What’s Greg Warren talking about on stage these days? “I don’t know,” he says sitting in a coffee shop somewhere in his hometown of St. Louis, Mo. “And when I say that I’m not answering your question with, ‘I don’t know,’ literally I’m starting every show with, ‘I don’t know,’ because I don’t know. As I get older, I’m 43, I’m not sure of anything anymore. I found out yesterday through Microsoft Word, that I’ve been spelling separately wrong for 30 years, which is discouraging.”  

“I just talk about groundbreaking things,” says comedian Matt Fulchiron. “Things like relationships. No other comic is talking about that right now. Quirky things, observations. Now I’m really making myself sound like the typical stand-up comic, but that’s what I do.” The thing that sets Fulchrion apart is his reaction to the reactions of his audience.  

Lately Cincinnati has been producing some of the best stand-up talent in the country. Josh Sneed, Geoff Tate, Ryan Singer, Gabe Kea, Rajiv Satyal and Mike Cody (to name but a few) are all Tristate-based comedians performing, and in most cases headlining, clubs all around the country. Next up? Alex Stone. Clad in his now trademarked diamond top hat, Stone is on the cusp of being the area’s next breakout comedian.  

You can be forgiven if you’re not quite sure which comedian named John Morgan is coming to the Funny Bone on the Levee. It’s certainly not the former Royal Canadian Air Farce cast member who passed away a few years ago. Yes, in comedy circles there are actually several John Morgans. “But are there any John Morgan, aka the Rajun’ Cajun?” asks this Louisiana native and longtime stand-up comic from his home south of Baton Rouge.  

“It’s one of those things where you’re looking at your schedule and you’re happy to see it,” comedian Greg Hahn says of Cincinnati and Go Bananas Comedy Club. “It’s a really intimate club. It’s like a party in someone’s basement with best friends that you’ve never met. And I like to go bananas on stage so it has a nice effect.”  

Meet comedian Graham Elwood, Internet Renaissance man. Along with pal and fellow comic/filmmaker Chris Mancini, Elwood hosts the popular podcast Comedy Film Nerds. The show grew out of the duo's website, which they started basically as a place for comedians to review films. Elwood leads a less stressful lifestyle and describes his act as energetic, covering topics like martial arts, snowboarding and other physical activities.  

Comedian Nick Griffin has a dilemma. He enjoys a steady gig, like writing for TV or radio, but as soon as he’s settled in he misses being on the road. "I think it's the devil, you know," he says. "I talk to comics all the time, obviously, and I’ll be sitting in a comedy club with three or four guys and it’s all the same: You go out on the road two, three, four weeks in a row, and you're like, 'I gotta get back,' and when you do get home you're like, 'God, what am I doing here I don't know how to live.' "  

Steve White will likely talk about anything when he’s doing stand-up. "Anything," he insists. "Current events, not a lot of politics, but I dabble in it. Male, female, race relationships, hypocrisy, marriage and children." White looks forward to his trip to Greater Cincinnati. "You see I’m not one of these guys that blows in rapes a town and then leaves. I want to impregnate Cincinnati and Newport with my comedy seed."  

"I like to talk about the social issues that make people uncomfortable," says comedian Dan Davidson. “People in Cincinnati think they're conservative, but they're really not. It's no different than where I grew up." That would be in Lafayette, Ind., home to Purdue University. "I like to call Indiana 'God's country, if God doesn’t like scenery.'"  

Steve Trevino always knew he wanted to be a stand-up comic. "I remember watching my parents gathering around the TV to watch Richard Pryor," he says, "and me not being able to watch because they would put me to bed. I'd sneak into the hallway and lie (there) and just listen. I'd hear my parents and my uncles and aunts … loving it and I'm like, 'Man, I want to do that.’ ”