Live from somewhere in Northeast Ohio: Bill Squire

Bringing the heat is what comedian Bill Squire has planned for his virtual comedy debut scheduled for May 20. For the past couple of months comedians without clubs have been moving their comedy online; however, a performance with a muted audience never appealed to Squire, who can be heard weekday afternoons as co-host of WMMS-FM's "The Alan Cox Show." That changed recently when the Medina native learned about the national Nowhere Comedy Club, which via Zoom turns some viewers' microphones on allowing for all-important laughs to fuel the comedian's set. "When you're doing set-up and punch or you're telling stories, there's a pacing to it that's really important," Squire said. "It gives it that feeling of this is actually hitting versus just doing a monologue. For a stand-up comedian, we like to hear the laughter. We get off on that." As far as bringing the heat, Squire said he has a greatest hits set planned for the upcoming online gig. The idea is twofold. Averaging five stage appearances a week pre-COVID-19, Squire was constantly able to test out new material. Obviously, that's not the case now. Also, the funnyman said he just wants to get the audience laughing, which is something he's been doing for more than a quarter of a century dating back to his salad days beginning in elementary school all the way to his 2004 stage debut at Medina's Rose Theater. While the venue wasn't open for too long, it proved pivotal in the young comedian's career. "It was an open mic night on a Thursday," said the 2000 Medina High School graduate. "There were probably 15 to 20 people there, but you could hear people laughing. That's all it took. From there out I was hooked." When asked about the one joke that got laughs, Squire quickly recalled the bit about how his bricklayer dad was mad because as an avid gamer the young comedian would smash bricks thinking there were coins inside. "It was just a silly little thing, but it got a small laugh," Squire said. "I actually produced a big show at The Rose Theater. We had about 80 or 90 people come out. It was a pretty fun time. I still have the video of that show, which is pretty atrocious. It was bad, but it's fun to look back on it." Looking back with fondness is what Squire hopes will happen years from now regarding the notion of doing virtual comedy shows. Acknowledging there may be a segment of the audience who after spending all day on Zoom calls for work may not expect much from an online comedy show, Squire puts on his promoter hat. "The spontaneity is what I think is exciting to people because you don't know what's going to happen," Squire said. "It's not an overproduced show. It still has some danger to it. That's appealing to people. "Also, the two-drink minimum doesn't apply like it does at a comedy club. You get to drink as much as you want." Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net.