Q. & A. with T.P. 

You’ve said your favorite standup gigs are country
clubs. Why?                                                                           

                                 
I violate the cardinal rule of comedy clubs: “Thou shalt be general enough for everyone to get it.” That’s why you hear so much sex stuff and celebrity gossip. You’ll never hear me talk about Paris Hilton unless she gets a hole-in-one. I’m digging deeper in one spot--the psyche of the golfer. I think I’m going to learn something interesting about America in there.

Like what?

 
There are such things as golf communities. That told me golf is more than a game; it’s a lifestyle and passion. Some people tell me football has way more fans, so why not focus on them. I ask them if they know anyone who lives in a football community.

Only one out of seven adults is a golfer. Aren’t you worried you’re excluding lots of people?

There are plenty of comedians out there for the masses -- down and dirty, no holds barred. That’s fine. But I’ve always strived to be appropriate and restrained--some holds barred. So I thrive within the rules, traditions and etiquette of the golf culture. Funny and polite are not mutually exclusive.

Your short films on golfcomic.com seem to use golf as a backdrop for other topics like...prison overcrowding, U.S.-Iraqi relations, even sex. Do you talk about things other than golf in your standup show, too?

Yes, I never forget that some in my audience are not golfers--usually golf widows--or that golfers do things other than golf. Some actually vote and have jobs and families. And the pictures they pull out of their wallets? Most are of their kids. Very few are of their new set of Calloways.