Prepare for sentimental stories filled with bad decisions when Brandt Tobler hits the Lincoln

Sep. 9—Brandt Tobler is coming home.

The good thing is that this will be a welcome return for the Denver based stand-up comedian.

Despite a troublesome childhood growing up in Cheyenne — see his bit, "The Time I Tried to Kill My Dad," from his spot on Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening — returning to his old stomping grounds brings back good memories and familiar faces.

It also allows for him to cater to the community that can understand and find humor in the benefits and shortcomings of living in Wyoming's Capitol City. That's what the audience can expect when he performs at The Lincoln Theatre on Sept. 23

"I love coming home to Cheyenne because I can make local references," Tobler said in a phone interview with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Thursday morning. "The crowds love when I make fun of home. That's why I talk about my life, because I'll write probably 15 new jokes for the Cheyenne show. But after that can't do them anymore.

"If I do a show in Dallas next week and I'm making fun of refinery, that just doesn't work."

There's a good deal of sentimental value in returning this show, separate from the fact that it's in celebration of his 45th birthday.

He remembers riding his bike through downtown Cheyenne, stopping in the Lincoln to catch a movie while the location still operated as the city's local theater. As a Central High School graduate, Tobler was repeatedly named class clown in the end of the year superlatives, but he never did see himself as a comedian.

Instead, he had plans to be a PE coach or teacher — or an NBA player, he jokes. Cheyenne wasn't, and in many ways still isn't, a place where stand-up comedians have the opportunity to receive reinforcement for their craft.

Tobler left Cheyenne for Phoenix when he was 19 years old. There, he began pursuing his career as a stand-up comedian after encouragement from college friends, working open mics and recalling some solid performances early on, though the nerves were still present.

"The first couple times I remember talking into a microphone in a hotel ballroom, and when I heard my voice amplified my eyes started watering," he said, laughing. "Like, I just can't be known as the crying comedian."

The next two years were essentially spent bombing on stage in Las Vegas.

Vegas, predictably, is not an easy place for a comedian to cut their teeth. Nonetheless, he spent about 10 years there.

During the conversation, Tobler began to reflect on when he truly self identified as a comedian. It wasn't when he first signed up for an open mic, nor when he had been doing stand up for a year, but when fellow Las Vegas comedians whom he respected began introducing and addressing him as such.

Just as difficult, albeit for a different reason, was his recent 9 year stint in Los Angeles.

"I considered it like college. I learned a lot about the business, but I just wasn't getting better as a comedian," he said. "I would just do the same 5 to 10 minutes of jokes because I always thought somebody important might be in the crowd. It wasn't good for my productivity when I should have been writing new stuff."

The biggest revelation for Tobler was the need to be honest in his writing. When starting out, his style was inspired by the late comedian Mitch Hedberg, who was known for quick, clever one-liners that subverted the audience's expectations.

Vulnerability is a skill that can be applied in comedy, one that inevitably helps a comedian connect with their audience. Today, Tobler's favorite comedians are story tellers. As he assessed his own upbringing, he realized it was time to pull from his own experiences to set himself apart.

"Over time, I started doing longer form stories and just talking about my life," he said. "In comedy, there's 1.6 million chubby white guys with a beard, so at some point I realized talking about my life, coming from Wyoming and moving to Vegas and stuff, I've had a really unique life."

It can't hurt that Tobler has an attraction to making bad decisions, but bad decisions make good stories. It's to the point where when something negative happens in his day, he almost instantly knows if it will manifest in his set.

It's therapeutic, and even healthy in some ways, as it takes the sting out of something he might have dwelled on instead. To him, that's the beauty of comedy.

"If I just do nothing in life then I have nothing to talk about," he said. "I don't wake up and go, 'I've got to make a bunch of bad decisions today to get material,' but just by my nature I take a lot of chances in life, and that's what's helped me in comedy wise."

Having lived in Denver for the past three years, Tobler is regularly getting on stage at the acclaimed club Comedy Works, where he runs into the likes of Dave Chappelle, Tom Segura, Brian Regan and other high profile comedians, most of which are acquaintances that take the time to talk with him.

Denver's comedy scene presents opportunity without the cutthroat aspects he experienced in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Plus, it's not every day that a lifelong Denver Broncos fan can look out into the crowd and see NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback John Elway staring back.

No matter where Tobler's been or who he's met, the focus remains on his hometown.

"There'll be my elementary school teachers, my first boss, my childhood best friend, my first girlfriend, so it's always it's always my favorite show," he said. "People ask me as a comedian, 'What's your favorite place to perform?' Then I tell them Cheyenne, Wyoming.

"My first show in Cheyenne, was in the back of a bar for like 20 people, so to be at The Lincoln is just so cool. It's special. It's always gonna be home."

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.