Actor-comedian Chris Redd of “Saturday Night Live” was born in St. Louis in 1985 and lived here for seven years until his family moved to the Chicago area.
“I’ve always been a person who could love a place from afar, and I always knew I wanted to come back and do something for St. Louis,” he said.
The 37-year-old Redd is bringing his “Why Am I Like This?” comedy tour to The Grandel for two shows on Saturday, Aug. 27 for a special taping for HBO Max.
“You can expect top-tier comedy – I’ll be on my game, talking sh!t about everything,” he told Gazelle, jokingly adding, “I’ll tell you stories about people you’ve never met, I’ll do improv – you don’t know what’s going to be said – well, that’s what improv is. I’ll be roasting you and everybody…”
Seriously speaking, though, Redd says the tour’s theme is of self-discovery.
“It’s a journey of me working on myself, going through therapy and looking back – that’s the thesis for my show,” he said. “This is the first look at the real, raw me.”
Redd credits regular therapy for finding the balance between being extremely busy and taking a break.
“I work an insane amount, but I was able to find a busy-break balance that I never had,” Redd said. “When it comes to mental health, it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
It’s also Redd’s way of navigating life in the spotlight, mostly brought on by his star turn on “Saturday Night Live.” Redd, who started appearing on SNL in 2017, has seen his on-camera time on the live sketch comedy show grow since being promoted to regular player status in 2019. He’s known for his impressions of celebrities, including Kanye West and Will Smith, and political figures such as Sen. Cory Booker and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
In 2018, Redd won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for “Come Back, Barack,” an SNL music video sketch that captured what many Americans were feeling following the election of Donald Trump.
“That’s gold right there, if you’re trying to capture a feeling and see that other people feel the same way – it’s happened a bunch of times,” he said, crediting his SNL collaborators, including The Lonely Island comedy writing trio. “It’s been a dream to be able to make comedy and music for the show.”
Redd has also been busy beyond “Saturday Night Live.” He played opposite fellow SNL cast member Kenan Thompson on the NBC sitcom, “Kenan,” which wrapped up after two seasons earlier this year. In March, he and three other comedians made their debut on the Peacock network with the dark comedy series, “Bust Down.”
The series follows a group of friends stuck in low-level jobs at a casino in Gary, Indiana. The show features Redd’s real-life comedian friends, including Langston Kerman, Sam Jay and the late Jak Knight, who died last month at age 28.
Despite losing one of its stars and not being renewed for a second season, Redd says it won’t be the end of the road for the people behind the show.
“The crew is not stopping – we’re working on a few things,” he said. “(The show) was the funniest thing I’ve ever worked on. It was a passion project we’d been pushing for five-and-a-half years. It was a great representation of the four of us.”
These days, Redd is focused on his national tour and is looking forward to his St. Louis appearance.
“Come how you wanna be seen on TV – it’s going to be wild!” he said.
Tickets to Chris Redd’s Aug. 27 “Why Am I Like This?” shows at The Grandel (7 and 9:30 p.m.) are available via Metrotix.
Trish Set: St. Louis Literati Honor Neil Gaiman, A County Library Milestone & More!
