By Nick A. Zaino III Globe correspondent, Updated September 25, 2024
At first glance, Chris Gethard and Eddie Pepitone make for odd tour mates.
Gethard is a hard-won optimist. He talks about surviving extreme bullying in his act, instructs readers how to “lose well” in one of his books, and hosts the “Beautiful/Anonymous” podcast where he explores deeply personal stories over the phone with complete strangers. Meanwhile Pepitone, a.k.a. the “Bitter Buddha,” recently posted a workout video on Facebook with the caption, “Death is imminent for us all as the warmongers rule this earth,” and has a podcast called “Apocalypse Soon,” partly because he enjoys the idea of the end times.
What they do have in common is that they’ve both established their comic voices outside of a more mainstream, laugh-every-seven-seconds sensibility, with Gethard as an offbeat but heartfelt storyteller and Pepitone as a powerhouse of defeatist whimsy.
“I first saw Eddie over 20 years ago,” Gethard said. “I was coming up in a world of New York comedy at the time, and I really felt like he was one of the people doing stuff that made me feel like it was possible for me.”
“Let me add this,” Pepitone interjected. “I’m being forced against my will to do this. I don’t want to, but I’m being made to do it. They have my dog hostage.”
Of course, Pepitone is joking. He thinks that their “Sweet and Sour Tour,” which comes to the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville Oct. 2 with Keegan Tindall in support, captures their relationship perfectly.
“It’s just such a great juxtaposition of Chris’s sweetness and realness and my absurd rage, and it’s been working out,” Pepitone said. “We’re really kind of peeling back the onion of our psyches.”
Gethard and Pepitone have known each other for years. They hadn’t worked together in any sustained capacity until this tour, which means the car rides — which can be as meaningful a part of any tour as the actual shows — have been a revelation.
“It was really fun for about the first four [hours],” Gethard said of a recent seven-hour ride with Pepitone. “And then I would say the last three got really psychological, in a way that no one would claim was healthy. But that being said, it also helps [create] some really great energy at the shows.”
Pepitone admits he has endless wells of rage, to the point of absurdity, and the only proper response is laughter. The comic calls anger his “pathway into joy.”
“The angrier I can get [the] more joyful I am, especially in a Rite Aid or a CVS pharmacy,” Pepitone said. “My message is that we can get as angry as [we] want and we’re still going to get screwed over by the world, so we might as well enjoy it.”
Though he comes across as very gentle, Gethard often finds it funny when people think he’s the optimistic nice guy, as his comedy often comes from a place just as dark as Pepitone’s work. Last year, he released an audio special on Audible called “A Father and the Sun,” which grappled with his misgivings about being a father and thinking about the dubious circumstances of his own childhood.
Gethard and his brother were both skinny kids with glasses (it didn’t help that his last name spelled “get hard”) and were terrorized by neighborhood kids. In particular there was a childhood tormentor named Mike, who was 17 when Gethard was 12 and his brother was 14. Gethard names Mike in the special, saying, “If you happened to grow up in my neighborhood, not the Mike on Maple Street, the other Mike. Go figure it out.” He checked with lawyers to make sure he could use the guy’s first name, and found it was sufficiently common, so he let loose.
“I like to be a nice guy,” Gethard said.“But I will tell you, when I found comedy, a lot of it felt like it was the only way I was going to find any method by which to fight back at a world that I was not enjoying.”
“So I think some of Eddie’s rage is verbalized more directly than mine is,” he added. “But mine is certainly sitting there very, very deep in my guts.”
Neither comic is especially well-built for internet algorithms that feed online audiences a steady diet of crowd work and comedians clapping back at hecklers. But both Gethard and Pepitone are able to get into mainstream clubs as well as the stranger, artier spaces. Each comedian has created followings that will fill clubs with friendly faces, but push themselves to play outside of those crowds. Pepitone plays the Comedy Store in Los Angeles regularly, and Gethard made a habit of working out at the Comedy Cellar in New York. That’s another thing they can bond over.
“I have always felt a little bit like I’m doing my own thing,” said Gethard. “And then you can find a little sense of community with the other people who are also doing their own thing, and who don’t just stay in one established lane.”
Gethard adds that he finds it hopeful that two non-traditional comics can find success touring together. Pepitone would like to see more tours like it.
“Let’s hope that pairings like me and Chris become ubiquitous, start to flourish, because the world is at stake,” Pepitone said. “We’re ruled by this corporate, homogenous crap, and guys like me and Chris just carry the flag of rebellion.”
Just as the conversation starts to get serious, Gethard starts to brainstorm ideas for other comic pairings, musing, “I can’t wait to [see] Andrew Dice Clay and Hannah Gadsby, together at last.”
CHRIS GETHARD AND EDDIE PEPITONE: THE SWEET AND SOUR TOUR With Keegan Tindall. At Crystal Ballroom, Somerville, Oct. 2. crystalballroomboston.com
