Stand-up comic, professor takes the stage

As a former skipper himself, David Marley would tell you the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland has been a training ground for stand-up comics for years.

The Costa Mesa resident and Vanguard University professor produces and performs in the Skipper Stand Up Show at the Maverick Theater in Fullerton, with current and former Jungle Cruise skippers stepping up to the mike at each performance.

Cruising on a riverboat through make-believe jungles with a captivated, and somewhat captive audience, Marley said, skippers were doing what amounted to 16 or 17 “eight-minute gigs” in a matter of several hours.

“That’s a lot of experience in just your regular shift. It would take weeks to do that for stand up,” Marley said.

Many of the skippers have never performed professionally before, but Marley makes sure he gives all the newbies a Skipper Survival Guide when they sign on for the show.

The five-page booklet includes tips on stage technique and etiquette, how to deal with hecklers, how to write and tell jokes, and most importantly, what the jungle has taught them about stand-up comedy.

Some of the skippers tell stories and jokes about their experiences at Disneyland, but that’s not a requirement.

For many of the comics, current events, personal experiences and audience feedback provides more than enough material for their jokes.

Marley’s first comedy show at the Maverick, using non-skipper comedians, tanked after about three months, and the idea to produce a skipper stand-up show went over like a lead balloon with Marley’s two partners.

“They told me I would be on my own with that show, they thought it was such a bad idea,” Marley said.

His partners couldn’t have been more wrong. The show sold out a week before it opened, Marley said, and he had to pull chairs from the dressing room at the last minute so members of the audience wouldn’t have to stand.

Trevor Kelly worked the Jungle Cruise for one year, before Disney higher-ups decided his ad-libbing and refusal to follow the script was too renegade and Indiana Jonesish for them.

Fortunately, Kelly has an outlet for his antics at the Maverick, routinely performing with friend and sidekick Joey Hurley, another former skipper. Kelly said skippers were like the “Illuminati,” an organization that secretly sticks together and are friends for life.

“For our generation, Disneyland was a really big party they paid you to be at, and afterward, you didn’t want to lose that.”

Performing with other skippers also hones his skills, Kelly said, harking back to his Disneyland days, when skippers would save their best material until the boat was pulling up to the dock at the end of the cruise.

That’s when all the other skippers would be milling around, and while playing to a boat audience was fun, the challenge was in doing whatever it took to make his friends laugh, Kelly said.

Marley said he performs stand up every chance he gets, often testing out new material at local comedy clubs.

Or on unsuspecting students in his history classes at Vanguard. Hiding a tape recorder in the podium he teaches from, Marley will inject humor (hopefully) into his lectures and see what type of reaction he gets. If it flies, it may make it to the Maverick stage.

Kazsandra Liput was a Jungle Cruise skipper for six years, and described it as one of the coolest jobs in the world.

“I’m an actor as well as a comic so getting laughter and applause every 10 to 15 minutes every day was a plus,” she said.

Liput said she enjoys performing in The Skipper Stand Up show, a comfortable environment that challenges her at the same time because she’s writing the material and putting herself out there in front of an audience.

“You never know when the material will work, but it’s still fun when it doesn’t work,” she said.

“I enjoy the skipper atmosphere, it’s dynamic. And hey, I just want to get up and do some funny stuff.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Skipper Stand Up Show

WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Maverick Theater, 110 East Walnut Ave., Fullerton

COST: $10

INFO: For tickets, call (714) 526-7070 or go to www.skipperstandup.com

SUE THOENSEN may be reached at (714) 966-4627 or at sue.thoensen@latimes.com.