Kevin Kataoka

You may have seen Kevin performing standup on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” or acting on “Cheap Seats” on ESPN Classic. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but now living in Los Angeles, Kevin has also graced the stage at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and appeared in animated form on Comedy Central’s “Dr. Katz,” which spawned a nationally syndicated comic strip he helped write. In addition to performing stand-up across North America, Kevin has also written for Fox’s “Mad TV” and “Blind Date,” and ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

MB: Do you ever get nervous when you perform?

KK: I always get nervous. There are different levels to my nervousness. It obviously depends on what kind of gig it is.

MB: At what kind of gig are you the most nervous?

KK: I’d say any time I’m in a situation where I have to be at my best because somebody [from the industry] in the crowd is watching me, or because I need to make a tape that’s important to give to somebody else. When I’m performing for a week at a club, I can do anywhere from six to nine shows in that week, so if one show doesn’t go well, I can always worry about the next show—which is twenty-four hours later. That’s not as big of a deal, so I wouldn’t be very nervous. But if it’s just a one-shot deal, like a set for a comedy festival or a TV appearance, then yeah, you gotta bring it for that particular show. When the stakes are higher, that’s when I get a little more nervous.

MB: How do you deal with being nervous?

KK: I think the number-one thing for me is preparation. You have to be so prepared and confident in what you’re doing that you’re almost sick of doing the material.

MB: Is there anything you tell yourself to calm yourself down?

KK: I think everybody has their own tricks. A lot of times, I’ll just tell myself out loud to have fun, because I think that’s what it really comes down to—having fun and not really caring that much. Obviously you do care, but you also need to know that it’s not the end of the world if you fail. It’s one performance, so you shouldn’t care that much.

The other thing I do is listen to music on an iPod. That will relax me. Strangely enough, I always think about the 1964 Beatles. [Laughs] I think about when they came over to the states. If you watch any documentary footage of them, you can see they’re having so much fun—they don’t look nervous at all. It could have been the most nerve-wracking thing, but they’re just having so much fun, and their eyes are wide open to anything and they’re just taking it all in. That’s the kind of energy I’d like to have all the time.