When Worcester-native Nick Chambers first got his start in stand-up comedy, everyone was psyched. Everyone except Mrs. Chambers, that is.
“I put my first open-mic on YouTube, and my Mom called me in and pressed play on the laptop,” said Chambers of a visit to her house. “She hears me saying all these dirty things and says, ‘Is this you now? Is this what you’ve become?’”
After calming her down, she admitted that a lot of the other parts were very funny, and a stand-up career was born right there in Mrs. Chambers kitchen.
Growing up in Worcester and attending Burncoat High School, Chambers learned a lot about the city and has watched the comedy scene emerge.
“It is really starting to get going. Me and some other local comics are taking over Jose Murphy’s on Water Street and hosting a show every Saturday night,” said Chambers of his new project. The venture is named StageTime Comedy Club. The inaugural show was on August 11th.
The fateful night that was played on his mother’s laptop actually occurred on Chambers’ birthday in Boston. “I wrote about three sentences, and just went for it. I wound up doing five minutes. Everyone laughed, and I haven’t been able to stop since.”
One of Chambers’ go-to moves is an incredibly accurate impersonation of Ice-T, who currently stars on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
Other impressions take a lot more work. Chambers’ best memory is of an event he did at the Park Theater in Rhode Island. There he unveiled a Barack Obama impression in front of the Governor and other politicians to rave reviews.
“Some require a lot of work. For the Obama one, I watched a lot of videos of him and other people impersonating him,” said Chambers.
A lot of Chambers material finds its way into his routine from humorous stories that happen to him in real life. With one story he had the crowd in hysterics at a free show inside Chuck’s Steakhouse last month.
He went on a police ride-around in the city and was given a bullet-proof vest to wear. The vest didn’t quite fit right on Chambers, who has a stocky build. Wearing his “bullet-proof corset,” Chambers felt the need to apply chapstick, though he restrained for fear of looking awkward. Instead he licked his lips nonstop, giving off the vibe of a man turned on by all the police-work.
“Stuff like that usually hits me after the fact. I am telling someone a story and my mind starts to formulate things into jokes,” said Chambers of his style.
He claims that style doesn’t come consciously from anywhere. It appears that Chambers’ style is purely organic. Not unlike his unassuming start to the comedy game, in his mother’s kitchen.
For more information on StageTime Comedy Club at Jose Murphy’s, visit www.StageTimeComedyClub.com.
Nick Chambers can be found at www.NickChambersComedy.com.