Despite his somewhat randy nickname, stand-up comedian Kevin “Naked” McPeek doesn’t really work in the nude. He just likes saying “naked.” A lot. It all started about a decade ago, when he was telling a joke onstage about seat belts. He got to a part where he says, “I was sitting there . . .” and without really thinking about it, he added ‘naked.’ It just kind of popped into my head,” recalls the Michigan native. “Everyone started laughing. So, I [told another joke about] sitting on the couch, and I went, ‘. . . naked,’ and everyone started laughing again. Now, when I raise my thumb, the crowd yells ‘naked!’”

Most of McPeek’s yarns are inspired by things he sees and hears every day. It wasn’t always that way, he says. When he started telling jokes for a living, he would make up stories. “I’d take a kernel of truth and embellish it to make it funnier,” he says. “Now I’m telling stories that are really true. I never realized how funny [my life] is.” Maybe it’s just his outlook. McPeek likes to keep his shows upbeat. He says he’s there to have a good time, and he wants his audiences to feel the same way. So don’t expect any bitching during his stand-up gigs. “There are so many comics now that say, ‘I hate the president, I hate politics, I hate this, I hate that,’” he says. “Comics really have no room to complain about anything. We have the easiest job in the world. We work six hours a week total, and we make better money than most people. And somehow these guys still find time to complain. I find that funny.”
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This article appears in Jul 25-31, 2007.