Jon Lang, 31, is everything you would expect from a stand-up comedian: cynical, nonchalant and naturally hilarious.
He recently scored his first steady gig as the host of “Recess” a free comedy show that takes place every Monday night at the B Bar on Bowery. Despite having a tremendous intrigue in politics, Lang doesn´t concern himself too much with political themes when his up on stage. This is certainly a breath of fresh air from the politically charged stand-ups that are so popular these days. Lang stirs away from controversial subjects and rather uses his own life experience as inspiration for his skits.
Lang was born and raised in Syracuse, NY. He failed first grade, had his first drink at the age of 12 and hosted wild parties in his parents´ basement. Lang still managed to get the jeep--the best car out of his eight siblings. He wasn´t spoiled, he was just the funny one in the family and his parents were his biggest fans. Since a young age Lang knew he wanted to pursue comedy and thought a degree in film would help him fulfill his dream. However, after getting his film degree at Florida State University, he quickly realized that he wasn´t meant to be behind the scenes. He wanted to be up on stage making people laugh.
He packed his bags and moved to New York to become a stand-up comedian. He settled in Park Slope in Brooklyn where he lives with his girlfriend of five years. But pursuing comedy turned out to be harder than Lang thought. He had to find a job that would help pay the bills. He found one working as a secretary for a pharmaceutical company. He claims to be the only male under 50 years old working this job. Seemingly a sad story, but Lang is an optimistic. His job story is just another source for comedy.
Lang´s passion for comedy is eminent. Despite the few set back Lang hopes to maybe one day be a guest in “The Late Show with David Letterman” and make some money doing stand-up. But for now he´ll settle with making six people laugh on Monday night. Six being the number of people he needs to put up a show.
Why did you start doing stand-up?
That day I graduated from film school I got dumped by my girlfriend, figured out that she was like cheating on me with this loser dude and all this came to me and I was just like “you know what, I want to talk about it.” The place we were hanging out had an open mic and shit so I did a stand-up. But I didn´t call it stand-up. I was just like, “You know what? My girlfriend stopped wearing a bra.” And I had all these other things going through my head and it ended up being pretty funny.
How did you ex-girlfriend take this?
She sued me. What I said was pretty much, you know, as bad as anything that TMZ or Perez Hilton would come up with, kind of raunchy, kind of rude. It felt good at the time. But it turns out that her parents donated a lot of money to Florida State. So the head of the program calls me in, and I thought he was calling me in to tell me “Hey man, I thought you were hilarious.” And he brings me into his office and tells me, “You´re going to need to apologize.” I made good, I apologized.
Describe your worst stand-up moment.
I did an open mic which was pretty much rappers and I was a white comedian in the middle of this. It was totally out of my element. I felt like I was Eminem in like, “8 Mile”. Some people were laughing, some people were smoking pot, and some people were heckling me in, like, the weirdest way. Every time I told a joke, instead of laughing they would literally go “laugh, laugh, laugh” and it was throwing me off so much. And so I just totally got off the script and won them over -- which was like the best thing that could have ever happened.
What´s your audience usually like?
You know, you should talk to me in four years when I have an audience. I wish I could say it was like hot Asian girls, but it´s not.
Speaking of hot Asian girls, tell me about your name. Jon Lang. That sounds kind of Asian.
It´s Polish. It Langowski. I had to cut my name at the border, but my real name is Jonathan Langowski. My middle name is Ling, so it´s Ling Lang. No, that´s a joke. I´m making a joke.
Does humor run in your family? Funny parents?
My mom was convinced that I was supposed to be a twin because when I was born I had enough umbilical cord to sustain another life. She honestly thinks I ate my twin. I am the youngest of seven kids. There´s two on my mom´s side, five on my dad´s side. They came together like in “Full House”. I was like the Olsen twins, I was the cute one and I ate Mary Kate. I was Ashley.
So is this duo your comedic inspiration, or do you turn to comedians for material?
I rely mostly on experiences and things in my life like my family, my job and my friends. Think of “Superbad.” I appreciate the bonding because I feel like that when you´re awkward and strange your guy friends are the closest thing you got for a relationship-- without it being sexual. You open up the world to these guys. You love each other. You´re accepting. That´s where I get my inspiration.
If you weren´t doing comedy, you´d be…?
I think I would be a monk. The fact is, I have a sense of humor so I´d probably stick with that. If I didn´t have my tongue, then I´d probably be a monk. Stand-up comedy, director/writer, movie star--and if none of those work then I´ll sit Indian style, find enlightenment and I´ll be empty in the inside and I´ll join the cosmos.
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