Nothing describes Jake Kornely more than Do-it-Yourself. A UWM graduate, he started off in the creative arts as a punk rock musician and songwriter. Through his songwriting he found more satisfaction in solo endeavors and began searching for something creative he could do without the need of a group; that endeavor was comedy.
After learning a friend was performing standup around Milwaukee, Jake became interested and began binging on comedy specials featuring his favorites such as Mike Birbiglia, Paul Tompkins, John Malaney, and Scott Aukerman. In time he was convinced that he could perform comedy for a crowd and in 2011 took a chance and attended an open mic night at the Art Bar in Milwaukee.
“I showed up, never having gone to an open mic before. I knew nothing about the scene, so I didn’t know what to expect. The only comedy shows I ever went to were at the Pabst,” he fondly recalls.
Despite the first time jitters, Jake kept his cool and made his comedy debut before a small group of Milwaukeeans. Now, three years later, Jake looks back at his debut with a laugh.
“Everyone assumes you bomb the first time. I didn’t but it was probably pretty terrible. I mean, I did ok but I thought maybe next time I’ll do better. So I kept doing it.”
Since his debut Jake has carefully crafted his routine. While many comedians go for shock value with obscenities and sexual innuendos, Jake sets himself apart with a blend observational humor and real-life experience. Explaining his work as a comedic conversation that’s “not super edgy. It’s not one liners. I go up there and tells stories about myself.”
As expected, not all comedy fans are accepting of comedians who lack in the obscenity department. As such, Jake has had his fair share of hecklers try and liven the show up with their own additions to his routine, for better or worse.
“I remember this one guy was really drunk and said, every comedian has a heckler story. You have to learn to deal with them. But it’s like, no. That would be like going to see a band and going up and unplugging their guitars.”
From his experience, Jake recalls that some hecklers truly believe that they’re adding to the show. And like any good comedian, he shuts down the occasional heckler by turning the crowd against them, in effect turning them into a living joke so the show can go on. Though a certain unwanted side effect is not uncommon.
“Every time I’ve had people yell during my set, they’ll come up and say, hey you know that guy yelling stuff during the show? That was me. Can I buy you a drink? As if they were helping the show,” Kornely said with a roll of his eyes.
More than standup comedian, Jake writes, promotes, and co-hosts Good Night Milwaukee, a bi-monthly live comedy talk show at the Arcade Theater in the Grand Avenue Mall. On par with well-known late night comedy shows such as the Daily Show and the Tonight Show, Goodnight Milwaukee features a slew of jokes and guest stars that have included the mythological beast, the Rhinelander Hodag, and a gay duck parodying a public incident involving Duck Dynasty.
As a veteran of the Milwaukee scene, Jake is constantly honing his act while trying to get his name out as and working with other comedians to make the scene better.
“Really the best thing you can do is get better. If you‘re at an open mic and you do a really great set, they’re going to say, oh there’s really great comedians here and they’ll seek out other comedy events. That’s going to help more than putting up flyers or getting on the radio. You just need to be a better comedian. Jokes are never finished. You can always add in something or change the wording. I always do the same set but I try to make it a little bit different each time.”
Having found success in the last three years, Jake is determined to make comedy his full time job. As such, he has begun scheduling his life around comedy and not his comedy around his life, while living by a simple rule; go to every open mic night as possible.