Christopher Titus: From 'yuk yuk for drunks' to TV star
By Larry Getlen • Bankrate.com

It's often said that people go into comedy to hide some larger, inner pain, but rarely is it as true as it is for Christopher Titus.

Titus' father is a drunken womanizer with a history of drunk driving arrests. His mother spent years in and out of mental hospitals and even killed one of her husbands. She eventually killed herself.

Titus started comedy in his teens, and for the first 10 years of his career, he hadn't figured out how to deal with his family dysfunction head-on in his comedy. In his late 20s, however, his persona took a more serious and evil turn, and the audience relished the sincerity of it. Titus, who had already been making a good living on the road, now began to attract industry attention and was eventually offered his own sitcom on Fox.

The self-titled show lasted for three seasons and dealt directly with his family. Stacy Keach played his father, and there was even an episode where he dealt with his mother's suicide. But as would be expected, there was a chasm between how far Titus wanted to go and the limits Fox executives thought should be imposed, and Titus eventually wound up butting heads with the Fox brass one time too many. The show was canceled.

Now, Titus is back on the road and working on several screenplays. Bankrate spoke to Titus about the life and career on the road.

BANKRATE: Before the show, was comedy paying your bills?

CHRISTOPHER TITUS: I've paid my bills since I was 19 years old -- I've survived since I was 19, I should say. The first three years were kind of tough. I made $2,500 a year and had $500-a-month phone bills the first couple of years. One year I survived on one piece of pizza a day for the whole year. But then it built. The best year I ever had at stand-up, colleges and clubs, was probably about $90,000. Then when the show hit, it wasn't tremendous money, but it was Fox money. So it wasn't that great comparatively. It wasn't Drew Carey or Ray Romano money.

BANKRATE: What kind of money would they pay you?

TITUS: It's weird. It's all over the map. I know really crappy comedians that got TV deals that were $750,000. Mine was $75,000 for the first pilot. I know comics that got holding deals for $750,000, and their shows went nowhere, didn't even make it on the air. Or, three episodes made it on and then they died. And let's be clear -- my show was a hit. The last year we were on, we were opposite "West Wing," and came in second to "West Wing" almost every week. We were top 10 in teens for the entire year.

BANKRATE: So when you did the show, how much were you making per episode?

TITUS: They held the line the last year. I was making under $80,000 per episode, and that's for writing, acting, and producing. It's low. The first season, I made about 50 per. But no matter what the money was, the reality is, I had a meeting with ABC yesterday about a new show that I'm pitching to them. So without the Fox show, I wouldn't have had that.

BANKRATE: How has the newfound wealth changed your lifestyle?

TITUS: It didn't. I still go to the gym, work on hot rods, write for the hot rod magazine I was writing for. I'm not a Hollywood guy. I have no desire to hang out in Skyy Bar with Vin Diesel. I have a wife and a baby. I'm just a guy. Ray Romano is just a guy. Drew Carey, except for the strip club thing, is just a guy. Patrick (Meighan, who is sitting with him) was a writing assistant on the show and worked his way up to story editor. So Patrick, how did I change? (Titus waits for Patrick's response.) He says, 'You changed like someone who became an executive producer, instead of someone who did funny yuk yuk for drunks.'

-- Posted: Dec. 19, 2002