An Interview with Willie Lynch Jr

People tend to think that most comedians chose comedy as a career because they are lacking intelligence. Some fans, while watching different stand ups of comedians, give the response, “They are so stupid,” when laughing at a certain comedian. What they don’t know is that many comedians, like Willie Lynch Jr. are extremely intelligent. Being “stupid” is just a skill.

A graduate of Fisk University and pursuing his Ph. D in history soon, Willie Lynch Jr. studied history while in college but always knew he was the funny man to all that knew him. “My cousin was the money maker of the family and I always wanted to be like him. Go to school and make money,” Lynch says. “My cousin told me I was smart but that I belong on a stage.” You think he listened to him? Well not at first but it did rest in the back of his mind.

The East St. Louis, Missouri native has being doing comedy on and off since 200 when he was 18 years old. Even though his favorite comedian is Marcus Combs, he has been compared to comedy greats like Paul Mooney and Dick Gregory and even comedy great Bill Bellamy said Lynch reminded him of Bernie Mac.

And when he tells me some of the jokes that get the audience excited I can see why. “Ill open the show and say things like Let the church say Amen and then start cursing up a storm,” Lynch claims. “It really confuses the audience.” He says the audience really likes hen he tells the joke of how his mother resembles Al Sharpton. Even though he makes fun of his mother, she is still one of his biggest supporters and is one of the reasons why comedy was his career path to begin with. “My mother taught me how to defend myself. She wasn’t your average mother. When I would come home crying because kids teased me about how big my nose was, she would just look at me and say well your nose is big!” Thank goodness for a supportive mother.

Lynch, whose real name is Anthony Collier, says he would like to do more producing in his shows after he produced his first show a few weeks ago and got a great response from the audience. He was also recently casted for a sketch comedy group called Maxim 1322 Entertainment. A member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Lynch recently competed in the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition. The competition is the biggest urban comedy competition in the country and he will be performing in the finals at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California. You can also catch Lynch on the regular at the famous Jokes n’ Notes comedy club in Chicago, Illinois.

Check out his website