Comic brings ‘comfortable edginess’ to Third Saturday in August Comedy Club

MANSFIELD — Rodney Laney’s first attempt at standup comedy accomplished a primary goal set by his former employer.

It bombed.

The former U.S. Air Force lab technician survived that initial failed attempt more than three decades ago and will headline the 38th annual Third Saturday in August Comedy Club at the Renaissance Theatre in downtown Mansfield.

He will be joined on stage by two other national comedians — Canadian Ophira Eisenberg and Bostonian Jackie Flynn — in a show founded and still produced by local businessman Sam VanCura.

A New Jersey native, the 56-year-old Laney grew up in a military family and initially chose to follow in the family business in 1987.

He chose the Air Force over the U.S. Navy largely due to his innate fashion sense.

“I was supposed to go into the Navy … but I didn’t like the bell-bottoms. That just wasn’t my style,” he said during a phone interview this week.

While he was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, friends talked him into trying an open mic night.

“I had made the mistake of telling people I was funny,” Laney said. “The DJ at the club gave me like five minutes. That went about how you would imagine it went … people were dancing and then all of a sudden they stopped the music.

“I had a crappy microphone. I bombed like a B-57,” he said. “I didn’t do it again for many years.”

Comedy remained a calling

Despite the failure, a seed had been planted.

While working as a lab tech back in New Jersey after leaving the military, Laney took a comedy class and “everything kind of lined up.”

“It was very interesting,” he said. “I felt like (standup) was more of a calling than anything else. It was almost like I couldn’t get away from it.”

That is perhaps because entertaining was also a family business.

“One of my favorite uncles, who was also in the Air Force, was a hypnotist and magician,” Laney said. “I always looked up to him. He was kind of a deep thinker and he inspired me.”

While he enjoyed observational comics like George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy when he was younger, growing up in New Jersey had already prepared him for comedy.

“All my friends were funny. We were always cracking jokes. This was before the ‘sensitive genre.’ You had to have thick skin when I was coming up.

“You either made people laugh or you got robbed,” Laney said.

“I chose the former.”

His act these days is part observational, part biographical.

“I like to call it ‘comfortable edginess,'” he said.

As a national touring comic, Laney is constantly on stage, including working on cruise ships, which he said could require as many as 13 shows a week.

So when does he have time to create new material?

“At least for myself, you become a person who looks at the world through the lens of humor,” Laney said. “A lot of times, it’s just conversational. It just comes out naturally. A lot of my material comes from conversations with people.”

Comedians are hand-picked by VanCura

The comics for this year’s show, as they are each year, are personally reviewed and selected by VanCura, a long list of comics that includes the legendary Jeff Foxworthy.

“Before he hit it big,” VanCura said with a laugh.

He prides himself on shows with appeal to a wide range of audiences, including a base of about 900 people who come to the show every year.

“Mine is not a typical comedy club,” he said. “I always tell people (the comedy) is as clean as you’re probably going to find. But I am not running a church service, either. You may hear a couple of cuss words.”

VanCura said this year’s comic list is the most diverse his shows have offered.

“People ask me how the show is going to be. I tell them it’s going to be funny. That’s my goal in every show I do. I want each year to be the best one I ever did. In all the years I have done the show, I have only had two comics I couldn’t wait for them to get off the stage,” he said.

He said all three comedians have been headliners at other comedy venues.

“I would give them all equal billing,” VanCura said. “There will be people who love one over the other two, but that’s the way it goes.”