Born and bred, Sacramento comedian Drew Absher has been hustling jokes on stages and performing comedy in Northern California since 2017. Lucky for him, Absher was able to achieve a couple years of live performances under his belt before the world shut down in 2020 and 2021.
“I don’t know how the pandemic played out in other cities but here in Sacramento, it was like a natural disaster that wiped out an entire generation of comedians,” he recalls, “There was a gap in comedians’ development. Comics that had just started before the pandemic had to take a long hiatus and never really found their place in the comedy hierarchy.”
But in his case, once things opened up again, Absher was ready to roll. Last year, he placed seventh in the 47th San Francisco Comedy Competition (SFCC), riding the wave of perhaps the most daring joke ever uttered in the event. Recognition came in another big way, too. An impromptu series of Instagram stories combining Absher’s love of sports as well as comedy drew the attention of the front office of his beloved NBA team, the Sacramento Kings.
Before the pandemic, Absher made some man-on-the-street videos where he interviewed people about the Kings. Off-beat and good natured ribbing with local denizens about his hometown team were the thrust.
“I got a message from a super cool T-shirt company, Midtownsac.co. They said they liked the videos, which felt good. When the Kings made the play-offs last year, I heard back from the owners there (Darren Pineda and Derek Murray) about making some more. My videographer, Cisco Kuhl, and I started filming again around Golden 1 Circle.” Each segment ended with Absher ranting about the most recent game.
On his first day competing in the Comedy Competition, he received an Instagram from the Kings inviting him to their Media Day. “I pitched a bunch of ideas. We settled on one with the Kings and got to see how the sausage was made.” Since then, the series has continued. It’s available for viewing as part of the Kings social media.
Although it appears Absher has now hit a level of success, he’s a young comic who remains cautious. “Quentin Tarantino in his novelized version of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” said, “Entertainment is the only industry where you can overdose on encouragement.” Still, he figures that if he keeps on trying, more things will come his way.
Looking back four months after finishing the Comedy Competition, Absher reflects, ” I had a really fun time. Comics talk about how grueling the Competition is. And it is a lot of driving and mentally taxing. I think most of the time, comedians like slinking into a club and leaving as soon as it’s done.
“I think the hardest part of the SFCC is that you have to live your day of life, working or whatever, and then switch into Competition mode at night. Ultimately, it was a great experience.”
And, yes, even though he finished seventh, he got a lot of validation. “I think of Sacramento as such a small little comedy scene but I got to talk with comics from all over. I got to talk with a comic from Milwaukee (T-Dot) and a comic from Italy (Luca Cupani), and hear about their scenes. I gave my perspective. And I realized I’m lucky to be in such a vibrant, supportive comedy scene like Sacramento.”
The playing field is wide open for someone to merge comedy and sports in a new way. Right now, Absher leads the pack. “I feel like I’m the only comic in Sacramento in the Venn diagram of comedy and sports. I used to run a show called “Sports Ball.” It was absurdist trivia, less like who led the league in home runs in 1985 than did this player ever get a DUI?”
Could Drew Absher ever see himself reaching a huge audience on ESPN or a streaming service? “I’m certainly not opposed to it,” he says.