Stephen Lynch

Stephen: Mark Tyke is my best friend. he is also one of the guys on my albums that does songs with me.

Stephen: Yes. I have certain songs that, if you just looked at them lyrically on a piece of paper, you might think they're funny. Or you might not. But when you hear them set to music, it adds a whole new element that the lyrics just don't provide. Sometimes it's a juxtaposition of insane lyrics with really nice music that sets it off and makes it funny. I try not to use that as a formula, but sometimes it happens that way.

Stephen: I've always been singing, since I was a little kid, and I learned how to play guitar in college. It just so happened that the only songs I really had any interest in writing were the ones that made my friends laugh. That's where that started, and then I just never stopped. But I never had any designs on becoming a comedian. I just kind of lucked into it.

Stephen: (About Opie and Anthony) I was doing shows around New York. They were fun, but I didn't have much radio exposure. I got hooked up with those guys, and went in one day and played a song for them. I knew they had a reputation, where if they don't like you, they're not nice to you. So, I was a little nervous going in, but we hit it off right away. They started playing my stuff more and more, and I just got huge exposure in the New York area from that. And I think that's kind of what led to everything else that happened; like Comedy Central and bigger tours, because I started getting a following here in New York.

Stephen: (On how he became a song writer) It started as a hobby; for fun in college, and then as a hobby and diversion after college. When I started taking it more seriously, that's when I figured I could stop working and get on the road. I just kind of did it, you know? I was hoping that if I quit my job, other, more fun jobs would fall into line,.. and they did.

Stephen: (On Adam Sandler) Yes, but it's funny because I used to get compared to him a lot, which was funny because I always thought that our styles were wildly disparate. Especially when he was doing songs on Saturday Night Live and I was kind of doing songs for my friends. Everybody said, "Oh man. You do stuff like Adam Sandler." I always kind of ran away from that comparison.

Stephen: (On offending people) I used to once in a while if it wasn't my show. Say it was a variety night or a bunch of comics on the bill, and people weren't there specifically to see me. But now they are. We set this tour up in a way to ensure that it's not comedy clubs with a built-in audience; it's theaters and rock clubs, where the only people that are going to show up and buy tickets actually know who you are. So, I don't have too much of a problem with that. I mean, sometimes somebody might not appreciate something, but they don't let me know. Maybe they just walk out.

Stephen: In my heart, I know I am a comedian. I know people paid $25 to come to a show to laugh. They're not there to hear me sing pretty. But if I had my druthers, I would consider myself a musician, just because I like to sing and I like to play guitar and I really like writing songs. If I didn't know how to write comedy songs, I would still probably be trying to write songs.

Stephen: Touring is fun. I usually have someone go with me, because I've written a couple of songs as duets. So, I either have Mark Teich (who's on the album with me) or my brother do it.

Stephen: (On bombing shows) I haven't bombed in a long time. We've had a lot of shows that have not been great. I think I did a college a year or two ago, and it was senior week or something, and I was the last bit of entertainment before they all left for the year.