Nick Thune
Comedian Nick Thune has made quite a splash over the last twenty years. First as a long-haired, weed-smoking, chill-vibed master of dishing out surreal one-liners, all done while strumming an acoustic guitar. He eventually made a shift to longer-form storytelling without an instrument, after breaking his elbow and wrist shortly before taping his 2016 special “Good Guy.” Another big shift in his persona came eight years ago, when he decided to go clean and sober.
Now he’s bringing an ambitious new approach to his latest upcoming special, which he will tape this Thursday while performing two shows at the Den Theatre. “The current name, and it’s gone through a whole bunch of different variations, is ‘Never Always,’” explains Thune. “The special is kind of in three parts, and the first part is like this fantastical world that I control and make believe, which is kind of like my older stand-up. And then the second part is a world that I can’t control at all, that’s my son.
“And then, my third part is me realizing that even though I don’t have control, I’m gonna be alright as long as I don’t try to control it. The idea of ‘never always’ comes from the idea that I’m out of control in life but never always—it’s like a relief that there’s a little bit of optimism.”
Thune will be bringing the best of both his stand-up styles together for the special, as he uses “a whole bunch of one-liners within these fake, weird, almost Walter Mittyesque stories. And not the new ‘Walter Mitty’ movie but the really classic one—and the original story.”
While Thune is often recognized as a comic who works “clean,” eschewing frequent profanity in his work, he notes that the new material will deal with sex more than in the past. He recalls that his parents “sheltered me from all of these topics, sex included, and part of this special is me going overboard in the other direction, trying to make sure [his twelve-year-old son] knows everything, and then realizing maybe there’s a middle ground.”
Thune, forty-six, grew up in Seattle admiring the comedy of Martin Mull, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase. He admired Chase’s classic “Fletch” “because I loved the way that he talked, and the way that he confidently said things that really didn’t mean anything. And then I found that within Martin Mull and Steve Martin.
“I learned how to confidently tell stories that were totally unrealistic, and with a wink, kind of knowing the nonsensical things that I was saying, and I think that Martin Mull was pretty good at that. And then later in life, I found out more and more different ways that I aligned with Martin Mull as far as painting and all these other things that he did. I’m fascinated by his career.”
While Thune started his performing career playing guitar onstage, he now alternates between playing it and telling long-form stories without it. He notes that “sometimes it works better with the guitar or without, but now I can do everything I do with the guitar without the guitar. Since then, it’s been a rule of thumb for me. If it doesn’t work without the guitar, it doesn’t work.”
Nick Thune performs at the Den Theatre, 1331 North Milwaukee. September 17, 7:15pm and 9:30pm. Listen to Carl Kozlowski’s extended interview with Nick Thune for his podcast “Grand Theft Audio” here.
