By Jason Pomietlasz

Ian Fidance will headline Helium Comedy Club this weekend and was kind enough to answer a few questions. And while you might not recognize his face, you probably have heard jokes he wrote for the Comedy Central Roasts. His special “Wild Happy & Free, filmed at The Cutting Room in New York City in April of last year, is free on Youtube (you can check it out at the bottom of this page). 

His podcast “Bein’ Ian with Jordan” is ranked in the top 40 on the Spotify charts and he is a frequent guest on many other comics’ podcasts, including “Kill Tony.” Originally from the northernmost point of the Southern Region, he now resides in Brooklyn.

If there was one thing you could change about the current state of stand-up comedy, what would it be ?

Increase opener pay for MC and features, make shows more affordable for audiences and keep gigs to 3-4 show weekends — have clubs foster local talent to keep the doors open on off nights, and only book TikTok stars on Monday and Tuesdays.

There are several famous people from Delaware, including Aubrey Plaza. Have you ever imagined yourself becoming the most famous Delawarian one day.

Ha! I’m up against some stiff competition being as in we have Joe Biden and the arguably more well-liked and way more talented Aubrey Plaza. Also George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers! Even being in a conversation with all those greats is cool for a lil’ ole Delaware doozy like myself.

Do you think society would be better off if we learned how to roast each other properly and be able to laugh about it after? 

I think society would be better off if Russia or China blew up our power grid only to find out the one unsalvageable form of technology was social media. Oops, bye-bye Twitter! Bye-bye Facebook!! Society would be infinitely better without it, as I feel before social media people and the world at large were way more affable and willing to, as you say, roast each other and laugh about it after. 

How important is “the hang” for you and do you have a dream person you would want to hang out with in the green room?

I think what’s more important than “the hang” is a good hang – makes the road less lonely and way more fun. But man, can some green room hangs be brutal – that’s when chain smoking comes in handy! Dream green room hang would be Bill Murray coming back to say hello, that would be the best. 

Did you ever consider quitting comedy and if so what was your back-up plan? 

Nah, not anymore. Last time I wanted to quit and came close was the pandemic when I lost everything. Although I *do* have a dream of walking away from everything and disappearing to the woods or Thailand at some point, that would be kinda cool.

When you were writing for Seth Myers, was there a joke that you really want to get on the show but never made it? 

I never wrote for Seth Myers! I was in a sketch on the show and used that as a credit to get road work when TV credits mattered as a younger comic and I think there was just an assumption I wrote on the show since I’ve written on other shows.

Thanks for the questions and I’m excited to play Buffalo Helium this weekend!