No one really intends to become a comedian it just tends to naturally happen. At least that is Tim Bedore’s theory. After spending more than 30 years in the industry, Bedore has come to realize that many in the field were drawn to it.
Coming out of college Bedore was not in the comedy field yet. Working at a radio station in San Fransisco, Bedore regularly had the chance to interview comedians when they were in the area working in local clubs. Soon local clubs asked him to host shows which led to him earning his own chance at a stand-up routine.
“It was just kind of organic (for me),” Bedore said. “I think half of them were class clowns and half of them were the class writer and half of them were just remembered as the funny person. That’s just really who you are.”
Opening for the like of Robin Williams, Bedore was thrown into a completely new atmosphere. While Bedore had told jokes before he says the change from the booth to a stage was immense. Despite the completely new landscape, Bedore has fully equipped for his new career thanks to his old career.
While some comics struggled to appeal to certain audiences in San Fransisco, Bedore never found it difficult to equate it to striving for good ratings on the radio.
“Some comics never wanted to appeal to those people,” Bedore said. “They just wanted to work in San Francisco, and they never so they could never go on the road. They were very funny people, but they never got the mass appeal thing. So it helped a lot it doesn’t make you less funny or clever or stupid or pedestrian. You just put yourself through this filter of I’ve got to get ratings.”
During the early days of his comedy career, Bedore was rushing back home after his show to get to bed just to wake up the next morning to get back on air. But soon things would change and comedy would be his full-time career.
During the 1990s the radio station the Minnesota native was working at was sold and changed to a new format. During this time Bedore had just three things on his mind; golf, softball and of course comedy.
After spending years in the radio industry on a tight schedule, Bedore was loving his newfound freedom as a comic. During this time clubs were opening up left and right allowing for a steady flow of performances which resulted in Bedore never returning to full-time radio work.
“It just seemed natural it just seemed like an easy move to make,” Bedore said. “It’s still daunting. Trust me I’m a shy person. And if you’re alone in a radio studio talking to tens of thousands of people, that’s comfortable, nerve-wracking enough. But, you know, people aren’t watching you. Suddenly you decide, I’m going to go out and sit in front of people who are looking at me and if they’re not happy, you can see disappointed looks.”
Bedore was soon bumping elbows with comedy greats along the likes of Dana Carvey, Bob Goldthwait and Williams but was holding his own.
“One, it was very daunting. But two, if people that talented are accepting of you and like what you’re doing, that goes a long way towards your feeling like yeah, maybe I do belong here,” Bedore.
Soon Bedore found himself in a similar spot, but from the other side of the table. After interviewing comics on the radio early in his career, Bedore was now on the other side of the microphone.
Stopping in Indianapolis once a year to perform, Bedore would stop on the Bob and Tom Show and perform his Vague But True bit. Started during his radio days, Bedore continued to do the series on Marketplace for NPR and Halo US in Los Angeles during his touring days.
Bringing his best pieces to the Bob and Tom show, Vague But True always did well with their listeners, so soon Bedore and his series became a show regular for over 10 years.
“The goal is to be relatable to as many people as possible and be specific,” Bedore said. “So the trick in comedy is to be generic and specific. At the same time, you want to be human, and everybody gets it. Everybody’s been in that situation, but very specific, so you don’t sound like anybody else.”
Most recently Bedore has jumped into the podcast realm. While he advertises himself as a spiritual guide/life coach on LinkedIn, Bedore says not to take life advice f him. That advertisement serves as a jumping-off point for his podcast ‘An Agnostics Guide to Heaven.’
Bedore uses his platform to give advise while bringing in aspects of his comedy background throughout.
“I’m a spiritual guru who is agnostic, and I’m a life coach because I have a minor in psych and I don’t charge,” Bedore said. “That’s the key. I don’t charge for this advice. Some of the advice mostly is quick advice, just emails and then I respond to the podcast and that typically I tell people to lie just to get through the moment, which is not good long-term advice, but I don’t charge.”
Bedore comes to Bloomington at 8 pm Nov 19 to perform at the Cackle Shack.
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