Watching SLADE HAM perform is somewhat akin to getting hit in the face with a really, really funny baseball bat. He has spent the last decade carving a very noticeable niche for himself in the stand up comedy world.
Slade averages two-hundred shows a year in the United States and he’s performed in twenty-two different countries on four continents. In 2006, Slade had the honor of headlining XM Radio’s Best of Texas two hour special, and his CD, Redemption, still remains one of XM Comedy’s most requested. Redemption also features original music from Kevin Martin of Candlebox fame, and receives almost daily airplay on XM Channel 150.
Slade toured with Christopher Titus and opened for the taping of the 5th Annual End of the World Tour at the 2007 South Beach Comedy Festival. Slade directed in starred in the short film A Fist Full of Pills and it lost to Kevin Pollack at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. He’s also a regular on The Bob & Tom Show. You even saw him in ring at Wrestlemania XXV. That last part is totally made up.
These are not, however, the most meaningful things to Slade's career.
Slade’s real passions are the road, traveling the world and collecting stories. Of all of his accomplishments, Slade is most proud of getting to take his show to the United States military twice a year for the last decade. He was telling jokes in Germany two weeks after 9/11, he’s hopped from base to base across Japan and Korea for the Air Force, and has been dropped off by Blackhawk helicopter to do spontaneous sets for soldiers in the Iraqi desert. When not on stage, he drinks Irish whiskey on the rocks and listens to rock and roll much too loud. One day he hopes to write a book, host a travel show, and continue to trick the world into paying him to do the things he loves to do. He keeps a very expensive storage unit in Houston, TX.
I’ve discussed this with my mom several times in the past. It seems that I continue to remember things further and further back. I’m some sort of memory savant. I remember making my parents reschedule my fourth birthday party because it conflicted with Scooby Doo. I also remember the girl across the street sticking her hand in my cake at my first birthday party. I’m not even sure if that’s possible, but I do. Her name was Melanie, and as far as I’m concerned, that little hooker still owes me a cake. Apparently all my early memories are birthday related.
If you weren’t a comedian what other profession would you choose?
I’m conflicted on this one. I wanted to be a bounty hunter for a while, then a Jedi, which is obvious by my lightsaber infused Gravatars. Now I just want to be a ninja. I am one already, but I’m ready for the public to respect me for my skills. I’m still working on the money aspect.
The Joker and the Thief
In a retelling of a now infamous story on the stand up comedy circuit, Slade Ham recalls working with Dustin Diamond from television's Saved by the Bell. It is a painful week, for both performers.
