Comedian Jay Davis Continues to Build His Own Stage

Life is a constant combination of comedy, improvisation and promoting for Jay Davis. This comedian has reached the point in his career where even while he enjoys his lunch, he’s meeting people and promoting his shows.

“I talk to people all day,” Davis says. “I invite people to comedy, I’m always thinking comedy — so, even when I’m having a salad, I’m working.”

Davis can currently be seen on his best friend Dane Cook’s creation “Tourgasm,” a documentary show running on HBO. Starring in “Tourgasm,” as their own humorous-yet-tormented-selves, are four of the most well-known comedians in the country right now; Cook, Gary Gulman, Robert Kelly, and Davis.

The series closely follows the life of each comedian while on the road for 30 days, in the midst of doing 20 shows. Amidst their struggles to maintain a barely-functional, family-like unit while stuck together on a tour bus, there are moments of unexpected tragedy (Kelly busts his knee playing touch football in one episode) and pure, unplanned comedy, such as the tackling of each other in public stores after tossing one another’s clothing into Niagara Falls.

Davis is nick-named “The Newbie” on the show because he’s only been doing comedy for around seven years, which is new when compared to Cook’s fifteen. The two originally met when Cook performed at Davis’ comedy night, and since then, the two have supported and promoted each other through one strong bond – a deep love for comedy.

“I try to get onstage as much as possible; I look at it like a golf game,” Davis says. “I try to beat my shows each week. That’s what makes you get better — the more you do [comedy]. Before you know it, you’re not thinking about it anymore, and when you’re not thinking about it, it flows.”

Davis’ comedy story began at Dublin’s, a pub in Los Angeles. He wanted to do comedy, and he wanted to do it his way. He created his own stage there, and set the bar high, inviting many local stars and the hottest talent around to stop by for his comedy night. He’d previously worked at a nightclub that catered to celebrities, and befriended many of them, so that part was already in place. Many superstars eventually went on to perform at Davis’ original comedy night, including Cook, Dave Chappelle, Roseanne Barr and Andrew Dice Clay.

From then on, word kept spreading that Davis had the ability to host an amazing show. Now, L.A’s hottest comedy night is “Life of the Party,” which is hosted by Davis and held every Tuesday night at the Laugh Factory.

“I’m really adamant about having the best possible comedians on the show,” Davis says. “The talent pool that I’m pulling from is [all] stars.”

These stars include Cook, Tony Rock, Daniel Tosh and more. The talented seem to trust their talent with Davis. There are few, however, that Davis trusts himself.

“The older I get, the more I realize I want to do things on my own,” Davis says. “I don’t like auditioning for other people. I’m a hands-on control person. I’m a control freak. When I do something myself, it’s going to get done right. When I put my talent in someone else’s hands, it scares me a lot.”

“When I put my talent in Dane Cook’s hands, I trust him,” Davis continues. “I know that he’s going to take care of us all, and make us all shine. I would love to always do business with people like that.”

And so, through hard work and salesmanship, Davis is creating a unique path to his own version of life. He’s built his name, his stage, and with them, his own career.

It seems to have all been set in place from the age of three for Davis.

“My dad was a salesman,” Davis says. “The first thing I learned as a three-year-old kid was how to shake a hand.”

Davis claims he’s always been a “people person,” and above everything else, he loves making people laugh. Inspiration comes naturally with the terrain.

“Comedy’s healing,” Davis explains. “Every Tuesday night [at Dublin’s], this doctor who worked in the ER room would come down. He said, ‘Tuesday’s my only night off, and I make Tuesday a regular night for me to come here and laugh. You have no idea. You’re healing me, and I’m a doctor. I’ve seen people die, I’ve seen the worst tragedies, and to come here and laugh is so healing for me.’”

Moments like that become the ever-burning fuel behind Davis’ quest to become the best comedian he can be. He continues to help out as many other comedians along the way as possible. He seems to do this effortlessly, all because he holds his own potential with strong hands. There’s a simplicity to his words that exposes a clear and peaceful mind.

“Everybody works differently, and that’s the great thing about comedy; there’s no rules,” Davis says. “You gotta learn the way you gotta learn. I want everything to come from who I am as a person. I’m still developing and I’m excited about my development process. It’s a slow process. I’m not in a rush.”

The off-screen Davis shows no signs of the tension that the “Tourgasm” cameras capture. The show seems to get crazier with each episode. When you take such expansive and sensitive personalities, and throw them in a petri dish under a microscope — it’s not surprising that they end up poking each other’s soft spots.

“I felt [the tour] would have been a lot different if the cameras weren’t there,” Davis says. “The cameras take all the emotions up 100%. I had high expectations that we were all going to get along; have the best time ever; just get to do comedy. I didn’t know that there were going to be such emotions that were going to run wild, and that we were going to butt heads with some people.”

What also unexpectedly surfaces in the series is how dramatically different most comedians are, in person, from their stage presence. There are tight, gripping moments of dispute between Davis and Kelly, right before either one of them is forced to go onstage in front of thousands of people. And then, somehow, once they get out there, they smile and laugh like it’s all they’ve ever done.

“It’s weird. When you’re living the dream, and you’re right in the middle of the dream, you gotta step back and go, ‘Wow, I’m in the middle of living a dream,’” Davis explains. “I felt like there was a lot of misery right amongst us. Here we are, doing something so special, yet we’re emotionally fighting and freaking out. There was a lot of pressure.”

Davis loved this opportunity to get onstage in front of thousands almost every night. He understood what a completely unique opportunity he had, to perform fresh jokes in front of such large crowds of people.

“I knew it was going to be quite an experience,” Davis reflects. “Most comedians will never get that experience, you know? We left on April 1, and Dane’s a practical joker, so we were a little concerned that he might be pulling a pretty amazing prank on us. But when we saw the buses, we knew it was real.”

While Davis has plenty of experience hosting events and generating enthusiasm, comedy seems to take a different side of his personality to war. The bite, the bitterness that many comedians use to fuel their routines, is nowhere to be found when Davis is onstage. Davis is going for something else. A new kind of comedy — nice-guy comedy.

In fact, one of the jokes he works on developing during “Tourgasm” is based on the fact that his friends think he’s “too nice.”

“Even when I was a kid, even though I didn’t start until 7 years ago, I used to do [comedy] for my family,” Davis says. “The weirdest thing is that most people study other comedians. I purposely didn’t want to see other comedians. I didn’t watch any specials. I wouldn’t watch Comedy Central. I wanted to do it like Jimi Hendrix, you know, pick up the guitar upside-down and just learn my way.”

Davis does admit that now, he’s more open to influence and coaching – but only from the best.

“One thing I learned from Dane Cook is, he doesn’t set goals, he wills them,” Davis says. “I love being around that. They say who you hang with is who you become, and I’m so excited to have such a smart, wonderful, loyal friend like Dane Cook to learn from and mentor me in the comedy world.”

What’s refreshing about Davis is his make-it-happen-for-yourself personality. At the core of his aspirations, is the belief that being true to his values will take him where he wants to go. He’s going to prove that nice guys can — and will — finish first.

The ultimate goal for him is to end up a “wealthy beach bum,” and live on an island, occasionally picking up projects such as movies, but mainly just surfing.

“I’m planning on being a really in-shape, 65-year-old man,” Davis says.

Davis is currently touring the country with Kelly, whom he claims to have developed a much more solid relationship with since the argumentative era of “Tourgasm.”

“Robert Kelly and I have really become great friends,” Davis says. “We’re like brothers now. Do we butt heads still? Yeah, we do, we’re two different personalities. We clash a little bit from time to time. But I tell ya, there’s a great respect for one another. I’m doing the road with Robert the whole summer, and we’ve just been having a great time.”

If the bond of comedy can level these two extremes to a peaceful balance, then comedy must be the number one prescription drug of the future. And if anyone’s on a mission to prescribe it to as many people possible, it’s the already-addicted Davis.

“Too much comedy’s my hobby, you know?” he says. “I know how to sell comedy to people.”