|
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
|
