Comedian Alonzo Bodden is a performer with talent to spare, making waves in the comedy business as well as pursuing a successful acting career on the side.   Zo has appeared as an actor on numerous television shows to include Angel, Grounded For Life, and Profiler.  As a stand-up comic he has appeared in countless five-star comedy clubs, which include The Laugh Factory, The Improv, and Rascals.  Bodden is also a regular on the XM comedy stations, and was kind enough to share a bit of his time with XMFan while preparing for a recent series of shows in Indianapolis. 

XMFan:  Tell us a little about where you grew up.
Zo:  Well, I actually grew up in St. Albans, in Queens, New York.  My neighborhood is kind of famous for rappers.  Run DMC wasn't too far from me, LL Cool J…  My mother wanted me to stay in school, but if I had hung out on the corner rappin' I'd have been rich long ago.

XMFan:  Anything else about Anne, your mother?
Zo:  She's where I got my sense of humor.

XMFan:  Before pursuing a career in acting and comedy, you were an aviation mechanic who worked on the Stealth fighter.  That must have been interesting.
Zo:  I'll tell you what was interesting about the Stealth.  I started working on it in 1980, right around the time the movie Firefox with Clint Eastwood came out.  Some of us were watching the movie, and we were like, "Hey, our plane can do that!"  All these things the plane had, like projecting false images, avoiding radar, we were laughing and saying, "This isn't science fiction.  We do this every day!"

XMFan:  Any good top-secret things you'd like to tell us about the Stealth?
Zo:  I don't want to end up in Leavenworth, so we'll just keep that classified.

XMFan:  You have appeared in numerous shows as an actor, as well as shows like Conan O'Brien and Craig Kilbourn as a comedian.  Do you prefer acting or stand-up?
Zo:  I prefer stand-up.  That's my first love.  Acting pays better, and more people probably see it, but stand-up is my passion.  I'm trying to branch out into acting - my last couple of roles have been as a bouncer - and I've moved on to being a convict in a film that's going to be released this summer.  It's still untitled, and produced by the guys who write The Onion.  It's a sketch movie, kind of like Airplane or Kentucky Fried Movie. 

XMFan:  So, which requires more preparation, the acting or stand-up?
Zo:  Acting.  Acting is harder work, because I'm using someone else's words.  Stand-up is me being me.  Actors always say stand-up is scary, because they are standing out there by themselves, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

XMFan:  Time for some word association.  Donovan McNaab.
Zo:  Great.  I love the way he came back and made Rush Limbaugh look stupid.

XMFan:  Clothes shopping.
Zo:  Love it. 

XMFan:  The 1990's.
Zo:  Switched careers, found my calling.  Gave up honest work.

XMFan:  John Belushi.
Zo:  Hilarious.  He was so funny his brother got a career out of it.

XMFan:  Frosted Mini-Wheats.
Zo:  Yeeecchh…

XMFan:  BET (Black Entertainment Television).
Zo:  The plantation.  (laughs)  The thing about BET, especially back when I did it, is they treated comics in a way that if a white network had done it, there would have been a "Million-Comic March."

XMFan:  You have proven it's still possible to be funny without using obscenities.  Is that a skill that has faded over the years?
Zo:  Well no, I don't think it's a skill that has faded over the years, and I don't consciously not curse.  I'll curse a bit in my act, just in talking, but they taught me when I started that "F***" is never a punch line.  I'm not bothered by obscenities; it's much more a part of language now than it used to be.  There are some comics - Doug Stanhope comes to mind - who is dirty and hilarious.  It's not because he's dirty.  If you took out all of the curses and just listened to the message, you'd still laugh.  It's just the way he talks.  The first one to do that was Richard Pryor.  So I'm not pro or anti-obscenity, I'm pro-fun.

XMFan:  Any comments on the USO Tours you've taken around the world to entertain our troops?
Zo:  I love 'em.  When you get to see what the troops put up with it's really unbelievable, the conditions they work under in a lot of places.  They love and appreciate us more than anyone else, because how much entertainment are you going to get in a desert in Kuwait?  Or up in Greenland?  They're really happy to see us, and the guys are great.  I'm 100 percent for them and would like to do more of them.

XMFan:  How does it feel to walk onto the stage of The Laugh Factory in Hollywood, as the headliner, with all eyes on you?
Zo:  I love it.  That's what I've been working for, you know?  You walk out there, and it's kind of hard to explain the energy you feel when you come out. 

XMFan:  Your first album, Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time…, contains eleven hilarious bits which are frequently played on the XM comedy channels.  What are a few issues you "explore" on the album?
Zo:  I think the first thing I talk about on the CD is race.  That's because the race issue is so funny to me, in that I'm a big black guy and it's intimidating to some people, based just on the stereotype.  That's the thing about racism, and the stereotypes that are involved, because I'm really not like that.  I'm not an intimidating guy.  (Pauses)  Well, I might be intimidating to look at, but you know, I'm not looking for trouble.  I'm from the suburbs.

Then I talk about sports, which is another personal favorite topic.  I think athletes getting into trouble are hilarious.  Daryl Strawberry personified the athlete in trouble, with two World Series rings and half-a-dozen rehabs. 

I love talking about the man-woman issues because I really do have a ton of women friends.  I hear so much from their point of view, and the funny thing is they never really think of me like a guy but just a friend.  So, it's frustrating and it's fun at the same time. 

XMFan:  Can XMFans buy the album directly from your website?
Zo:  Yes they can.  Just logon to www.alonzobodden.com, or www.uproarcomedycd.com. 

XMFan:  Does your website also list your tour dates?
Zo:  Yes, the website lists the dates.  Also, the thing I'd love people to get involved with is my message boards - talk back to me.  Tell me what you're thinking.  There's a place there for topics that fans may want to send in, and I'll make it funny for them.  Free of charge. 

XMFan:  You already touched on this a bit, but are you involved in any current projects?
Zo:  Actually, I am.  The Onion movie I talked about, and I'm scheduled for an appearance on The Tonight Show.  We don't have an exact date, but it will be sometime between now and July.  I'll probably be doing another album this summer.  I have enough new material to do the CD, and people can hear some of it when they come to see me live.  (Alonzo is scheduled to appear at several comedy clubs in the near future.  Please check his site.)

XMFan:  What advice would you give to other aviation mechanics wishing to pursue a career in show biz?
Zo:  Save your money.  The first five years as a comic you're going to make about eight thousand bucks total, so you might want to have some money to live on.  Don't joke too much about airplanes because it scares the crowd…  Do the funny stuff.

XMFan:  Well Zo, we appreciate your taking the time to come by today.
Zo:  Sure.  Oh, by the way…  Let everyone know I'm gonna do like most pop stars - I've put one CD out, and now I'm gonna do my greatest hits.  Isn't that the formula?  You record one song, then put out the greatest hits?  Then I'm gonna come out with the live album, so you'll get three versions of the exact same thing.   

Alonzo Bodden can be heard on XM Comedy and Laugh USA.