Boulder-born standup comedian Chris Higgins facetimed me from a cabin out in Oregon while on family vacation. In true Colorado fashion, the interview was briefly interrupted by his dad asking him to take a hit of a joint with him. Amid puffs, friendly banter, and most impressively (but not unexpectedly) not one single cough, the comic continued the interview that was paused not by the burning bush but instead by the lack of internet signal in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.

Chris will make his return home to Colorado the weekend of February 21st to record his first full length comedy special at The Comedy Fort in Fort Collins. And since many may just recently have become familiar with Chris, as he’s gained increased exposure and a significant portion of his 130k+ followers on Instagram in the past year or so, I figured it’s worth taking a step back into seeing how he got here.

Boulder Born-n-Raised

When I started the interview by asking Chris about what life was like growing up in Boulder, he simply stated “outside”. He then elaborated further (thankfully, I mean could you imagine if he didn’t…)

“My childhood growing up in the Hill neighborhood of Boulder was dang near perfect. I had a big group of dudes that I spent most of my time with. We went on trips together and it was almost like I was raised by five different sets of parents. We were constantly ribbing each other and everyone I surrounded myself with was way funnier than I was. A lot of comedians had a tough childhood but I had the opposite of that – nothing but joy and fun. I would often get jealous of my little brother, Charlie, who’s the funniest guy I know, holding court to a room full of people. He and I created his brainchild God-n-Angel, which is a Tiktok series that will probably be gone and dashed from the internet by the time this interview comes out.”

After graduating from Boulder High School, Chris left the land of the mountain views, mountain bikes, and the comforts of home and shipped himself off to Florida to attend Eckerd College. His first open mic was just over a decade ago during his college years at the small university on the Gulf of America (which was called Gulf of Mexico at the time of the interview). He then moved to Chicago, where he resides today, initially to pursue improv, and after six years (and a worldwide pandemic) he quit the troupe to focus his efforts strictly on standup going forward.

Consistency is Key

His increase in popularity and rise to where he’s at today can be attributed to consistency – having posted clips routinely on social media for the past 3+ years and constantly touring on the road. He affectionately deemed the tour that he’s on currently, which brings him back to Fort Collins, as The Comedy Quest, which he states just comes from him being a huge nerd at heart and always having wanted to be a wizard. He also credits his rise to other comedians’ generosity, having been brought on road to open for Ashley Gavin, Ismo, Kristen Toomey, and Colorado’s favorite son Sam Tallent, to name a few. Someday he hopes to be in a position to return the favor for other up-and-coming comedians just as the aforementioned have done for him.

Chris routinely comes back to Colorado to perform amongst friends, family, and strangers alike at local clubs such as Denver’s Comedy Underground and Comedy Lounge, Fort Collin’s The Comedy Fort, and Boulder’s Comic Cents, which is where we performed together and I initially pitched him this interview idea. “Colorado has some absolute monsters of comedy, like Adam Cayton-Holland, Ben Roy, Nancy Norton, John Novosad, and Kevin Fitzgerald. Also shoutout to Brent F*cking Gill, who booked me on my first ever show. He was the first person to ever hand me money for running my mouth, so I love Brent. He’s just worked so hard for Colorado comedy.”

What’s in store for the 21st?

When asked what audience members can expect when seeing him perform, he said “Silly times. Expect an hour where nothing will be taken seriously, including myself. Some of my huge influences have been Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Rory Scovel, Dan Soder, and obviously Sam Tallent as well, who’s one of my absolute heroes. If you like those guys you might like me.”

“I definitely need to give credit to the Midwest. The people in this region are freaking hilarious. The audiences in this area deserve their flowers and have shaped how I perform. Chicago’s an absolute beacon for comedy and I can’t thank the people enough. I love doing comedy here.”

“It feels like The Comedy Fort is on a similar path of what I would like to be on. It’s nationally known and people want to be about it. It’s a comedy institution, which I think every comedian wants to be. To put it simply, it’s a special place.”

Chris will be partnering with Dude IDK studios for the production of his special. “Shout out to Nick and Jacob who will shoot and edit the special. The main release for it will be on my YouTube channel and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Closing Remarks

When Chris steps off the stage after Saturday night’s late show he’ll join the company of Brad Wenzel, Tom Thakkar, Steven Rogers, and many others who have chosen The Fort to film their comedy specials. I sat down with comedian and founder of The Comedy Fort, David Rodriguez, the other weekend to chat about the upcoming event.

He told me “it’s been cool to watch Chris’s career grow and see the trajectory he’s been on”, which shows a mutual admiration between the two for what each are building. “It’s always an honor when someone chooses The Comedy Fort as the location to film their special. A special, especially the first one, encompasses all of our art from when we’ve started and is representative of everything we’ve put into it. For a comedian to choose this club as the location for that, I don’t take that lightly”.

I asked David what audience members should expect when coming to see a comedy show at The Fort and he simply stated “They should expect really good comedy… it doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.”

Chris Higgins Special Taping at The Comedy Fort February 21st and 22nd (Buy Tickets Here)
Chris Higgins Instagram (@mybudchris)
The Comedy Fort Instagram (@thecomedyfort)

Nick Ellis is a Denver based standup comedian and writer. Follow along on instagram at @ellisnd so we can be friends and subscribe to my weekly satire business newsletter ‘the street satire’ here.