Tate to perform at Funny Bone for 2nd time this year

He performed on Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham” and currently tours throughout the country, but this weekend, comedian Geoff Tate will be making his way back to Bloomington to perform some good old stand-up comedy at the Funny Bone.

This will be Tate’s second appearance this year, Jared Thompson, Funny Bone owner, said.

“He is one of those up-and-coming names to be reckoned with,” Thompson said. “He was really noticed a lot younger than most comedians.”

With a majority of IU students off-campus for the summer, Thompson said Tate will probably appeal more to an older audience.  

Tate said he doesn’t see a difference between 18-year-olds and 30-year-olds like himself and believes that by treating every audience the same, he appeals to the college students even more.  

“Everyone’s an adult,” Tate said. “They just do different stuff during the day.”  

The Cincinnati native started off in 2003 doing stand-up comedy and said ideas for his work come “like magic” from his everyday experience. He also said he practices his work on stage every weekend and tweaks his jokes based on audience reactions.

Tate said he uses his television and radio appearances to bring viewers to his live shows. He said he does his best work on stage with a microphone in hand.

“Their excitement level raises my excitement level,” Tate said.

Tate said the show will be almost entirely different from his January performance, with fellow Cincinnati comedian Alex Stone as his headliner.

“He’s one of my favorite comics I’ve ever seen,” Tate said.  

Besides performances by Stone and Tate, there will also be a special feature before the show with IU sophomore Joshua Murphy, who won the weekly “Last Comic Standing” contest hosted by the Funny Bone.

Murphy said he focuses on very personal stories that people can relate to when he performs, including his “failures with women.”

“I knew since the first time I went on that this is what I want to do,” Murphy said.

For hopeful comedians such as Murphy, Tate said persistence is key.

“You just don’t quit,” Tate said. “Everyone’s path is different, but the only reason it happened to me is because I don’t quit. If you do it enough, eventually you won’t be terrible at it.”