Michael Cruz Kayne
What makes you Hapa? Do you identify with the word?
My mother is Filipina and my father is a Jew, so I guess what makes me Hapa is that they did sex and I was born? I think because I'm so rarely identified correctly re: race, I spent years being reluctant to tout my identity, even though I am very proud of my ancestry. Hapa isn't a term I'd even heard of before a few years ago, which is wild, but maybe even wilder is how much awareness of terminology like that solidifies my sense of self.
What made you decide to pursue comedy? Did any particular comedian influence you?
If I had to guess what made me pursue comedy it would probably be some genetic predisposition to require validation to live? Seriously, please compliment me. I need it. I'm influenced by so many comedians, but probably the funniest person I know is my mom.
Do you think your mixed perspective influences your approach to comedy?
Absolutely. I think it influences everything about me. The synthesis of cultures in my home growing up predisposed me to have respect for viewpoints that might seem foreign to me at first. It's cool because it means I spend a lot of time putting myself in other people's shoes, but not cool because it also means I'm rarely certain of the validity of my own point of view. What was the question again?
It has been said that comedy is the last frontier when it comes to the First Amendment, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think it is important to keep pushing the boundaries of this?
I'm hesitant to ascribe too much value to comedy. I think it was Auden (it was. I looked it up.) who said poetry makes nothing happen. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to make use of it. For some people, that's pushing the boundaries of the First Amendment, I guess; but that's not my goal. I'd rather try to build community and question assumptions, and if I'm up against the First Amendment a little bit there, that's fine. Did this make me sound smart and cool? I hope so.
What’s your methodology and psychology when it comes to your sets?
Up until covid-land, my approach was to jot down some rough thoughts, ramble in front of a crowd, and use recordings of those sessions to separate the material that I didn't like from the material I liked. I'd repeat that over and over until I had a set I loved. Now, it's a lot of telling jokes to my wife and family, subtly sliding them into conversation and seeing what gets a laugh. Reading that back I realize how annoying I am. As far as mindset, for a long time I was really working on being funny, and now that I feel pretty good about being funny, what can I do with that? So I'm trying to make sure what I say connects with what I believe. For a lot of comics, that might sound remedial, but because most of my life has been pretty easy I never really needed to think of comedy as more than just Being Funny. Now, having gone through some shit, I see opportunities to speak to the shit I've been through.
Is anything off-limits? And if so, what and why?
I don't think anything is off-limits. Nor should anything be. But I do think we should be responsible about how we deploy humor, even though looking back I know that I've been irresponsible about that. If you're going to make a joke about addiction or about school shootings or suicide, etc., what are you doing with that joke? I get annoyed when comics have premises like “school shootings are good!” without any development or critique and then cry cancel culture when no one laughs at them. If you go there, you know the water is deep; if you drown, that's on you. Please have an editor make that metaphor better, thx!
In your opinion do you think Louis CK deserves a second chance?
I do believe in second chances in general. I think most people can be made better. But I think redemption can't come without both restitution and a sincere and complete apology. I'm not saying those things are sufficient, but they're necessary.
How have you been spending your time during this pandemic?
My game plan was to exercise a bunch, but instead I tore a ligament in my ankle taking a barre class on Zoom in the first week. So instead I've been falling in love with bread and gaining weight while my kids play with their iPads 14 hours a day.
What’s next for you?
I'm working on a one-man show about grief (fun!) and I have a podcast on the same subject (whee!) called Good Grief that should be coming out soon. We've recorded a bunch of episodes with people I love and admire and I'm pumped about it.
