Live from New Mexico ... 

Comedian Kevin Nealon is bringing laughs to New Mexico this month as his “Loose in the Crotch” tour comes to Quezada’s Comedy Club & Cantina.

While Nealon became a household name after joining the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s, he has been in comedy his whole life.

“When I was younger, I would watch stand-up comics on TV, on the talk shows,” Nealon said, “and I always admired how they came out and did five minutes with no props or anything, just verbally entertaining people.”

“I thought, ‘What a great job that is.’ I mean, it’s short hours and it’s fun,” Nealon said, “and also, I love the response.”

He said it’s a great endorphin rush to be able to tickle someone’s mind in this way.

Nealon said he remembered being at a first aid class as a lifeguard and getting the whole room laughing.

“That kind of enticed me to look into it further,” Nealon said.

He said his shtick used to be memorizing and telling jokes at parties, which he now finds annoying, but over time, his confidence in his jokes has grown.

“I’ve kind of trusted my comedy more, where I will kind of go with it and just follow it out to see what happens with it,” Nealon said.

Over the years, he said his comedy has developed a bit more bite.

“This particular (show) is, sort of, my outlook on life at this point, my career,” Nealon said, “and it’s a little bit dark, and it’s a little absurd, and it’s also relatable.”

“It’s very conversational,” Nealon said. “So ... people let their guards down.”

Nealon said he knew he had made it as a comedian when he was a guest on the “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”

“After I did that the first time. It was kind of like that validated me as a comic, for myself and for most people,” Nealon said. “So that was definitely a turning point right there.”

Life, he said, acts as inspiration for many of his performances, including people-watching. He said children are sometimes the funniest source of inspiration because they do not overthink what they say.

He said he spent time watching every comic at comedy clubs, including Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno. Now, he said people come up to him and say they grew up watching him.

“I mean, even Adam Sandler told me, ‘Me and my roommate used to watch you (at) NYU, you’re the best …’ So I do know that people are influenced by me, and that’s kind of flattering,” Nealon said.

Nealon has a long-standing relationship with Sandler, having performed in many of Sandler’s films, including “Happy Gilmore” and “Blended.”

His relationships with many household names, such as Sandler, have influenced another part of his life — painting caricatures of famous people.

“I’ve been drawing all my life, but I never really focused so much as I did about a year before the pandemic,” Nealon said.

“I would see other artists, the way they sketch caricatures,” Nealon said. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is really taking it up a notch’ … I would just kind of doodle, never paint them or anything. So now that’s what I’m doing.”

He sells these caricatures on his website, kevinnealonart.com, and has portraits featuring Conan O’Brien, Tom Petty and more.

But Nealon’s true joy in life is comedy. He said performing on the stage with a stand-up routine is pure joy and exhilaration.

“It’s really a bubble that I can escape into no matter what mood I’m in off the stage,” Nealon said. “I’ve gone through a lot of heartbreaks and depression at times, when getting on stage I just escape from it, and it’s just kind of like my safe place.”

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.