Daryl Felsberg is a professional comedian, producer, and comedy club owner from Corpus Christi who has been doing standup since 2001 and full-time since 2008. He grew up near Collier Park — corner of Mistletoe and Redwood — spending summers at the pool on a $2 season pass his mom would get sewn under his bathing suit. His dad worked on offshore rigs and introduced him to comedy through Richard Pryor, Cheech & Chong, and George Carlin on eight-tracks in the garage.
He didn't start standup until he was 28 or 29, already married with two kids and a career in sales. Before he ever went on stage, he spent six weeks sitting in the back of the Emerald Comedy Club in Amarillo with a journal, watching who went up and who came down, writing what to do and what not to do. His first time up, a guy running the room pulled him aside afterward and asked how long he'd been doing standup. When Daryl said it was his first time, the guy didn't believe him.
That night started a friendship that led to his first paying gig — driving from Amarillo to Corpus Christi to MC three shows in two nights at the Crazy Times Comedy Club in the Sunrise Mall for $50. He thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
He's shot four specials, released one through a company called Open Bar, survived a TIA stroke two years ago, and was back on the road six months later — walker, cane, can't lift anything — telling the story onstage and making money off it. He owns a comedy club in Paris, Texas that seats 100 people and is open one weekend a month.
On this episode of the Corpus Christi Originals Podcast, they talk about writing material with a core of truth, how COVID changed the industry, social media influencers taking headliner spots, the journals stacked a foot and a half high on his desk, crowd work as the most misunderstood skill in standup, and the ongoing bit where he installs fake antique photos of himself in Cracker Barrel restaurants across the country.
Find Daryl at darylfelsberg.com for show dates. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by guests on the Corpus Christi Originals Podcast are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast, its sponsors, the recording studio, or any affiliated entities.