Alonzo Bodden is one of the hardest-working and funniest working standup comics on the touring circuit today. He won Season 3 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing; he has four standup specials so far; he’s a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!; he’s played a bouncer or a security guard in countless movies and TV shows; and he even voiced monsters on the Power Rangers. He’s been around.

But before he had anything to do with show business, Alonzo was an aircraft mechanic who got a job working for Lockheed Martin on the F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber – one of the most advanced top secret aircraft in the world – when he graduated from Aviation High School in New York. At 18, he moved to Los Angeles, started making a lot of money, found himself in the throes of addiction, and wound up in jail.

The sound of the cell door slamming shut was his turning point.

In this episode, Alonzo shares details about his New York upbringing, his battle with addiction, his path to sobriety (36 years ago!), and how it all led him to find his calling: comedy.

He also shares the one hilarious joke he told at the 1997 Montreal Just for Laughs festival that immediately transformed him from a guy who did standup comedy to fully realized comic. You won’t want to miss it.

Wherever you live, Alonzo will be in a town near you sooner or later and seeing him live should be high on your priority list. Find him at www.alonzobodden.com.

Second Act Stories theme music: “Between 1 and 3 am” by Echoes