[Published at the San Francisco Chronicle] One of San Francisco’s iconic standup comics is also one its most unabashed advocates. Born in San Francisco and raised in San Jose, Kevin Pollak is as much a part of the fabric of the fading, opaque cultural landscape of San Francisco as the characteristic Karl the Fog that occasionally occupies The City — though not nearly as old.
Into the bargain, like most San Franciscans, Pollak owes an obligatory debt to the 49-square-mile city which, according to him, shaped him “in every way.”
“It was the most comforting, supportive, almost coddling, nurturing city for standup comedy and, maybe, all artforms,” Pollak said during a phone call. “But insanely good luck that I happened to be there in a time in the late ’70s that gave birth to the late Robin Williams and Dana Carvey.”
The Bay Area native began his standup career at the seasoned aged of 10. By his 20s, Pollak was selling out major San Francisco venues. In the fortuitous 1970s, while Los Angeles was saturated with talent trying to “make it” in the industry, he and fellow San Francisco comic heroes Williams and Carvey dominated sets at city venues — like the since-extinct, albeit legendary Holy City Zoo, Cobb’s Comedy Club and The Other Cafe, or “Carvey’s turf,” as Pollak calls it.
“Those audiences were a huge part of forming our personalities, let alone our acts,” Pollak says with a hint of gratitude.
If The Other Cafe was Carvey’s stomping grounds, then Cobb’s Comedy Club was Pollak’s, and Holy City Zoo was Williams’, often entertaining crowds there until the wee hours of the mornings. As their respective careers grew, Pollak and Williams remained in touch.
“I did this movie Ron Howard directed called ‘Willow,’ ” Pollak says of the 1988 film. “[We] were shooting up near Lucasfilm for five weeks, and most nights, when we were done, we would come into The City, drop in on a comedy club, call Robin, he would join us, and we would improvise onstage. That was a thrill. Robin was always exceptionally loving to performers. … A few of us could be competitive with each other, but, for the most part, the camaraderie was way more important – to be a part of a movement, a club, a graduating class.”
While Pollak had standup on his five-year career plan, Hollywood began to take notice of his distinct blend of uncanny celebrity impersonations, deadpan wit and relatable anger in the late 1980s. Perhaps it was his comedic classification — the covering of mundane topics made enthralling by his animated yet naturalistic delivery — that earned him steady industry work as a supporting man in film. Eventually, Pollak would join the ranks of the many respected character actors for whom he would partly become famous impersonating, such as Alan Arkin, Richard Kind, Christopher Walken and Gabriel Byrne.
“Everything’s gone beyond the expectations, and the dreams, and the plan.” Pollak humbly says. “What started as a childhood obsession with movies, and the magic of being in a theater and watching them, evolved to being this participant. It blows my mind.”
Whether as Lt. Sam Weinberg in “A Few Good Men,” Hockney in “The Usual Suspects,” or Moishe Maisel in Amy Sherman-Palladino’s hit Amazon series, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Pollak has left an indelible imprint on each role. And he doesn’t mind playing the supporting man. In fact, he loves it; particularly when he’s consistently surrounded by a plethora of talent to support him.
“You heard it’s lonely at the top.” Pollak says, waiting to deliver his punchline. “I’m here to tell you that it’s fan-fucking-tastic in the middle.”
Photo: Dylan King
It takes a special breed to be standup comics. The vocation requires its participants to be entirely vulnerable to destruction. And exposed. Not everyone has the courage to even fathom attempting it.
“I’ve never really felt nerves.” Pollak says. “I remember the first time going on ‘The Tonight Show,’ standing behind that curtain, Johnny Carson as the host. And I felt similar to Christmas morning. Couldn’t wait to open those gifts. There was an unparalleled excitement.”
Even at a stage in his career when Pollak can choose his roles and standup sets freely, he remains close to his roots. He annually attends SF Sketchfest — where he communes with young comics in the city where his career skyrocketed — a place whose culture, in recent years, has evolved as much as the impressive range of roles over the course of Pollak’s acting career. The event reminds him of the San Francisco comedy scene in the 1970s and 1980s. And while that in-person event is canceled this year, he does plan to make an appearance for Festpocalypse! on Jan. 30, SF Sketchfest’s one-day virtual variety show and fundraiser.
“The Bay Area, in its entirety, and my experience in San Jose, San Mateo, San Francisco, and then, later, doing standup in the suburbs — the gold rush of comedy in the mid-’80s, you had all these one-nighters out in Pleasanton and Sunnyvale – everywhere you went, there was that same sense of excitement and support,” Pollak says.
Although the San Francisco of today doesn’t have the same energy that Pollak felt in the 1980s, that doesn’t mean the magic of that era’s comedy boom is lost in time.
“Nothing stays the same,” Pollak says in a ruminative tone. “The love of and fanship in San Francisco for comedy has only continued to evolve. And while we’re different, as a society, in so many ways, that one constant is pretty spectacular.”
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