Dan Chopin is no fan of the miniature traffic cameras at intersections. One of them snapped his picture recently.
“The state caught me running a red light,” Chopin said. “My wife caught me smoking. And my sponsor caught me drinking — all in one picture.”
That’s just one snapshot of the Missouri comic’s standup routine that has made him a popular regular on Indianapolis’ syndicated “Bob and Tom Show.” Chopin, as adept with comic songs as he is with chatty one-liners, will headline the final YES Comedy Showcase event of the season at 8 p.m. April 11, Fourth and Jackson streets in downtown Columbus.
Josh Arnold, also featured on “The Bob and Tom Show,” will open.
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Chopin first started performing for live audiences as a drummer and guitar player in local bands in his hometown of St. Louis while in high school.
But he soon switched to stand-up comedy, improvisation and acting while studying advertising and communications at the University of Missouri. After cutting his teeth at local open-mic nights and a two-year stint in a local sketch comedy group, Chopin moved to Los Angeles in 1985, and soon became a regular at the Improvisation in Hollywood.
His work there led to bookings on the national comedy-club and college circuits and appearances on HBO, Showtime, MTV, PBS and “The Bob & Tom Show.” Chopin said he once dated an ophthalmologist but found their romantic encounters unsettling when she would respond to his moves with, “Better? Worse? Better?”
The performer acknowledges that he’s hardly in the best shape of his life.
“But I finally joined a gym about a year ago,” he said. “Now I’m down about … 350 bucks.”
He says he refuses to be impressed with the now-common, well-dressed cyclists looking like Lance Armstrong in their day-glow Spandex as they peddle their fitness craze.
“Why don’t you put a wine rack on your bike and read the New Yorker while you’re at it?” he asked.
Some fanatics have told him they ride their bike each and every day.
“Oh yeah?” Chopin said. “Well, I drive everyday, but I don’t wear one of those NASCAR jumpsuits.”
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Who: Comics Josh Arnold and Dan Chopin
When: 8 p.m. April 11
Where: YES Comedy Showcase, Fourth and Jackson streets in downtown Columbus
Tickets: $20 in advance at YES or Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center or at 812-379-1630 and $25 at the door
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