Musical comedian coming to club

In the heart of Bloomington, there is a small venue tucked behind bustling Kirkwood Avenue where funny people come to make others laugh.

This weekend, touring musical comedian Henry Phillips will grace the Comedy Attic’s stage, armed with his guitar and an arsenal of personal anecdotes. His show, which debuted locally  Thursday night, will continue 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Phillips works outside of his Los Angeles home where he said there is definitely a saturated market for comedians. He said he sees most of his success when raveling to smaller towns throughout the country.

“In L.A., it’s really hard to make any money as a comedian unless you’re extremely famous,” he said. “It’s like a basic buyer’s market. There’s no need for someone to pay you to do it ‘cause someone else will do it for free.”

Phillips said his career in comedy really took off after his 2009 film “Punching the Clown” and his work with radio’s “The Bob & Tom Show,” but he has always enjoyed making people laugh.

“I was always really into music,” Phillips said. “Somewhere in my early 20’s I started going out to open mic nights and playing my music at the bars and stuff. It was a lot of fun and people started enjoying it. But at some point I stopped taking music seriously and just started making jokes when I was on stage, and it turned into comedy.”

Comedy Attic owner Jared Thompson said this will be Phillips’ third visit to the venue, where seats have almost sold out for this weekend’s performances.

“When you get an instrument involved, you always are concerned that it’s a gimmick, and with Henry it couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Thompson said. “The thing I really try to do and gauge with the comedians is if you pull the other factor out, whether it’s a rabbit hat or whatever, are the jokes still funny? In this case, the jokes are just as funny with or without the guitar.”

Phillips said his set this weekend will include funny stories from his personal life — including an embarrassing tale involving his neighbor’s trash cans — blended with humorous musical numbers.

During his visit to Bloomington, Phillips said he is most excited about having time to work on a script for a new project and relax.

“With a lot of comics, it might be disappointing to watch,” Phillips said. “A lot of us are looking at it as relaxation when we’re not on the stage. I’d rather watch ‘Law & Order’ and order a pizza. And I’ve gotten really good at making hotel coffee. They always give you more space for water than you actually need.”

Phillips will perform with opening guest and local comedian Tom Brady and will likely be hanging out at bars close to the Comedy Attic to speak with audience members after the show.

The Comedy Attic has lent its stage to full-time comics before, including Judah Friedlander, Michael Ian Black, Nikki Glaser and Maria Bamford.