently in the wings while the MC goes through a few quick bits.
It is the early show on a Saturday evening and the room is packed with poorly dyed hair and animal print. At a table to one side of the stage is a group of eight older women enjoying their night out, laughing hysterically.
Out on the floor of the the club, waitresses hustle back and forth, running bottles of Bud Lights and Sam Adams, glasses with ice and brown liquid. If a martini glass appears it is filled with clear liquid, nothing pink or fruity looking. These are not those kind of people.
The crowd is relaxed and primed. The MC begins his short introduction. The man who will follow does not need one. Not around here at least. He is the reason all these people are here. The reason they and many others have been coming to Giggles and other clubs around New England for nearly 30 years.
Finally the MC says it. His name. "Ladies and Gentlemen The Godfather of Boston Comedy: Don Gavin!" Moving a little creakily, a bit like an aging prize fighter, a stocky figure dressed in all black and a shock of grey hair makes his way onto the stage. The crowd erupts.
After a few seconds of applause, Gavin's quick, nasally, Boston-Irish voice breaks through. He praises the other comics for a great job, the applause continues...and then, before you expect it, his first punch line.
The next half hour blurs into what seems like one continuous laugh. The laughter rolls from one punchline to the next in waves. Each time one begins to die down another one hits, and on and on until you are having trouble breathing and your sides begin to hurt.
Watching Gavin on stage is a bit like watching Mohammad Ali in the ring. He is so relaxed, he is almost too casual. Mostly he sits on a stool, leaning back slightly, crossing his legs from time to time. And like when Ali drops his hands and dances around, he draws you in - then hits you with a blistering flurry of punchlines that leave you unsure which one left you laughing too hard to breath.
By the end of his set, you understand why Gavin is one of the best. Each joke is meticulously crafted, his timing flawless. This man is regarded by his peers to be one of the greatest of all time. So why is he playing to 200 people in Saugus on a Saturday night instead of recording an HBO special? Why has his fame never spread too far from New England? Why is he still in relative obscurity?
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Gavin is unmistakably a home-grown Boston commodity. You hear it immediately in his accent and in the local references in a few of his jokes. He loves this town and its people.
After growing up in West Roxbury, he worked as a high school teacher and guidance counselor for several years. Then one night in 1979, he went on to an open mic night at what was then the only club in town: The Comedy Connection.
He destroyed.
He was so good that other comics refused to believe it was his first time on stage. Soon he was performing regularly. For the first year, he worked double duty teaching and performing stand-up, until one afternoon he was so tired on the way home, his car had an unfortunate congress with a guard rail. The incident made him realize that he had to chose one or the other.
Gavin chose comedy.
What would have happened if he had chosen to stay in the school system and save his wit for his buddies at the bar? Lucky for comedy lovers everywhere, we will never have to know.
To say that the rest is history sounds glib...but it is true. Don's choice to commit to comedy instead of remaining a guidance counselor may very well have altered the course of comedy in this country.
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The art of stand-up comedy near extinction died in the 1970's. Aside from a few rooms in New York and Los Angeles, there was almost nowhere for comics to perform. Unlike other performing arts, stand-ups must have a live audience to practice on. The few working comics mostly made a living touring as a warm-up act for rock bands. And young comics had nearly nowhere to experiment and learn their craft. Leaving the art of stand-up headed the way of the Dodo.
Then in the fall of 1979, a movement began in Boston. The rumbles of laughter began in rooms like the Ding Ho, The Comedy Connection and later Nick's Comedy Stop. Rooms that Gavin helped found. Those rooms provided a unique space for comics to hone their craft. Boston quickly became a Mecca for budding young comics. To those rooms came a young Steven Wright, Bobcat Golthwait, Paula Poundstone and Denis Leary to name a few. Soon the rumbles became then explosions of laughter that ignited the biggest comedy revolution ever.
"What I liked about it was there no show business there." Steven Wright said in the documentary 'When Stand Up Stood out', "There was no managers, there was no agents, there was no producers. There was nothing. It was like being on an island. And the only thing there was, was trying to make the audience laugh."
Comedy boomed all through the 1980's and into the 90's. Clubs sprang up all over the country, 'A Evening at the Improv' and other shows popped up on television. Suddenly comedy was big business. All of it due to the movement started by Gavin and a handful of others Boston comics.
Throughout the 90's, the Boston scene continued producing some of the top comedic talents: Anthony Clark, Dana Gould, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Joe Rogan, and many more.
Through it all Gavin was there, being the Godfather, performing, setting up rooms, giving advice and taking younger comics out on the road with him.
"He was the guy!" says stand up and Emmy winning comedy writer Greg Fitzsimmons. "In Boston the highest form of acceptance is to have him (Gavin) s**t on you."
Fitzsimmons recalls the night when he knew he was “in.” Gavin was sitting at a bar with Kevin Knox when he heard “Hey Fitzsimmons! You selling newspapers? What’s with the shirt?”
“He was a sounding board and he was good with advice,” said Fitzsimmons of his relationship with the comic great. “I don’t think he ever lost that part of him that was a teacher. He was like that teacher you loved and went to advice for.”
After 30 years, legions of comics have come up in Boston and spent time learning from Gavin. They took his advice, and the luckiest of them got to spend time with him on the road.
"I love Don," said comedian Marc Maron. "When I was starting out in Boston, Don was the hardest working man in show business. I opened for him a few times around New England. Once at Johnny Yees in Yarmouth I think. We stayed up all night playing liars poker."
“He was an inspiration,” Maron said. “(He was) fast, smart, unique in his style, always did the job and a great guy as well.”
On a recent episode of Fitzsimmons’ popular podcast the ‘Fitzdog Podcast,’ Joe Rogan recalled seeing Gavin close a show after some of the other Boston greats had been on stage.
"(Kenny) Rogerson goes up...and was really f***ing funny,(Mike) Donavon goes up and Donavan f***ing slayed, (Kevin) Knox goes up and Knox f***in slayed....and then right when you thought the room couldn't get any funnier...Gavin goes up and does like 20 minutes of just destruction! The time was so perfect...the laughs never died,” said Rogan.
Gavin is a comedian’s comedian. Whether they grew up watching him, were mentored by him, or just met him out on the road, they all revere him. If you bring up his name they give quick definite answers, using words like 'best', 'greatest' and 'ever'. To them he is in the Pantheon with the other comic deities. They mention in the same breath as Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, George Carlin, and Bill Hicks. Yet somehow he did not crack Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time.
So what gives? Is he like The Flaming Lips or The Pixies? Bands that only music aficionados are actually into. Do you somehow have to understand the craft of comedy to get his jokes? Judging from the laughs that can be heard every time he gets on stage...no, not at all.
In truth, the most likely answer to the question of Gavin's success is that he chose to remain in Boston instead of going out to Hollywood.
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In between shows at Giggles, Don plays mayor. He glad-hands the crowd. He thanks long time fans for coming. If there were babies he would probably be kissing them. He takes a moment to talk to two old friends. He comments about his opener "Did you see Artie (the comic before him), wasn't he great?" He does not have the same praise for the MC. After a few more pleasantries he thanks them again, excuses himself and disappears.
The room is only half full for the late show. The comics seem to “bring it” even harder because of it, or maybe because they are just a few more drinks in. The MC is better. Artie does a slightly different set - mostly the same jokes but different timing and tags.
Silhouetted by a neon sign spelling out “Mens" Gavin waits his turn standing off to one side of the stage. Leaning with his hands in his pockets against the wall. He watches his friend carefully, laughing from time to time.
A few moments later the MC announces him again. He goes on stage and goes into his set. Even with the room half empty, within a moment or two he fills it with laughter.
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Gavin's style is unique and something you have to experience to understand or even believe. It is the perfection of the Boston style that many others have tried to duplicate but never been able to master in nearly the same way. His jokes are bow-string tight, wicked fast and genuine.
(If you ever have the chance to exchange words with him you will realize it is not an act. He is a genuinely great guy and he really does speak that fast.)
His sentences are littered with punchlines. He never panders to the audience, never accents a punchline. Yet he rarely goes more than 10 seconds without him getting a laugh. He keeps talking through the joke until they get it. If they don't, he keeps going. He has another one for them in another beat or two.
Sometimes the crowd is laughing so hard at one punchline, they miss the next one or two.
When they do he teases them. Even after a huge series of laughs, if the crowd didn't catch all the punchlines he will say quietly, "try and keep up now," or "you just have to listen. The jokes are in there," or "apparently some of these jokes are just for me." And you get the sense that some of them are.
All of his jokes are throw-aways. Every bit ends in 'eh...so anyways." He is so casual. This is so easy for him. There is a sense that he probably spends more effort getting dressed. And he really doesn't care because he knows the truth: he is funnier than you.
The other thing about Gavin is that he draws you in. While you are listening to him, you feel like you are learning about him as a person. He makes you his friend. His set is a series of personal anecdotes - yet they leave you crippled with laughter.
Because of all this, Gavin's sets are more than a little bit like Robert Altman films. You may need to hear the same set half a dozen times or more before you actually catch all the jokes.
They all come at you so fast...how could you?
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The question of Gavin's success may come down the standard by which he is measured. If measured against an ordinary man, he is an outstanding success. He makes a comfortable living. He is loved by friends and family. He is revered by his peers. He is a hometown hero and who by all accounts has the run of the city. If he sold insurance or managed a Shaw's supermarket would we ever question of him? Certainly not.
Even as a stand-up he has done more than most. He has made appearances on 'Late Night with David Letterman' and 'An Evening at the Improv'. He has been in movies including 'Fever Pitch' and 'Shallow Hal'. He even had a small role on the hit television series 'Rescue me'. He has made audiences laugh in all fifty states and in comedy festivals all over the world.
However, it maybe because of Gavin's rare talent that he is held to a different standard.
Yet perhaps it is unfair to judge him by the number of television appearances he has had or how many hour-length specials he has done. Or the fact that he hasn't starred in films and lives in Nahant instead of Beverly Hills.
In the end we measure the legacy of comedians only by the laughs they give us. We do not love George Carlin because of the number of specials he did. We do not revere Pryor because he made Brewster's Millions. We do because you can still listen to 'Live on the Sunset Strip' and laugh so hard tears roll down your face.
If shear number of laughs are the unit of measure than Gavin is an undeniable success. All you have to do is go to one of his performances to know that. Some of his jokes are timeless classic that have been and will continue to be copied, and will still be making people laugh for years to come.
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The following Saturday evening Gavin stands in the back of the room at Nick's Comedy Stop. Sipping his drink and watching the opener as he waits for his turn on stage. He is returned to a home he never really left.
After helping found Nick's over 20 years ago Gavin is performing here for the first time in over 10 years. Nick's, like many of the old rooms in Boston, has fallen on hard times. He wants to return it to its glory days. When getting your name up on the marquee outside was an indication that you had arrived. And when there was two rooms that they would pack for all five shows every night on the weekends.
Perhaps, this will be the greatest part of Gavin's legacy - his inspiring and mentoring other comics and working to give comedy room to grow and comedians a place to learn and ply their trade.
Gavin takes a seat in a back corner. Takes out a pair of reading glasses and goes over a few notes he has for a few new bits he wants to try out. Dan Boulger, the winner of the 2006 Boston Comedy Festival is up on stage doing his set. Gavin leans over to a friend and says, "The kids funny isn't he!".
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After the show, as the crowd files out, Gavin will congratulate Boulger. He will bust his chops a little, let him know he is doing well. Then he will give him a little advice on where to put a pause in one of his jokes and suggest a different tag for another. He will give him a little love and a little guidance the same as he did for Wendy Liebman, Fitzsimmons, Clark, Maron and countless others through the years.
But that will be after the show though. Before then he has a job to do.
Boulger finishes with a huge laugh. The MC takes the microphone from him and goes into the short jag he will do before introducing Gavin. Putting away his glasses and grabbing his drink Gavin starts making his way through the shadows toward the stage.
He takes a look at the audience. They are different from last weeks group. They are mostly young, urban, well dressed with neatly done hair. At a table to one side of the stage is a group of eight younger women out for a bachelorette party, enjoying their night, laughing hysterically.
It is a good crowd, they are primed and energetic
Finally the MC begins "Ladies and gentleman we have a special treat for you tonight..."
At the sound of his name the crowd applauds. Gavin takes the microphone. Greets the audience.
Then he does it again.
Before the crowd has a chance, he hits them with the first punchline. The room erupts with laughter. Then he hits them with another and another. Boom, Boom, Boom! Like a fighter relentlessly throwing hay-maker after hay-maker at a helpless opponent.
The room is fills a cacophony of laughter. Gavin pauses to let the crowd catch up. People gasp for air. Holding the mic in both hands he looks down and smiles to himself ever so slightly.
There it is. That old familiar feeling. Just like that first time - he is about to destroy - and he knows it.
Monday, April 30, 2012 at 11:01AM 