Bert Kreischer's Rise in the Comedy World

Perhaps most famous as the comedian who performs shirtless, Bert Kreisher has quickly risen from playing clubs to playing arenas. Filmed in his hometown of Tampa, his sixth Netflix special, Lucky, culls footage from six sold-out shows. Earlier this year, Kreischer produced and starred in the hit comedy series, Free Bert, which finds him playing a fictionalized version of himself.

Kreischer also recently founded the Fully Loaded Comedy Festival, a national touring festival that has expanded to iconic ballparks, arenas, and even a cruise ship.

He brings his Permission To Party World Tour to Rocket Arena on Saturday, Oct. 3. In this recent phone interview from his Los Angeles home, he talks about the “screwed up” year he’s had as well as comedic influences.

You’ve had a remarkable year. What have some of the highlights been so far?

Actually, this year has been very screwed up. I got a blood clot on Jan. 11. It traveled to my lungs. We caught it in time, but it was super scary. I don’t think I really processed how scary it was until recently. And then, my bus burned down, and my dog died. Both my girls were in college, and my wife and I started couples therapy because we had never been alone together. It’s been a really chaotic year. I quit drinking for seven months. I just started drinking again in August. It’s been really weird.

While all this success is happening professionally, you have a number of personal things to deal with.

I think that’s the way the world works. One thing goes up, and another thing goes down. It’s interesting. I’ve kind of pushed through for the last seven months. I wasn’t paying attention to it and was pushing everything down. Right when I got a break and finished a tour and Free Bert Season Two, it all showed up. Thank God we were in couples therapy because that’s where I started talking about it and dealing with it.

You recently donated an outfit to the Comedy Center in Jamestown. What’s it like to have that on display right around the corner from Seinfeld’s Puffy Shirt and other artifacts?

That place is incredible. It really is. I love everything about it. It breaks down the derivations and beginnings of jokes. The thing I found the most fascinating is that it broke down the banana peel as a plot and the pie in the face and how that started. Maybe it’s because I’m older or maybe it’s because comedy is my passion, but I find that so fascinating. It’s so funny. I didn’t expect to laugh, but they were showing the South Park rendition of “The Aristocrats” joke. It had me in stitches. I was crying laughing. They have these interactive things where you could do your own version of “Who’s on First?” I got really involved. It’s an amazing place.

Rolling Stone profiled you way back in 1997. Talk about what that did for your career.

I think the Rolling Stone article was my jumping-off point. That was me putting my foot in the water of comedy. I said that I wanted to get into comedy. A radio station put on an open mic show, and I did it there. Back in the day, Rolling Stone had cache. People were like, “You were in Rolling Stone?” I moved out to L.A., and Will Smith discovered me. I got a TV show. It’s a fascinating jumping off point. I tried my hardest to distance myself from the article, so I wasn’t this guy who was a flash in the pan. Now, I look at it as such a blessing. That was such an opportunity that I could have just been that Rolling Stone guy who went on to do duck tours in Boston. Now when people ask about that guy, he’s one of the top selling comics in the country and has done a movie with Mark Hamill and his TV series is going into its second season. I’m proud of it now in hindsight, and that is my origin story, and I have gone beyond that.

How’d the reporter find out about you in the first place?

He called four different people at [Florida State University] to see who partied the hardest. They were all friends of mine, and I had partied with all of those guys the night before. They all thought it was me pranking them. The reporter was like, “Who the fuck is Bert?” [Fraternity house president] Eric Pogue gave him my number. When he called me, I was taking a bong hit. He said, “Are you doing a bong hit right now? This is too good to be true.” He stayed with me, and we partied for a week.

Were you really a bad student?

I never paid attention to school. I passed so I was good enough, but I never studied. I went to classes only if they were mandatory. If they weren’t mandatory, I did not go. I regret it a little now. This is silly, but that kid in college was never interested in the Astor lineage that essentially founded Manhattan. Yesterday, I’m watching a documentary on the Astors. That guy was ever interested in history, and I’ve done nothing but follow history podcasts for the past five years. That guy still doesn’t read. But I do find things interesting now, and I go, “I see. That’s what you go to college for.”

What other comedians influenced your style?

I think Ron White was a huge influence at the right time. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I saw him tell the “Tater Salad” story, and I realized that is what I wanted to be doing. Dave Attell was a huge influence on me when I first got to New York. The way he wrote was so succinct, but his phraseology and his prose stand out to me. The way he would make a saying funny and how it would translate into friend groups. Not to get too meta about this, but the very pedestrian example is Ali G going, “My wife.” That became something college kids said to each other. Ace Ventura saying, “Allrighty then!” A really brilliant comic can do that and insert it into your life. Dave Attell has a brilliant way of doing that. It was very subtle. My wife and I would turn it into our love language. That’s what Dave Attell has imparted to me. And then, obviously once you get into the business, there are so many examples like Joe Rogan who has been autonomous. I draw inspirations from guys who screw up too. I see the guys who cheated on their wives and say, “I won’t do that.”

How’d you hone your storytelling skills?

It’s a lot of trial by error. The first story that I had that ever worked really well was “Fighting a Bear,” but there was no end to it. I didn’t understand storytelling until I got “The Machine.” That story works because it has an ending, and you know it’s over. It’s so important for the audience to know that the story’s over. As much as a joke or arc is needed., the ending is the most important part. I even got too nifty with them. I have special where everything has a huzzah ending. But it’s a lot of trial and figuring it out.

Will the Cleveland show feature new material?

I do all-new material and I have done this a couple of times if people are yelling something out, I will do it. I have this really great Starbucks story. On the last run, people were yelling it and I would casually throw it out. Then, I’ll do “The Machine” because I think people still want to hear that and this great Tracy Morgan story that I just got permission from Tracy to tell. I do all-new material because I tour to write that new hour for Netflix. Sprinkle in a little love in case you bring someone new, you can say, “This is one of my favorite bits.”

Any chance you’ll keep your shirt on?

Nah. I wouldn’t bet on that.