Patrick Moore was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, and grew up on a diet of love, attention, and tofu. In keeping with his unorthodox background, Patrick started his stand-up career in Berlin, Germany. Where he was one of the finalists in the Berlin New Stand Up Awards. He has performed all across Europe, and headlined the Burning Mic festival. He also produces many of his own shows in Berlin as well as a podcast called Hey Baby, I’m Gay. You can find his podcast, sketches, and stand-up clips by following him on Instagram/TikTok/Facebook/Youtube @patmoorecomedy. The show happens Friday December 15 at the Barrel Proof Lounge in downtown Santa Rosa, they can get tickets via the Eventbrite link below.

GaySonoma: Were you a giggly toddler, a class clown, and the kooky cut-up at the office?

Patrick Moore: guess I was a pretty giggly toddler. I remember as a child when something caught my funny bone I would hysterical with laughter to the point where I would need to leave the classroom/movie theater/library or wherever I was. I don’t think I was much of a class clown, but I’ve always enjoyed making my friends laugh. 

GS: What’s your earliest memory of watching a comic in action?

PM: I remember my moms showing me Robin Williams HBO special live on broadway, and just being blown away by his energy. All three of us were just in tears watching him act out people inventing the game of golf. Eddie Murphy Raw is another of the first standup specials I remember seeing. I fell in love with Eddie Murphy from Saturday Night Live, and then discovered Raw at the video store, and it made my head explode. 

GS: What prompted you to become a comic?

PM: I always loved comedy, and joking around. Laughing and making people laugh. But what really made me want to try doing comedy was listening to the podcast WTF with Marc Maron. Listening to Comedians, they just seemed like cool people to hang out with. And the stories from being on the road and struggling as a new comic sounded like the kind of adventure I was interested in. If I were to dig deeper and psychoanalyze myself, I would probably also have to admit that being an only child pushed me towards it as well.  

GS: Did they sit you down and lay down the law about what topics concerning them are forbidden or did they passive-aggressively let you know!

PM: My moms and I never had a conversation about what I was and wasn’t allowed to talk about. Lucky for me I really started my comedy career half a world away from them, in Berlin. So I knew I didn’t have to worry about people knowing them, or them coming to see me when I was still trying to figure out the best ways to talk about my childhood. They only saw me do comedy for the first time earlier this year. When I had already written and started performing my show Mamas’ Boy. So they got to just see it as an already finished piece, and didn’t have to suffer through so much of the growing pains. 

GS: How would you describe your humor; your act?

PM: Personal. I don’t have a lot of material that’s observational, or political or anything like that. I heard an interview with a comedian once talking about how no one can steal your jokes if you make them personal, and so that’s always been something that guided me in my writing process. Although if I were to frame it more negatively I would say, I’ve always loved talking about myself so why stop with my comedy. 

GS: Talk about your creative process.  Are you one of those comics who never goes anywhere without his tine notebook?

PM: I do have several tiny to large size notebooks that sit around the house or come with me in a jacket pocket out into the world. My wife says that I have an annoying obsession with notebooks, but it also makes me easy to buy gifts for because any occasion I’m excited to get a nice notebook. Talking about my creative process makes me a little nervous because the creative process sounds like someone who’s making fine art, not just trying to get a few silly jokes to work. My process varies but the foundational piece is just going to open mics, and shows around the city. I try to do about 10-12 shows/mics a week, and that puts pressure on me to write. Sometimes in the morning I’ll sit down and write for an hour or two, and sometimes I just scribble something down on the subway on the way to the gig. In the lead up to creating this show I did start using note cards and a cork board to organize my material, and to have an overview of which jokes needed work, and which ones I thought were finished. But really the whole thing is still very much an ongoing learning experience. 

GS: What comics do you admire; despise; think are at the end of their 15 minutes?

PM: This one is a hard one for me to answer. Before I ever did stand up I was a huge huge fan, and I still am. My taste is wide ranging. I love comedians from Richard Pryor to Matteo Lane, and a lot of other ones in between. I don’t despise any comedians because I respect how hard it is to do standup, and how uncomfortable it can be especially starting out. So I don’t despise any comedians, there are just some comics who’s comedy isn’t meant for me. 

GS: How do you most effectively handle hecklers? 

PM: Luckily doing comedy in Berlin, and more widely in Europe you don’t run into so many hecklers. In Germany you have the opposite problem. A cold, stone faced audience that can be a real challenge to try to get any reaction from. But when I do have a heckler I always try to kill them with kindness, and let them know that my mothers would be disappointed that they were interrupting my show. And if they’re really not getting the message then I use the power of group shame, and have the rest of the audience show them how annoying they think they are. 

GS: What are the five films that always get you LOL?

PM: I don’t know if I can name five films without some more serious thought, but I can tell you my number one comedy movie. Superbad. I’ve always loved the sensibility of Seth Rogan and Judd Appatow and for me that was a perfect comedy film. It perfectly captured the experience of being an awkward teenage boy in highschool, and came out while I was an awkward teenage boy in highschool. So I’ve never related to a film more than when that first came out. 

GS: Is laughing through tears really a thing?

PM: I think so! I’ve alway enjoyed the feeling of making my moms laugh by saying something a little shocking. I think because of that I’ve always looked for the joke or the laugh when something hard or bad happens. My godmother who I was very close with, passed away from Parkinson’s disease. Seeing the way she cracked jokes about her illness all the way to the end was always a big inspiration to me. I think there’s no better feeling than having a laugh. So when you’re sad or something dark is going on, why not try to have a laugh? Lighten it up even if it’s just for a second. 

GS: Talk about your upcoming show here in Sonoma County.

PM: I’ll be doing my one man comedy show MAMAS’ BOY Friday December 15th at the Barrel Proof Lounge in downtown Santa Rosa. I’ve spent the whole fall touring the show all over Europe, but this is the show that I am probably most excited for. It will be the first time I’ve done the show in the states, and the first time a lot of my friends and family will have had the chance to see me perform. I’m also really excited to be bringing the show back home to a place where people will understand more of the context of who I am, and what my childhood was like. A place where I won’t have to work as hard to get my cultural references across. I’ve always had a connection with Sonoma County since I was a kid. And my childhood best friend moved up to Sonoma to live and work. So it seemed like the perfect place to bring my show for it’s US debut! 

GS: Is it part of a larger world tour?

PM: I guess this stop technically makes it a world tour. Europe + Sonoma county. That’s my world tour. Actually I should probably start using that in my future marketing of the show. But I have spent the fall touring the show all over Europe. I’ve performed the show in Barcelona, Dresden, Vienna, Basel, Zurich, Luxembourg, Hamburg, Prague, Innsbruck, Munich, and of course my home city of Berlin. So I’m extra excited to be bringing the show back home to the North Bay for the first time! 

GS: How can folks find out more about you and find out just how hysterical you are on the magical computer machines?

If people are interested in coming to my show Friday December 15th at the Barrel Proof Lounge in downtown Santa Rosa, they can get tickets via the Eventbrite link below. Otherwise I’m online everywhere: Instagram, Youtube, Tik Tok, etc with the username @patmoorecomedy. You can also find a link to my instagram page below where I have a few short standup clips posted. 

https://MAMASBOYSantaRosa.eventbrite.com/?aff=blg

https://www.instagram.com/patmoorecomedy/

Patrick Moore was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, and grew up on a diet of love, attention, and tofu. In keeping with his unorthodox background, Patrick started his stand-up career in Berlin, Germany. Where he was one of the finalists in the Berlin New Stand Up Awards. He has performed all across Europe, and headlined the Burning Mic festival. He also produces many of his own shows in Berlin as well as a podcast called Hey Baby, I’m Gay. You can find his podcast, sketches, and stand-up clips by following him on Instagram/TikTok/Facebook/Youtube @patmoorecomedy.