I recently had the pleasure of chatting with comedian Jon Lajoie about his current “I Kill People” Tour which comes to Vancouver on November 29th at the Vogue. We chat about wardrobe changes, what it’s like in the life of regular Jon, life in LA and he has a tip on how to enjoy his performance here in Vancouver. Enjoy!
Robert: I know I speak for a lot of your fans here in Vancouver when I say I am happy for your show here at the Vogue coming up.
Jon Lajoie: Yea. It has been awhile since I was in Vancouver. 2009 I think was the last time.
Robert: Yea, I think that is right. It was at the old Richard’s on Richards. So it has been in fact a few years since we have seen you here, has a lot changed in your live show since then?
Jon Lajoie: The show that I was doing has evolved quite a bit into the show I do know. I think I scrapped about 80% of the show. It’s a completely different show, hopefully it is good. Maybe it will be a huge piece of shit.
Robert: Will there be more or less wardrobe changes this time?
Jon Lajoie: (laughs) I think it will be an equal amount. It is stressful changing in that tight time frame I have. You know once I am out there and I am in my “Jon attire” I am so comfortable but then I have like a minute and a half to complete change my wardrobe and put on a silly Hawaiian shirt, shorts and shoes. That kinda stuff stresses me out way more than standing in front of a bunch of people and trying to make them laugh.
Robert: I wonder if it is like that for other artists. Like I wonder if Madonna is more stressed about changing her outfits than performing in front of a crowd of people?
Jon Lajoie: I think Madonna is more stressed about getting old and less relevant.
Robert: Whereas you are getting old and MORE relevant.
Jon Lajoie: Nah. I think I get less relevant all the time. I try but I think in 3 years nobody is gonna give a shit.
Robert: So we have Jon Lajoie: Rapper/Actor/Comedian am I missing anything here on your resume?
Jon Lajoie: Insecure, less than adequate lover. You could out just “overall uninteresting guy”.
Robert: So scrap all the other things and just put “Jon Lajoie:Uninteresting”?
Jon Lajoie: (laughs) Well you listed off the interesting things I do. Normal Jon is really quite a bit like the Everyday Normal Guy who gets excited when he comes up with a new spice to put in his spaghetti sauce.
Robert: Now you speak of this normal Jon, do you still live in Montreal or have you made the move down to LA to be a TV actor on a channel that nobody really knows exists?
Jon Lajoie: (laughs) I mostly live in LA now. I tour a lot so I am not here all that often. I do live in LA but it isn’t as much as the Hollywood dream as i expected. I got a nice one bedroom here and I still get to make videos in my apartment. Nothing has changed too much, well except that I don’t have to deal with the horrible winters in Montreal anymore.
Robert: Well I am excited for you to get here to Vancouver, it is like midway on the tour this winter for you.
Jon Lajoie: Yea, by the time I get to Vancouver I will have figured out what jokes work and which ones don’t so you guys are in the best position ever. I think it is show 22 so by then things should be running smoothly.
Robert: So by then you’ll have written some new jokes that are actually funny.
Jon Lajoie: Exactly. Sometimes i spend time on the road writing new stuff. Today all day I have been writing new shit for the show and doing some filming cuz there is a video element to the performance. I never know, like what I giggle at in my apartment, then I get to a show and say it in front of 1000 people and they don’t even know what I said was a joke.
Jon Lajoie: Something to think about…I would say ummm…If everyone could get really high before my show, maybe even try to get high half way through the show too. I write my jokes when I’m not high, then i go over them when I’m stoned and the ones that are funny when I’m stoned I keep. So i wanna see what experience would be for a person who is not stoned seeing the jokes as well as a person who is stoned seeing it. Have them listen to jokes I wrote sober but approved of stoned.
Robert: I’m just glad I’m not stoned right now cuz I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about.
Jon Lajoie: (laughs) I just confused the shit out of myself right there too.
Robert: Shout out time. Where can people get your info online?
Jon Lajoie: All my videos are on my Youtube channel at youtube.com/jonlajoie, @jonlajoiecomedy on Twitter, my website is jonlajoie.com. Go to livenation.com search Jon Lajoie and all the dates are there.