Ready for the Majors : Comic Jerry Miner Is Hoping for More Road Trips, More Writing and More TV

For Huntington Beach comic Jerry Miner, the future is probably bright enough to require shades, and the present ain’t looking too shabby, either.

In March of 1985, when he was in the infancy of his stand-up career, Miner was working as a doorman at the Laff Stop in Newport Beach. By June of ‘86, he had moved from opening to middle-act status and started getting bookings outside of Orange County, including some road trips through Northern California.

These days, Miner, 27, headlines at most clubs across the country; among the few places where he still works as a middle act are the Improvs, widely considered the country’s premier comedy club chain. (He is appearing with Ritch Shydner this week at the Irvine Improvisation.)

Miner has also started to get his mug on television this year. He appeared in a beer commercial for Miller Genuine Draft and taped two segments of “Evening at the Improv,” a nationally syndicated stand-up show aired by the Arts & Entertainment cable network.

But the most significant inroad Miner made this year was the least visible: writing for other comedians. And not hacks, either, but sharp veterans who regularly appear on “The Tonight Show”--one of whom is often the host. People like Shydner, himself no slouch at writing jokes and clearly a major Miner fan. “He’s one of those guys who hasn’t got that Carson or Letterman spot yet, but who’s doing real quality work,” Shydner said. “And I really enjoy watching him, instead of pacing in the back, going: ‘Oh no, not another generic guy.’

“And he’s constantly writing. Every night that I worked with him, he tried something new--every night he did different sets. He’s really building a quality act. His time will come.”

Miner has also written some jokes for Jay Leno, two of which Leno did in a “Tonight Show” monologue. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about him, and the couple of jokes he gave me were very clever and insightful,” Leno said.

For his part, Miner is pleased by all these career advances, but particularly gratified by how the writing is going--and who is buying. “Writing for some of the people I respect is one of the high points of my year.”

Meanwhile, Miner plans to keep plugging away, with more road work, more writing and--he hopes--more television exposure. There are many more dues to be paid. But like Shydner, Leno believes that there is no doubt that eventually Miner’s career will click.

“Although he’s certainly not famous, he is respected among his fellow comics,” Leno said. “The only trick now is to get the rest of the audiences across America to know him the way the comics know him.”