This Weekend, Standup Ellie Hino Faces One of the Toughest Crowds: Children

Ellie Hino wants your children… to come to a comedy show this weekend.

It could end up being the best or the worst idea ever: Stand-Up Junior takes place Saturday afternoon at Sisyphus Brewing, at the extremely age-appropriate time of 4 p.m. In addition to a lineup of standups who are NOT typically kid-oriented (including Courtney Baka, Max Chapman, and Gabby OK), the show will also feature a very special guest host: Hino’s seven-year-old son, Burt. 

We had the chance to chat with the co-hosts about the show this weekend, what they consider funny, and what’s going to happen if someone gets heckled. 

Hey Burt, thanks for talking with me! Tell me a little bit about you and what kinds of things you’re interested in? 

Burt: Right now, it’s mostly Minecraft and anime. I was playing Fortnite, but I kind of quit because the season was just really bad. I didn’t like it. 

Right on. Well, I have a question for you about what your mom does. How long have you known that she does comedy and tells jokes on stage? 

Burt: Mom, can you answer that? 

Ellie: I think you’ve just kind of always known. 

Burt: Yeah, I knew when I was like, three, I think. 

Have you ever seen her do any of her shows before? 

Burt: No. 

Then what made you want to do a comedy show with your mom? 

Burt: I just wanted to see one of her shows, so she came up with this. Wait, or did I come up with it? 

Ellie: I don’t know. Maybe both of us did? I can’t take you to one of my grown-up shows so we thought we’d make one just for you. 

[Side note: Hino will also be doing grown-up shows this Friday and Saturday at Comedy Corner Underground, if you want to hear her do jokes that are full of swears.]

Have you ever listened to comedy before, or heard any comedians tell jokes? 

Ellie: Uh, we tried one time. We put on some Tommy Ryman, and he was just like, “Mmm, not my thing.” But Tommy will actually be at the show doing jokes, so he’ll have the chance to win him over.

Burt, I hear you’ve done some comedy before, right? 

Burt: Yeah, at my school talent show on the, like, second to last day. It was in front of the whole school. Well, maybe I think just like, half the school. 

I got you. That’s still a big audience. What were some of the jokes you told? 

Burt: Uh, what do you call a noodle that plays Among Us?

Hmm, I don’t know. What do you call it? 

Burt: An impasta. 

That’s a good one. Did you write all your own jokes? 

Burt: My mom and dad made them for me, but I helped. Me and my mom think that we should do a joke at the show about Mr. Beast.

I’m excited to hear it. OK Ellie, question for you. What was the reaction from the comics when you asked them to be on the show? 

Ellie: People thought it sounded like a pretty fun challenge, but it might actually be a bit difficult. This could either be beautiful chaos or terrible chaos. I think it’s going to be one of the hardest crowds ever because, you know, these guys are sort of a tough crowd. OK, Burt is just spinning around right now. Like, literally spinning in a circle.

Burt do you know what a heckler is? 

Burt: A hacker? 

A heckler. It’s when someone is on stage trying to tell jokes, and someone else in the audience keeps yelling out stuff and trying to mess them up. 

Burt: Oh, mean. 

What are you going to do if a heckler tries to mess with you when you’re doing your jokes this weekend? 

Burt: Call security. Or bring my cat with the sharp claws. 

I like it. What else do you two have planned for the show? 

Ellie: We ordered stickers. We’ll have some treats. We’ll try and keep the brewery clean. Oh, and each kid who comes can get on stage and tell a joke if they want to. I think it’ll be fun, and the comics are doing really short sets, so we’ll get to watch how things are going and switch things up if we have to. But we’re jazzed. 

Well, thank you both for taking time for me. Burt, I really appreciate it and I’m excited for your big show. 

Burt: Mom, you should look at your back right now. 

Ellie: I know. You just put a lot of Post-Its on my back just now and I just let it happen. I’m trying to focus, man!

Last thing: Burt, what are you getting paid for this show? 

Burt: I don’t know. 

Ellie: You’ll get at least as much as the other comics. How about that? And you can have any leftover treats. 

IF YOU GO:

Stand-Up Junior
Sisyphus Brewing
Saturday, July 22
4 p.m., $5
All ages (duh)
Click here for tickets