Insurance paid dividends for Crunchy’s comedy night host

Did you hear the one about the rabbi, the priest and the insurance agent?

For a year and a half, Trevor Tress, 24, worked as an insurance agent, while also establishing himself as a local comedian.

“I was doing a lot of communicating with people,” Tress said. “When you communicate with people constantly, all day every day, you learn how to do it more efficiently. You achieve what you’re looking to achieve in a shorter period of time.”

Even though the two seem like vastly unrelated jobs, Tress says comedy and insurance weren’t that different for him. Four years ago, Tress began attending an open mic show at Crunchy’s in East Lansing to practice his comedy. He took over as cohost of the Monday night show last spring with two of his friends.

Tress, originally from Lake Orion, lives in East Lansing. He’s an alumnus of Michigan State, with a bachelor’s degree in social psychology. Tress credits his former roommates for pushing him to compete in a comedy competition through the university’s activity board, Last Spartan Standing. Though the competition is no more, Tress says he placed second both times he participated.

“People are mini-experts on so many things now, but so few people really hone in on doing something,” he said. “I’ve tried and failed to get into so many things. With standup, it can be so horrible and annoying, but it’s the first thing that lit that fire in my stomach. I can’t stop doing it.”

Tress gets his inspiration from comedic actors from the 1980s, like Steve Martin and John Candy. When he was first getting into comedy, during his early high school years, Daniel Tosh of Comedy Central’s “Tosh.0” was a heavy influence on him and his comedy style. Tress says he never liked the show, but he enjoyed Tosh’s comedy routines at the time.

“Everybody has different philosophies and styles,” Tress said. “Personally, I’m really interested in how joke writing works. There is an art to joke writing. It’s a cool way to talk about stuff that you think is crazy. Then, you have the chore of convincing people it’s crazy and worth laughing at.”

Johnny Mocny, a comedian friend of Tress, met him at The Weekly Crunch in 2018. The pair ran into each other at comedy shows often, and quickly became close friends. They traveled around the state, checking out the comedy scene. Now, they host The Weekly Crunch with their friend, Nick Earl.

“Trevor has a style of comedy that’s really self-aware and honest,” Mocny said. “There’s this paradox in how he spends so much time expounding on his insecurities in a way that's so confident and in control of the tone, that you never lose sight of the fact that you’re following a yarn he’s carefully spinning.”

Like any comedian, Tress says it’s difficult to be consistently creative. Writer’s block can be caused by distractions and life, in general. Tress doesn’t force himself to write jokes if they aren’t coming to him. Rather than force “lazy garbage” jokes, Tress aims to make the moment more engaging and enthusiastic for his audience.

“He knows the science of comedy better than most people I know,” said Mocny. “He’s always had a great stage presence that reeks of having studied the pros, but he’s developed in the last few years into a style that’s quite distinctive.”

Tress gravitates towards improving his overall stage presence when the jokes don’t come to him. He notes that, as time goes on, pushing past writer’s block is becoming a smoother process for him to get through.

He’s performed on various stages around the state, like Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Royal Oak. Tress believes that comedy clubs are the best places to watch stand up. In December, Tress got the opportunity to “feature” for a weekend, which means he went on before the headliner at a comedy show.

Once a month, Tress and his roommates, who are also comedians, perform a standup comedy show in their house. It’s called the Salsa Parlor. Other local comedians are involved, as it’s a good place to test out new material in front of a small audience. The crowd sits on old couches and lawn chairs in typical fashion of a house in a college town.

It’s very nice to have a space where you can get rowdy,” said Alaina Bamfield, a fellow comedian and friend of Tress. “There’s rules, but no real rules. You can let loose, have a good time and not worry about anything. You just do comedy.”

Bamfield and Tress cohosted the open mic at Ellison Brewery in East Lansing before the brewery went under construction, which is where they met. Bamfield has performed at the Salsa Parlor a handful of times. She says it’s where many comedians in the Lansing area try to get in for a chance to practice their standup routines. Both Tress and Bamfield performed there last weekend. She describes Tress as a “competent comedian” who is good at “going on the fly” with new material onstage.

“Trevor’s become pretty successful and almost universally liked amongst everyone in the scene,” Mocny said. “He also speaks highly of people that he finds funny, and he’s been a huge part of keeping the Lansing comedy scene thriving.”

The loyal groups of people in the area who check out the local comedians are what help keep the scene alive. His peers admire his work, as do the crowds. Tress is grateful for the experiences he’s had so far, and is looking forward to what the future holds for him and his comedy career.

“I’ve gotten to meet all these people, travel to all these cool places,” Tress said. “It’s so cliche, I almost want to vomit saying it, but the experiences along the way are cool.”