Comedian Craig Conant Talks Sobriety, Building a Comedy Career

A lot of comedians mine their personal problems for laughs, and that’s true of rising star Craig Conant, who, in his own words, “drank and did some drugs and got arrested many a time.” That frank self-assessment is at the core of Conant’s comedy, and he stopped by DT Daily to talk to host Greg Nibler about getting sober, the rough life of an amateur comedian, and more.

Having spent a long time getting into trouble, Conant described the moment when he decided he needed to make a change.

“It was the third arrest,” he explains, “and I was in jail, and I was a bit of a loser.” Despite the circumstances, Conant describes that particular arrest with a laugh.

“I threw firecrackers at police on horses,” he explains. “They chased me down. The horses, they’re fast, and they got me.”

“And I was high and lived with my mother as a grown-ass man,” he continues, “and I just said ‘Aw, man, enough of this shit … I’m gonna get sober, and I’m gonna get into comedy’ … And now that’s what I do. I’m five years sober, and I’ve been doing standup about six years now … It’s pretty nice.”

Deciding to get clean was just the first step, however. Any comedian will tell you, the stand-up life is hard, particularly when you’re starting out.

“You’re pretty terrible at it, you’re pretty god awful,” Conant says. “I was fortunate enough .. I’m a bit of a goofball, so no matter what they usually are at least laughing at me. Maybe not my jokes, but just my face or my voice. But yeah, you bomb,” he adds. “You bomb hard, and bomb a lot, and then you get good.”

After six years doing stand-up, Conant is seeing himself playing the same clubs as heavyweights like Donnell Rawlings and Kevin Nealon, a fact he describes as “pretty damn cool.” For now, he intends to keep building his stand-up career, although he wouldn’t mind branching out.

“Stand-up is my baby and my main focus,” he says, “but yes, of course I would love to get into sitcoms and/or movies. I don’t mind being the weird neighbor, I don’t need to be the star.”

Comedy fans can follow Conant on Twitter, and catch him playing shows in Los Angeles.

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