Jason Harris on the Las Vegas Comedy Scene

Not ready to go to bed? Jason Harris is your guy. The comic, actor, writer, and all-around restless soul now has his own biweekly late-night Thursday residency at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club on the Strip. Yet Harris seems to stay busy round the clock, hosting the Trivia Party at Jive Turkey (Tuesdays) and Rebellion Pizza (Wednesdays), co-booking comedy nights at Planet 13, mixing comedy with dining for Eat This Comedy, and co-hosting the Awesome Movie Year podcast with film critic Josh Bell. Somehow, he found time to answer a few questions.

You're a writer. What question should I ask you first?

“Uh, ‘How do you keep that muscle tone?’ Maybe ‘Why are you doing this?’

“There are about eight different residencies at Kimmel's, including famous guys like Michael Yo. Kym Whitley’s there now. Luenell’s

their big draw a lot of the time. And then, they've offered some comedians based in Vegas residencies.

“What I'm trying to do with mine is give it a late-night happy-hour feel. I want everyone to come in and have a good time. I usually book two of my friends to open for me — Gabe Nolasco, Steven Roberts, Chris Clarke, great comics. They go up, they do their thing. Funny, funny, funny. I come out, start with jokes, and then based on whatever the crowd's giving me, we take it in different directions. There's a lot of crowd work. It’s very interactive. Tickets are 20 bucks — not bad. We have food and drink specials.”

How does Jimmy Kimmel’s compare to other comedy clubs? And please be objective, even though they pay you.

“ I’m really happy that I'm getting the chance at Kimmel's. I would say it's definitely an ‘A’ club on the Strip. You can just look at the lineups to know that. They really go out of their way to treat you well as a comic. They respect your work and your craft. When they offered this to me, they said, ‘Hey, we're not offering this to you as a one-off, we’re in this for the long haul with you.’

“Aside from Kimmel's, my favorite club to work is Wiseguys. Last year, I got to open for Harland Williams and the Sklar Brothers at Wiseguys Town Square. I hope people know that I appreciate the opportunities. Local comedy is so much more supportive now than when I was coming up, which was like a war zone of comics just trying to hold on to their spot.”

You were in the “BattleBots" stage show. Did being a comedian help prepare you for the role?

“Yes, we had scripted lines, but my goal was – let's also be aware of what's going on in the moment and make sure we're playing to that. I've done everything from ‘The Soprano's Last Supper’ to ‘Marriage Can Be Murder.’ This is a hard town to be a working actor, but the local theater scene is thriving. There's a ton of great actors and productions here.”