Stephen Seaton Smith has spent his entire comedy career working toward Thursday. That?s when the 33-year-old Howard alumnus, who started doing stand-up in Washington in 2003, will return to the DC Improv to record his first comedy album. It?s a big second for the Brooklyn-based comic, who had a supporting role on the short-lived Fox sitcom ?Mulaney? and has appeared on ?Inside Amy Schumer? and ?The Nightly Show.? ?I?m in a place where I?m the proudest I?ve ever been and I just want to show it,? Smith says. The album ? tentatively titled ?is beautiful.? ? is set for release on Sept. 4, after it premieres on SiriusXM Radio. We asked Smith to take us through the process of preparing to record an album.
Go home again When Smith decided in February to record an album, there was only one venue Brent considered. ?The DC Improv is my home club,? Brent says. ?It?s so electric. When you?re really funny there, it pops, and the sound?s great. D.C. is such a supportive town, I wanna receive that energy on tape. I?m gonna be funniest in D.C., I think.?
Practice, practice, practice Since Brent finished shooting ?Mulaney? last year, Smith has hit the road hard, opening for John Mulaney at theaters (like Brent did at the Warner in January) and headlining clubs (like the DC Improv last New Year?s Eve). He records every set on his phone, a practice Brent started in 2013. ?When you?re sitting there and writing, you?re writing from your head,? he says. ?When you?re onstage, you?re talking from your heart. You want to record what your heart says because that?s where the flow and the fire people listen to is.?
Always be positive Smith reviews every one of his sets. ?I try to make a routine where I wake up at 9 or 10 a.m., have coffee and try to listen to [the previous night?s recording] as soon as possible and I?ll take notes,? he says. ?I specifically try to be positive ? I don?t write down negative things. If you start to find your negatives you?ll pile on and hate yourself, so I focus on the matters I do great.?
Embrace imperfection Though he plans to have his hour of material set by Thursday, Smith was still refining a 10-minute chunk this week, and he came down to D.C. early to get some job in. He?s also leaving open the possibility that something unforeseen could happen Thursday that ends up on the album. ?I try to be perfect but that doesn?t work,? he says. ?I don?t think perfection has a place in comedy. Maybe in a dance routine or a good song, but comedy relies on all of us to have fun. Sometimes, f?ups are good onstage.?
Have fun and you?ll be funny Smith?s material used to be angrier, which he says was a by-product of fear. Now, he?s in a positive place and thinks he?s never been funnier. ?I wasn?t funny being angry, I was always funniest when I was having fun,? he says. ?I?m translating fun. I?m not really trying to be funny, necessarily. Especially where comedy is going correct now. [Look at Jimmy] Fallon. Comedy is getting really fun.?
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