If you grew up in Spokane, you might know comedian Kelsey Cook as a former neighbor or classmate. Then again, you also might recognize her from her TV guest spots, including multiple appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Her stand-up special The Hustler was released on YouTube last year and has since been picked up by Hulu. She co-hosts the podcast Pretend Problems with fellow comedian Chad Daniels. We chatted with Cook ahead of her return home for the festival; her answers have been edited slightly for brevity.
INLANDER: What got you involved with the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival?
COOK: My agent reached out and said that they were offering me a spot to open for Shane Gillis at the festival. I'm not sure if once they figured out that Spokane was going to be one of the cities that they were thinking, like, "Oh, well, Kelsey's from here originally" and that I might be a good fit.
How does your set change when you're opening versus when you're headlining?
I feel like you want to keep in mind that you're not necessarily the person that people are paying to see. You want to try to set the headliner up for as much success as possible. There's sometimes a little bit more looseness to maybe try some new material, stuff like that, but when you've got a shorter set opening for a headliner, you really want to lock it in and do your strongest jokes.
Given that you riff on Spokane in your stand-up act, how does your material change when you're here?
Whenever I get to perform in Spokane, some of the fun is getting to do jokes that I don't do anywhere else. You know, obviously, if I try to joke about the Garbage Goat in Milwaukee, people have no idea what I'm talking about. I do think Spokane's a unique city where we have these really bizarre, specific things to talk about that are fun and bring people together.
Do you get the sense that Spokane being added to the festival itinerary is kind of a big deal?
Oh, totally. I mean, the lineup for the festival is so insane. The fact that over three days Spokane will get to see Tom Segura, Shane Gillis and Kevin Hart — that's kind of unheard of, right? So this is really exciting.
What makes these particular headliners so exciting?
All three of them are so hilarious. They're all masters at stand-up. They've all been doing it for a long time, and their comedy voices are all so clear and uniquely theirs. And I feel like they all are willing to say things that people are thinking but might be afraid to say themselves. They're all very uncensored in the funniest way possible.
Any opening acts that you're particularly excited about?
Jessica Kirson, who's opening for Tom Segura, and I know that she's performed at the Spokane Comedy Club as well. She is one of my all-time favorite comedians. She is so brilliant and funny. I just can't recommend enough for people to watch her.
And you're coming back early next year to headline at the Spokane Comedy Club?
It'll be Valentine's weekend, and it's actually going to be the start of my individual tour. Right now we're also in the process of pitching a new special to the streaming services. I'm hoping it will be released around that time in 2025. My current comedy special, The Hustler, has crossed 3 million views on YouTube, and as of about a week ago, you can now watch that on Hulu as well. ♦
Tom Segura
The bilingual Ohio-born comedian, writer and actor has co-hosted the podcast Your Mom's House with his wife, Christina Pazsitzky, since 2010. He has five Netflix stand-up comedy specials, the most recent being Sledgehammer. Segura also wrote a book of humorous essays, I'd Like to Play Alone, Please.
Shane Gillis
Gillis' scripted workplace comedy series, Tires, premiered earlier this year on Netflix. Along with stand-up comedian Matt McCusker, he's co-host of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, which, contrary to its name, is one of the most popular podcasts on Patreon. His second comedy special, Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs, was released on Netflix last autumn.
Kevin Hart
The entrepreneur, personality and actor is known just as much for his film work — Ride Along, Jumanji, The Secret Life of Pets, Fatherhood, to name just a few — as his stand-up comedy. For the better part of a decade, Hart's multiplatform production company, Laugh Out Loud, has provided a platform for comedians of all backgrounds. His debut stand-up special, 2009's I'm a Grown Little Man, was followed by seven more, including, most recently, Kevin Hart: Reality Check.
