Rising comedian Ed Blaze has made a name for himself opening for acts such as Jim Gaffigan and Ralphie May. The Tanzanian-born comedian obtains a lot of his humor from comparison between life in Africa and life in the United States. The Daily Orange spoke with Blaze about his career and his upcoming show at the Oncenter Complex on Friday at 8 p.m.

The Daily Orange: How would you describe your comedic style?

Ed Blaze: I want to say my style is observational because I talk a lot about what I see in different races and cultures. I talk about how different life in Africa is compared to life in America. I also like to poke fun at and talk about interracial relationships, sexual relationships, politics and more.

The D.O.: What’s your favorite part about being a comedian?

E.B.: I guess what I enjoy most about being a comedian is when I’m performing and I feel this sense of unity in the room. I feel like comedy unites everyone, and it’s not the same as music or sports or politics. When you see the audience at a comedy show, they are a bunch of people from different backgrounds, but all of them, when they come to my show, unite for that hour or hour and a half. It makes my heart really, really happy when I am performing in front of a group of mixed audience and it just brings everyone together.

The D.O.: Who are some of your comedic influences?

E.B.: There is a long list, but one that comes to mind right now would definitely be Dave Allen. He’s an Irish comedian and he was a very, very funny guy — no cursing, nothing. People like Dave Chappelle, Lewis Black and Chris Rock are all comedians who influenced me in that they set the bar up so high that I was able to keep pushing myself and keep writing new material. I look up to all of these comedians for their interesting writing styles and outside-of-the-box way of performing and thinking.

The D.O.: What can we expect from your upcoming show at the Oncenter?

E.B.: First of all, I am really excited to come to Syracuse because I have never been here before. Now that the weather is warmer and I’m hoping to just come enjoy the city. I also want to make sure Syracuse becomes my comedy home so I can come back every year with fresh and new material to perform for my fans here. The good thing about not having performed in a city yet is that I can do some old material that no one has ever heard in Syracuse — I can do two hours of recycled material because nobody in Syracuse has seen me before. In terms of my interaction with the crowd, I will definitely be poking fun at this city, the people, the audience and I just know it will be a lot of fun.

The D.O.: What inspired you to become a comedian?

E.B.: Ever since I was in boarding school, I was always one of those guys who was always making jokes all over and things like that. When I came to America, I would watch comedians on HBO and Comedy Central, and I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I can do this.” I studied writing in college and I remember jumping on stage during a comedy show. It was only for about three minutes but at that time, I was still fresh from Africa so people kept laughing. I didn’t know if people were laughing at my accent or laughing at my jokes, but after that, I stopped performing for about eight years. I kept writing though and started doing open mics and small gigs, and I ended up going back on stage eventually when I moved to D.C.

The D.O.: How did you begin your career as a comedian?

E.B.: I started by just going to open mics around my area in D.C. — not necessarily to perform, but sometimes to even just watch and get a feel for it. When I do jump on stage, I always have a great time and everyone always laughs; that was when I knew this is what I love to do.

The D.O.: What was your favorite show that you have done so far in your career?

E.B.: I did a show in Washington, D.C. about four years ago and there were about 350 people in the theater. There was an older gentleman in the audience who had one of those (oxygen) tanks on him, and he was laughing so hard that we had to stop the show in the middle to make sure he was okay. That had to be my favorite comedy show so far.

Published on March 25, 2015 at 9:58 pm

Contact; tchuang@syr.edu