Craig Nickels

Boston City Councilor John Tobin spends his time with jokers, clowns, wisecrackers, and smartasses.

He’s also involved in local politics.

While Tobin is still a relatively fresh face in politics, he’s a grizzled veteran in the area’s comedy scene. And while it may seem incongruous for a politician to take an active role in comedy—imagine, say, Dick Cheney hosting the Oscars—his dueling interests have augmented one another throughout his career.

“You need a sense of humor. It’s so important in politics,” Tobin said. “If you don’t have a sense of humor about it, it’ll drive you nuts.”

In his free time, the 36-year-old organizes and hosts stand-up comedy shows. He co-founded the Boston Comedy Festival and, for the past two years, has organized shows for Dedham Community Theater.

He got his start in the comedy business around 1991. He was “taking a long Sunday drive through college” and working as an overnight board operator at 1430 AM (“music of your life”) at the KISS 108 studios.

“I’d always wanted to work in broadcast,” he said, but his Boston accent was a problem. “I have a better chance of losing my car than I do of losing my accent.”

A co-worker hooked him up with a job as a doorman at Lightships, a small waterfront restaurant that hosted stand-up comedy.

“I wasn’t the brightest kid, and it took me a while to realize the place was a boat,” he said. “I never noticed that sometimes I’d have to walk up a step to work, and sometimes down.”

From there, he worked his way up from doorman to floor manager to organizing shows in the region. In 2000, he co-founded the Boston Comedy Festival with comedian Jim McCue.

Meanwhile, he was also working his way up the political ladder. As a political science major at UMass-Boston—that long Sunday drive—he interned for John Klimm, at the time a state representative from Cape Cod. He then served on the legislature’s local affairs committee, worked as a legislative aide for Kevin Honan, and, in 2001, was elected to City Council.

In comedy, he’s respected for his knowledge of the business and for his ability to work with and organize people. In politics, where he represents Boston’s 6th District, including Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and West Roxbury, he’s known for his quick wit and self-deprecating humor.

Both jobs, at their core, are about people.

“(They both involve) negotiating with people, accommodating people, connecting with people, (and) managing personalities,” said Paul McMurtry, owner of Dedham Community Theater.

Tobin’s sense of humor also allows him to connect with constituents.

“John has always injected humor into his politics,” said state Rep. Kevin Honan. “He has a very sharp wit. People enjoy that.”

Former state Rep. John Klimm explained that politicians often deal with people who are angry about services or passionate about a cause, and it’s important to keep tension from building up. “Humor can be a great device to disarm,” he said. “People come in and they can be very angry, and humor is a tool to diffuse that.”

He praised Tobin’s ability to balance business and humor. “He’s passionate about the issues,” he said, “but he also has a wonderful sense of humor.”

It helps that, while Tobin organizes shows and emcees events, he doesn’t perform stand-up.

Tobin exudes a genuine love of comedy. Over the course of a Saturday morning interview, discussion bounced from local comics like Don Gavin (Tobin’s favorite) to the reason Letterman was fired as a weatherman in Indianapolis (he predicted hail “the size of canned hams”).

Despite that love, he has no interest in quitting politics. And while he had to drop his involvement in the Boston Comedy Festival due to time constraints, he doesn’t plan to leave comedy any time soon either.

“A lot of people end up tied up in jobs they don’t like,” he said. “I’m very fortunate. I get to do two jobs I love.”

Photos courtesy of http://www.votejohntobin.com

Craig Nickels can be reached at cnickels@theoysteronline.com

03/08/2006   |   Permalink