Comedian, content creator and Emmy award-winning journalist Charlie Berens, known for his Midwestern charm, spoke with Las Vegas Magazine’s Em Jurbala ahead of his upcoming tour stop at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas this week.
You started your career working in news, right?
I did start in news. I did a variety of news jobs, local news, all that kind of stuff and I did it for probably about six years and then I transitioned into comedy. I just needed to do something to keep my sanity a little bit, so I started doing stand-up at night. Then I developed a bit, based on my time in local news, of this Midwest reporter. Instead of taking all these things people said I was doing wrong with respect to the accent or jargon of the Midwest, I doubled down on it instead. And that's sort of the basis for the Manitowoc Minute character that I created about six years ago and that's what started my comedy career.
Doubling down on something people are telling you is wrong is a bold move.
Thank you. I think a lot of comedians do that. Kind of your weakness is your strength in comedy and that’s why it's such a cool artform, because you see what makes you flawed is also what makes you relatable. You’ll find other people who share your flaws and want to, in some instances, celebrate them.
When you started your career in broadcast journalism, did you intend to end up doing comedy in some form?
Uh, no. I didn’t even really know I was funny then. I was really trying to do journalism and I really liked Jon Stewart and was inspired by Jon Stewart, but there wasn’t really that opportunity, though … I was working for MTV news back when MTV still did news and so I was working in these alternative journalism realms as well, so I did have one job that kind of blended news and comedy, but I wasn’t really sure I was funny when I was studying, that's for sure.
You’ve gained a lot of popularity doing sketch comedy. Do you have a preference between that and stand-up?
So, it all started with stand-up. The basis for everything came from a stand-up bit and that’s where my roots really are. I love stand-up. It's always kind of been the thing that drove my comedy and now it's the thing that I get to come back to and do ... I enjoy doing the sketches, too, but I would say stand-up is my favorite aspect of it.
Why do you think your Midwest-focused brand of comedy is so successful?
Well, I think the Midwest, for a long time, has been somewhat underrepresented … There have been a few things, certainly; like Roseanne was based in the Midwest and Fargo, obviously. But you can rattle off a bunch of (comedians from the South, East Coast and West Coast), but the Midwest kind of got flown over, so to speak … Also, I’m from Wisconsin, so my initial thing was the Manitowoc Minute, which was a news report, and I wanted to end this news report with (something like Edward R. Murrow’s) iconic sign off where he was like, “Good night and good luck.” I wanted to have something iconic for the Midwest and mine was “Go Packers, and F the Bears,” and that Packers fandom really latched onto the Manitowoc Minute because of that. And Packers fans are just voracious. There's a lot of pride in being a Packers fan and my brand got kind of swept up in that. I didn’t intend it that, but I’ve been a huge Packers fan my whole life, so I was happy when that happened and certainly doubled down on it.
Your current tour is advertised as all-new material. What can audiences expect?
I’ve got a lot of family stuff in this. I come from a big family; I’m one of 12 and I've got a very Wisconsin family. So, I’ll be going into more of those stories and those kinds of things. In my first tour, the Midwest was kind of a character, now the Midwest is more of a backdrop. These are all very Midwest stories but they’re, I think, universally relatable to anybody who has a family, everybody who’s existing in this changing world we live in. It’s definitely got a lot of Midwest in it but is something that I think anyone can enjoy, and I built it really throughout touring. A lot of these are bits that weren’t in my last special, but I would write new bits for every city I went to and found some stuff that worked everywhere. There’s a lot of universality in the principles of the Midwest, and I'm trying to dig into those and have more fun with the Midwest as I directly experience it through my family and friends.
The internet landscape has changed a lot since you first began posting comedy content. How has that changed your work?
You’ve gotta stay on top of it and you can be opposed to it. For instance, a lot of comedians now don’t like doing crowd work clips, because it kind of changes the artform if people just start shouting things out at you, and that’s not really what your show’s about. It’s finding a balance in a lot of these things. All these different platforms—I view them as a different improv game. I’ve got a background in improv and each platform, you can do something creative and authentic on it. It doesn't have to be like “I'm just going to go on TikTok and do the trends.” You can do that to build your following; there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you really are opposed to that as a comedian, you can find a really fun, creative way to make social media content.
Do you have any Vegas adventures you’d like to share or things you look forward to when you visit?
I went there just after college. … I drove up in my minivan and I didn’t have enough money for gas to get home, so I had to win a little bit. And I did. I actually won in poker, and I was feeling good about myself, and then I must have forgotten about my whole gas situation because I decided to take all my money and put it on the Packers to win the Super Bowl ... Yeah, I was drinking; that was the main inspiration for this. So, this was in 2010, the season had not started, I think it was like 13- or 14-to-1 odds. Stupid by anybody's imagination especially before the season started. So, I put it on there and I forgot about it. … Then as the season went on and on, I was like “Oh man, I should really find that ticket.” And long story short, the Packers won the Super Bowl and I never found that ticket. I think I would have won like $3,000 or something and that would have multiplied my net worth by about 3000 times. This was pretty devastating for me at the time.
Yeah, I do like to gamble. I gamble with my grandma a lot. She likes going to the casino. She’s into the slots but I'm more of a blackjack person ... I’m kind of excited to go. Every time I’ve been there, it’s been largely for work, or I had very limited money, so it will be nice to get there and stay in a hotel room by myself and experience the city in a new way.
Your tour is named the Good Old Fashioned Tour—is that your cocktail of choice?
Yes, it is: a brandy Old-Fashioned. It’s a very Wisconsin thing, you've gotta get the brandy in there. I don’t know that you want to drink them all night—that might leave you with a healthy hangover—but definitely a good way to start the cocktail hour.
Do you like the more creative renditions of the drink or do you stick to the classics?
I do sour. That's what I do. We’ve got this Sour Pow’r Jolly Good Soda in Wisconsin. That’s how I grew up making them. I've been making them since I was probably like 12, but I drink it any way it comes. I’m not super picky, but if I'm going to make it myself, I probably go sour.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, 8 p.m. Oct. 8, starting at $39.95 plus tax and fee. axs.com
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