We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Wilson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I had started sooner. I did my first open mic about 11 years or so ago. I was asked several times to go try it, but I actually have a phobia of speaking on front of people. I used to be the kid in school who would fake an illness and try to go to the school nurse to get out of reading a paper in front of the class. So, I ended up going, and it went well, but I was so stressed out about it that I never went back. Then, I kept wanting to go back, and eventually I did. It took me a long time to come back, but I’ve been doing comedy for over two years now. I’m not very shy on stage anymore, my biggest thing is not tripping on the steps getting on stage. I could be a veteran comedian now if I had stayed in it, but things work out the way they do for a reason, so that’s ok.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Chris Wilson. I’m a standup comedian, something I’d never would have dreamed of. I’m very shy and I never was great at speaking in public, but after a while, you start to get used to it. Getting in front of people and talking is easy, but being funny is the hard part. It’s hard to make strangers laugh and in comedy you only have a small window of time to do it.

I got into comedy on a whim. I did it once and said, “Well, that’s that!” It took me many years of wondering “What if?” I finally decided to try it again. Next thing you know, I’ve been doing this for two years. Now, I’ve made some lifelong friends and gotten to do some really cool things because of it. I got to be on a show with Preacher Lawson from America’s Got Talent. He’s a very nice guy. I’ve even signed a couple autographs… which is weird to me, but that’s cool at the same time.

The craziest thing is I made somebody laugh so hard they spit out their dentures once. They caught them (impressively) in their hand and slapped them right back in their mouth.

I think what sets me apart is I talk about things that most people don’t. I have Cerebral Palsy. It’s a permanent fixture in my life, and I like to joke about it. I think people aren’t used to somebody joking about their disability. People don’t really talk about things like that, especially in a funny way. I have a lot of bad stories to tell, but I’d rather make it funny and make people laugh about it. Why not turn a negative into a positive? That’s what I’ve always done. Plus, a lot of the stories about my disability are real, and it’s nice to be laughed WITH instead of laughed AT.

I did a show and a lady came up to me crying. I felt awful. She explained that she had a friend with Cerebral Palsy that had passed away and it was the first time she could think of her friend and not be sad. She said it was happy crying.

Another time, I was told that I made a lady leave. I felt terrible. I thought I had offended her, (which I don’t set out to do, ever), she had came back in and watched the rest of my set. I had no idea! She came up to me later and told me she had lost a brother with Cerebral Palsy recently. She wasn’t offended, she just wasn’t ready to hear about Cerebral Palsy. Turns out she really enjoyed my jokes and it made her think of her brother and smile.

I’m most proud of my mother telling me she was proud of me. She’s my mom and she’s always proud of me, always…I know that, but I finally did something on my own, and she got to see me at The Laughing Skull (a pretty popular comedy club in Atlanta) and she sat in the very front. She told me that I was funny and she was very proud of me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear.

Comedy is tough, writing jokes that you hope nobody else in the world has come up with already is tough. It can be a big rollercoaster. One night you can do amazing, and the next night you might not do so well. It’s very up and down. When it’s good, it’s amazing. So, I would urge anybody who wanted to try it to go your local open mics and give it a go. You might be surprised and find out that you really enjoy it. I did it on a whim and I’ve gotten to do so many cool things. It’s something that I’d never have dreamed of. I would listen to comedy albums a lot and think that would be a cool thing to do, and now I do it. It’s crazy to think about.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The first booked show I was on did not go well. It did not go well at all. It was 12 minutes of absolute silence. It just wasn’t my night that night. I wanted to just give it up, but another comic told me that I did fine. He wasn’t even there that night, but he told me I got up there and did it. That’s something a lot of people don’t ever do. He talked me out of quitting without even knowing it. So, thanks to Scooter Fowler (an amazing comic). I appreciate that. I’ve been back there to that particular venue and done very well since then.

In comedy, you have your fair share of ups and downs. When you do well after not doing well, it totally gets you back in the game, so to speak.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

We are cat people. We had taken in a stray cat, a sweet tabby we named Charlie. Charlie had a rough life. We could tell that he had been abused. He would come up on our porch and he would be hurt. We would always feed him and fix him up the best we could. (We can’t turn away a kitty.) He would go on his way and show up from time to time. He showed up in the pouring rain, on our carport to get dry. He was covered in oil. So we cleaned him and and decided to keep him and let him live with us. We gave him a bath and cleaned him up. Unfortunately, he was very sick. We took him to the vet and found out he had FIV. So, we knew that his time with us may not be long, but we tried to give him the best life that he should’ve always had.

To tie this back to comedy, I would sit on the porch with Charlie in my lap. I would tell him about all my comedy shows. (Who doesn’t talk to animals?) I know, to some that might sound crazy, but pets are like your kids. Charlie was my best pal. I would sit outside with him for hours telling him about shows and how things went that night. He would just sit and listen and purr the night away. Truth is, he helped keep me from getting so nervous before I went out to do comedy.

I made him a promise that one day I would be something in comedy, and I get us our own place, so he could live the good life. In my heart, I knew that wouldn’t be anytime soon, and he probably wouldn’t be around to see it.

Sadly, Charlie passed away. He was happy and loved and safe, but I never got to get that place for him, but one day, I’ll get that place. I made him a promise, and I intent on keeping it.

He was my best buddy. I’ll keep my promise.

I have other goals in comedy, but that’s the most important to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chriswilsoncomedy.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/chriswilsoncomedy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chriswilsoncomedy

Image Credits
Feature Photo 1 (Black Shirt) Black Shirt Photo 2 Rear View Mirror Photo 3 By HK Photography Laughing Skull Photo By Tammy Wallace Others and Charlie Photo are self taken, no need to credit.