Photo credit: Courtesy of Will Durst
Comedian Will Durst has been called ‘an equal opportunity offender’ by some critics. “Not exactly,” says Durst who sat down with Hollywood on the Potomac to talk about his one man show in Washington. “An equal opportunity offender means taking out both sides. And yes. my job is to act as the loyal opposition for everybody. I‘m up there onstage, not to proselytize. not to change the way people think, but to make them laugh out loud on purpose against their will. That’s what I get paid for; but I also think as an entertainer you have a responsibility to change things for the better. You can plant seeds of doubt. People are vulnerable when they’re laughing, susceptible to suggestions and its possible to make points that take root on the inhale.”
Fresh on the heels of his critically acclaimed “Elect to Laugh!” the Capital Fringe Festival presents Durst’s newest one man show BOOMERAGING: FROM LSD TO OMG through July 16th. In his show, Durst, the man the New York Times calls “quite possibly the best political comedian in the country,” switches directions to pay tribute to the joys, achievements, frustrations and looming doom of the Baby Boom Generation. “It’s a celebration of the maturation of the Boomer Nation. It’s what happens when acid flashbacks meet dementia,” he told us. ” It includes segments such as Still Doing Drugs-Only Now There’s a Co-Pay; Fewer Peers Means Less Peer Pressure; From the Summer of Love to the Winter of Our Incontinence, The Bright sides of Becoming Extreme Adults. It’s funny. It’s smart. Clean and uplifting even. A unique theatrical event delivered with stand-up timing and no less than a modicum of poetry.” Durst explains why his chronologically gifted brothers and sisters should refuse to grow old in the face of gravity no matter how many times they forget their password retrieval question.
So how does he come up with his material? “It’s funny. I use deadlines like I’m still in high school. If it’s due Monday morning, I won’t start until after 60 Minutes. I have sought out the responsibility of pumping out a radio commentary and a syndicated column every week because it keeps me focused and in the game. I am constantly surrounding myself with newspapers and cable news and news talk radio. I think I learn stuff through osmosis.“
Durst has been a regular on The Funniest Celebrity in Washington circuit, so we asked him who exactly he thought was the funniest. “There are so many funny politicians in Washington,” he said. “Oh, you mean intentionally? That’s a horse of a different color. Matt Cooper was incredibly funny. Arianna Huffington. Thought Grover Norquist was surprisingly nimble onstage, especially considering the cloven hooves. Walter Shapiro is a great comedy writer, but he has the stage presence of an end table.”
