At 31, comedian Mark Normand has collected a variety of accolades in the stand-up world: an album release with Comedy Central, return appearances on TBS’ “Conan” and tour dates with Amy Schumer.
Starting June 30, the New Orleans, Louisiana, native will be returning to the Comedy Attic downtown to perform five shows.
“My guess is that we could sell out on Saturday,” Comedy Attic owner Jared Thompson said. “He did very well last time in 2014 — he’s one of the best at what he does.”
In this month alone, Normand has frequented scores of comedy clubs in New York City: Stand up NY, Comedy Cellar, the Stand and Village Underground, to name a few.
Mike Martinez of Indianapolis, a fan of Normand’s, said Normand “has been literally jetting from coast to coast,” making stops in California and Nebraska for a Rooster T Feathers stand-up appearance and the Great American Comedy Festival, respectively.
Normand took first prize at the Great American Comedy Festival in June.
Thompson said Normand’s success has been no accident.
“Mark’s humor is dry, which is very appealing to the audience,” Thompson said. “He has a lot of extreme wit about him. He’s smart without being loud or obnoxious, and he can act.”
Last month, Normand opened for Schumer nearly a dozen times at venues including Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, and the CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida.
However, the route to touring with Schumer wasn’t a simple one.
Normand got his start when he moved to New York City in late 2007. Though intrigued by filmmaking, Normand ultimately decided to leave the New York Film Academy to pursue comedy, working as a janitor to pay the bills.
“I got mugged three times that year, my landlord died of AIDS and there was a pigeon in my apartment that first night,” Normand said on his weekly podcast series “Tuesdays with Stories!”
In 2010, Schumer attended one of Normand’s shows at a now-defunct comedy club in New York’s West Village. Impressed with his storytelling abilities, Schumer asked him to open her show the following week; the rest was history.
In addition to managing a busy stand-up career, Normand co-hosts “We’re All Friends Here,” a weekly podcast series focused on interviewing comedians.
“We try to discuss the dirtiest things in life,” Normand said of the series.
Past honors for the comedian include first prize at the 2013 Caroline’s March Madness competition, the Village Voice newspaper’s “Best Comedian of 2013,” Esquire’s “Best New Comedian of 2012” and the New York Comedy Festival’s “2011 Comic To Watch.”
On NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” judge Roseanne Barr called his set “the best of the night.”
Upcoming projects for Normand include appearances on NBCUniversal’s new comedy channel Seeso, stops at the Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin, Texas, and the Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia.
The comedian can be caught next on television battling comedian Leonard Ouzts in the “Road to Roast Battle,” which is set to premiere on Comedy Central.
