Drew Lynch heads to the ‘Talent’ finals in New York
On Aug. 11, Drew Lynch — the one-time ticket-taker at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank — returns to “America’s Got Talent” to compete for the big prize.
In late May, the 23-year-old stuttering comedian first wowed judges with his self-effacing, stuttering performance. Judge Howie Mandel was so moved, he gave Lynch the Golden Buzzer, which automatically sent Lynch to the live competition finals at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
He’ll arrive in New York a week early to get acclimated and go through wardrobe and rehearsals in advance of his big performance. A clip of his first appearance on “AGT” has now racked up more than 5 million views as Lynch’s status in comedy clubs has risen from featured act to headliner.
With that newfound fame has come some added responsibility and pressure for Lynch.
“It’s a big jump from featuring to headlining,” he says through his ever-present stutter. “When you feature, you can just be a funny comedian and people could like that, but there’s no pressure to bring people out or how many years of experience you have or what kind of exposure you have, but once you get a TV credit and a fan base, then you’re in this whole other category with all these people, veterans, who have been doing it way longer than me. The clubs have to have the trust that you’re going to be able to fill the time and sell tickets and people are going to leave wanting to come back because of the experience they’ve had with you.”
On the weekend of July 31 and Aug. 1, Lynch played four headlining shows at Flappers, a club that will forever be linked to a life-changing event for him. Lynch was playing for the comedy club’s softball team four years ago, when he mis-played a few hard-hit grounders. One hit him in the head, the other the throat.
He tried to sleep off the injuries, but when he awoke, his voice was never the same. He had developed a severe stutter that sidetracked his dreams of pursuing an acting career in Hollywood.
However, with the encouragement of Samuel J. Comroe, a comedian who suffers from Tourette syndrome, Lynch was able to reshape his new handicap into a positive and a comedy career.
Returning to Flappers as a headliner was a bittersweet full-circle for Lynch, who recalls his days as a ticket-taker before his comedy career took off.
“The club looks different when you’re working there as an employee than when you’re working there as a comedian,” he says. “I remember after my accident, when I was just starting to dabble in comedy but was still working taking tickets. I would hurry and get everyone in the showroom as fast I could, so I could be in the room and watch the headliner. I wanted to see what it feels like. As a ticket person, the room doesn’t look that intimidating or that nerve-wracking, because you’ve met these people individually when you’re seating them, but when you go on stage as the headliner, you have to go in and go on stage and familiarize yourself with their faces and their energy, and build this relationship with them for 45 minutes.”
As Lynch jokes, he’s long had the material to headline, he just didn’t have the notoriety. “I’ve had an hour of material for over two years now,” he says, adding, “for me, that’s 20 minutes,” alluding to the fact that his non-stop stuttering extends the time it takes him to complete a sentence.
On “AGT,” of course, his set will be considerably shorter. The performance that earned him the trip to Radio City was only two minutes.
He says he’ll use a few of the jokes that he told in his set at Flappers, but promises that he’ll also have some new material.
“The people that came out to see me, they’ll be excited to hear some of the jokes I told on ‘AGT,’” he says. “But I want them to continue to watch, so [there will] be other jokes on the show that I didn’t do at the comedy club.”
Lynch has visited New York before and appreciates the energy of the city. “The pace is certainly different,” he says. “It gives you anxiety. There’s always something going on that you don’t know about. You’re really thrown into the mix.” However, he’s never been to the historic theater that will serve as home to the live finals for “America’s Got Talent.” “I’ve never been to Radio City and I’ve never performed for an audience of that caliber,” he says.
He also admits to a bit of anxiety about returning to “AGT.” “It’s been so long since I actually did the show and it aired and it’s been even longer since I auditioned,” he says. “It’s going to be weird going back. ‘OK, how do I do this again? Am I still relevant? Do you like my sideburns now?’ It’s all those questions.”
While on the sidelines, he’s tried to keep his distance away from the competition, occasionally checking out the talent on the show he’ll be competing against, but not obsessing about it.
“There’s a lot of talent,” he says, “but what happens, inevitably is that you start comparing, which is ridiculous, because you can’t compare. If I see a stand-up comedian, ultimately I’m going to compare myself, but if see a talented juggler or magician or a singer or a dancer, it’s completely irrational to start comparing yourself to them because you’re not even in the same category. It’s not worth wasting time on something you can’t control. It’s a competition, but I don’t want that to take away from doing what I do and just having fun.”
Making the “AGT” experience even more special for Lynch is the fact that he’ll celebrate his 24th birthday the day before he appears on the live show. In a sense, he already feels like a winner.
“The amount of success and response and people who have come to support me was definitely different six months ago,” he says. “Anything that happens from here till the end of the competition is the icing on the cake.”
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Who: Drew Lynch, “America’s Got Talent” finalist.
What: “America’s Got Talent”
When: Aug. 11, 9 p.m.
Where: NBC
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CRAIG ROSEN is a regular contributor to Marquee.