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'96 NC State Grad Crowned King of Comedy

By Dave Pond, Web Communication

As a middle-schooler growing up in Hickory, NC, Jon Reep ('96) had dreams of becoming an NFL linebacker. But when eighth grade rolled around and he stopped getting taller, the 5-foot-9-inch Reep began to target laughs instead of quarterbacks.

In September, the easy-going comedian was crowned the winner on NBC's Last Comic Standing - the highlight of a performing career born 15 years ago on the stage at Thompson Theatre. While working toward a bachelor's degree in mass communication, Reep became a regular performer at Charlie Goodnight's, a local comedy club located less than a half-mile from campus.

Open-mic nights turned into headlining gigs, and Reep hit the road full-time in 1998, performing on college campuses and at comedy clubs across the nation while branching out into acting. He landed parts in a number of television shows and movies prior to his Last Comic Standing win, becoming most widely known as the "That thing got a Hemi?"-uttering redneck in a series of Dodge commercials.

We caught up with Reep between work on his latest movie, Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam, and a trip to Hawaii for his upcoming wedding, and he was excited to talk about his time at NC State.

How has NC State made you funny?

"I don't know if they did - are they trying to take credit for that?

"When I first came to NC State, I barely got in. I was doing this thing called the Lifelong Education Program - I'd come from a community college in Hickory and tried to transfer, but nothing really transferred. C's and D's don't transfer - which I think is a load of crap because it's passing. They basically said, 'Well, you can get in if you do this Lifelong Program, and if you take two classes and a P.E. and do well, maybe we'll let you in as a full-time student.'

"So, I did that for a couple years before they finally said 'OK, we'll let you in.' When they let me in, I thought 'Well, I have to pick something,' because at this point, I was like 'I just gotta get a degree.' I thought, 'Why not do theater?' because I've always been kind of a ham and I like to act and act up. I didn't even think I would like acting or be good at acting until I tried it at NC State at Thompson Theatre."

You've gone from performing at "Fajita-Margarita Night" at Charlie Goodnight's all the way to Last Comic Standing, and now you hold the title of the world's funniest comic.

"I think that no matter what, I was always funnier than any third-world country - yes, even back during the Fajita-Margarita days. I love how NBC is billing the show as that I'm the best comedian in the world - I think it's so funny. I put a little blog entry out not too long ago just to say thanks to everyone who voted for me. Hey, no one stopped Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld from entering the contest!"

The Last Comic Standing tour will make stops in Fayetteville and Charlotte later this month - as the winner, you couldn't get the tour to come through Hickory?

"Yeah, I don't know if they have the capacity. I'd love to do something there, I've been talking to people about it - Lenoir-Rhyne College has the biggest venue in Hickory that would hold a lot of people. I'd love to do one big show and maybe make a DVD out of it."

We'd certainly love to have you here on campus as well, if you're up for that.

"Here's what's funny - I've been doing comedy for 10 years, and a good two or three of those years I did nothing but college gigs all over the country. I've still yet to play at NC State!"

Growing up in Hickory, what did you want to be when you grew up?

"A football player - I wanted to be a linebacker in the NFL."

And when did that dream wither up and die, or is it still out there?

"Unfortunately, it died a long time ago - when I realized I wasn't growing anymore. At that point, it was just... I was like a funny dude - I was always cutting up in class - and in high school I was named class clown. My dad had been the class clown and my brother got it after me, so it was one of those things where I had to figure out how to make money on that whole class-clown thing."

Your mom probably never got a word in around the house, huh?

"Oh no - I still feel sorry for her. When it came time to lay down the law, she totally did, but for the most part, she'd just sit back and laugh at us and make sure we went to church on time."

What's your funniest recollection of your time at NC State?

"I fell in love with NC State football, and I have been ever since. Back in the day, you could tailgate where they have reserved parking now. We used to go tailgate - me and like a slew of other guys.

"My parents used to walk around the block at night, and they had these orange vests. So, I took one the last time I was home, and now I'm walking around this tailgate with this orange vest on. I had these gloves, and people just started handing me stuff - I don't know where a whistle came at but I got a whistle somehow. I'm standing in the middle of the dirt road and people would drive in, and I'd stop 'em and tell them where to go, as if I worked there. I'd check people's parking passes and then I'd blow the whistle right in their ear and tell them where to go. Well, that was all fun and good.

"I believe it was either Florida State or Chapel Hill - not really sure who we were playing - but their band came through in this huge bus. It had just rained the night before, so everything was kind of muddy. And everyone's like 'John, John, do the bus, do the bus, do the bus,' so I hold my hand out in front of the bus, and they're like 'Oh, who's this guy?' I'm like, 'OK - well, you're the band, OK, good. You're going to be parking in section B, F ... uh, F, JY, G944 - I just made up some crap - and pointed them up this little tiny dirt path which actually went into nowhere - it just went right into the middle of people tailgating and was a dead-end.

"So, I directed them there and they got stuck - the band's bus got stuck in the mud and couldn't move. I've actually been on radio stations before promoting comedy in some town and a guy who I went to school with happened to live in that town and will call up the radio station and make me tell that story on air.

"That's one of the first things I did - I was like 'Well, I've got some new friends, and I've got to impress them!' That one, I'll never forget."

Was there any specific professor or class you had at NC State that really made an impact on you?

"Dr. Patricia Caple taught an acting class at NC State - it was a summer class I took, which was actually really good because there were only like 15 or 20 people in the whole class. At the time I was still kind of nervous - I mean, I always try to make friends, but you're just fresh out of high school so I still had my guard up back then. But I took this acting class and that really turned it around for me. It gave me the confidence to go try stand-up, which is something I always thought about doing but didn't think I could do. I thought, 'Hey, I'm actually pretty good at this," - I had people coming up to me asking, 'Will you please be my partner in the next little scene study?'"

"I was good at it, and I enjoyed it. I remembered thinking, 'Maybe there is something to this!' In the back of my head I'm like, 'There's no way I'll move to New York or California to be an actor - it's just ridiculous,' but at least it was something I felt good and comfortable doing and I was proud of myself for the first time. I was always just kind of goofing off - I was just trying to scrape by as much as possible.

"Dr. Edward Funkhouser taught something like Communications 101 - that's the biggest class there, and there's like hundreds of people in the class. I remember something he told the class at the time, 'If you think that you have a chance at being an actor or whatever it is in the entertainment business, you should definitely go for it.' There are success stories all over this campus from people who moved to California or New York and are making good money and working in this business.

"It's not as hard as you might think if you are motivated enough and have some talent. That kind of stuck with me ... I always thought about being a comedian and now that possibility was right in front of me, right across the street at Charlie Goodnight's. I had to go gamble and do it.  It was one of the nervous, scariest things I had to do because I'm thinking, 'Wow, now it's no longer just a dream - it can actually happen... here it is!' It scared me, because what if I failed? But I thought, 'Well, I've got to try it or I'll never know.' That's where the whole thing started - if I don't try it, I'll never know.

"Honestly, if it wasn't for the theatre classes I took and the communication courses I took at NC State, I may not have ever had the courage to do it."

You're getting married this weekend in Hawaii - how did you meet your wife?

"I actually met her on the road in Missouri. I was on the road doing comedy in a club in Missouri. She came up to me after a show and just wanted to tell me how funny she thought I was, and I proceeded to tell her how hot I thought she was.

"There was a dance floor there and we just started dancing with each other, so I got her phone number and called her relentlessly for three months. Then, she was in San Francisco visiting relatives or something, so my roommate and I decided to drive up to visit them. We just had an awesome weekend together and have been together ever since."

What does the future hold once the Last Comic Standing tour is over?

"There's a Bravo special I'm working on - it's a half-hour special that's going to air next year. I'm in a movie coming out next year called Harold and Kumar Go to Amsterdam - it's the sequel to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. I play a character named Raymus, a farmer from Arkansas who is married to his sister, Rayleen. We have an inbred son who is a Cyclops and lives in the basement.

"They were telling me that of all the cameos, I have the biggest one - the one with the most scenes. They have a lot of cameos in this one."

Tell me a little bit about Small Town Nation?

"Small Town Nation is a website I created much like MySpace. It's a special networking community, but it's just for people who are from small towns or those who love that small-town mentality where you just have to get creative and learn to be entertained by the simple things in life. We've got about 5,000 people on there now - much like a medium- to small-sized town.

"I tell people it's 'MySpace with a Mullet,' and when you sign up, I'm the 'Tom' of it - your first friend. I've got my own little fan group on there, and I use it as a way for people to know where I'm touring and what I'm doing. It's a blog and it's also a way for my fans to get to know each other and meet other people and celebrate that kind of life."

Finally, if you could say anything to NC State students and those thinking about coming to NC State, what would it be?

"Go for it - whatever it is, give it a shot. You're in college - this is the time to take chances, to take risks and just throw it to the wind and see what happens. If you don't do it now, you may never do it and you might end up regretting it and hate yourself.

"I can say that I did it, and I am happy I did."

Related Links:

• NC State Department of Communication
• NC State Alumni Association
  
• Last Comic Standing
• Jon Reep's Small Town Nation 

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