‘Mike and Molly'actor Billy Gardell performing in Rochester
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Billy Gardell, the actor and comedian from TV shows 'Mike and Molly' and 'Bob ❤️'s Abishola', is performing standup at Comedy at the Carlson in Rochester this weekend.
Adam Chodak sat down with him Friday to talk about how he got his start and why he's back on the road.
Adam Chodak: You got your start at a comedy club, but you were working, not performing…
Billy Gardell: In 1987, I was supposed to graduate in 1987, but had to take another lap so I graduated in1988 and I only did that because my grandmother said I just want to see one of my grandchildren walk the stage so I had to put another year in, but I did. And I got a job towards the end of my 12th grade year at a place called Bonkerz Comedy Club in Orlando, Florida and my first job was vacuuming the floor and cleaning the bathroom and that kind of stuff, but at least it put me in the environment, it was from my dad, you'll figure it out, just get around it and that was my way in.
AC: I had a similar experience. I worked as a bus boy at Comix Café and I joke because almost everyone there told me not to get into this business, but you did…
BG: I did and I was lucky because my dad was fully behind it. My dad had that great comedy record collection growing up that some of us were lucky enough to experience. All these great comics and he would listen to those albums with me and my dad's dream was to be an animator and he never got to realize his dream so when he saw me spark towards wanting to be a performer, he was completely behind me. He was the only one in the family who was like, yes, you can do this. And I never looked back on that.
AC: It took you a while for your big break, though, right?
BG: It did. I started in '87, that was my first open mic night. Then in about 8-9 years I moved to California in '96 then did another 10 years out there and then I guess after 22 years, I was an overnight success. I got lucky, man, I'll tell ya. I think your craft, the harder you work on it, the longer your window will stay open, but the actual break is like an act of the universe and God. Everything has to line up. I was actually at a place where it was not going well. I hadn't booked anything in a couple years, I was having trouble getting booked as a stand-up and I decided I was going to hand in L.A. for one pilot season, which was a three-month period where you tried out and hoped for a series to get picked up. And in that three- month period, the last pilot season there were like six auditions I had Mike and Molly was the last one. And Chuck Lorre just changed everything for me.
AC: What was it to suddenly have fame?
BG: I looked at it like I was going to the steel mill, punch in, punch out, go home safe. That's how I kind of ran it … I got exactly what I needed and I'm very grateful for it. And I kept it kind of low-key which I like.
AC: I have trouble understanding what's wrong with standup comedians like Gilbert Godfried or Tim Meadows. They make it then end up in Rochester, NY entertaining us…
BG: I had that happened to me. During Bob Hearts Abishola. I got to do two sitcoms, who gets to do that, unbelievable. And I needed to get healthy, I was in some health danger from my weight and I had Type 2 diabetes and stuff and I just had to put a pause in it so I said I'm just stop because otherwise this was going to be all for nothing. So I stopped and in those 3 years I said, OK, I'm done with standup. I think I made my peace with it … And then I went down to see my friend Ian Bagg with my wife and he was having one of those night where he was on fire and whatever that twitch is that a standup gets, it hit me again and I started messing around with open mic nights and I started to rediscover how much I loved it.
Gardell is performing Friday and Saturday night at The Carlson.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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