New Orleans has a well-deserved reputation as a destination for some of the best music and food Planet Earth has to offer. But when it comes to comedy—well, not so much. From Ben Turpin and Garret Morris to Ellen DeGeneres and the Duplass brothers, the city’s best comedic minds have historically moved on to greener pastures to find success in the big leagues.

Mark Normand is the latest comic to blaze that trail. The New Orleans native–a graduate of Jesuit High School–has spent the last nine years honing his skills on the New York comedy scene, and he’s got the body of work to prove it. Normand has appeared on television programs like @Midnight, Best Week Ever and Last Comic Standing. He’s opened for his good friend Amy Schumer on countless occasions, and made repeat appearances on her hit show Inside Amy Schumer. He was named “Best Comedian of 2013” by Village Voice, and earlier this year he was featured on Colbert and Conan.

Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for a comedian who is constantly making the rounds at NYC hotspots like the Comedy Cellar and The Stand, in addition to appearing on a wide variety of podcasts and web series. The important thing is that he’ll be returning to his hometown (that’s New Orleans, if you were paying attention) for a headlining show at the Joy Theater on Thursday, September 1.

Tomorrow night’s show will be the latest installment of a Joy Theater residency from fellow New Orleans comic Matt Owens. Owens, who will open the night with a set of his own, was personally selected to open for Louis C.K. when the famed comedian made his stop at the Joy in 2014. He’s a linchpin of the New Orleans comedy scene, and tomorrow’s event is one of eight that he will be hosting at the Joy this year.

We caught up with Normand ahead of his hometown show with Owens to discuss the trials and tribulations of making it in the big city, the evolution of the New Orleans comedy scene, working with Amy Schumer and more.

Is this show at the Joy Theater a big hometown gig for you?

The biggest. I mean I’m from New Orleans, born and raised. I’ve done a bunch of comedy shows at bars and what not, and at the Saenger, the House of Blues, and now the Joy. I did the Saenger with Amy Schumer I should say.

Do you think you’ll alter your set some with some New Orleans-centric humor that might not go as well in other places?

Yeah, I feel like I have to open up with some New Orleans humor because I know the place so well, and I want to make it a real hometown show. I’m from here, I’m happy to be back, so I have to definitely have some local humor in there. Some inside jokes. The last time I did the Saenger I made fun of Chalmette for about five minutes.

I’ve actually seen you a few times in New York City, at the Stand.  I used to live up there and the New York comedy club scene always seemed pretty daunting. Was it difficult for you to work your way into that after you left New Orleans?

Oh my god yes. It took years, a lot of lying, and a lot of clawing my way up to the top. I mean there’s so many comics, why would they need you? And you’re new, so you don’t have any chops. It’s kind of like a Catch-22. It teaches you to find a way to make it work, to check spots, and bars, and what not. It’s tough.

A lot of those late night shows at The Stand descended into drunken heckling pretty quickly.

Yeah, it’s not easy. They throw you to the wolves pretty quick, so you learn from desperation and survival. Man, it ain’t pretty. I’m glad that shit’s over. But yeah, it was a long haul and I’m glad it’s over. Now when I see newer comics go through it, I just think  “Whew, I don’t want to be them.”

Do you live in New York these days, or do you still spend time in New Orleans?

I live in New York full-time, but I’m on the road, so I’m basically gone every weekend. I live in the West Village, and I’m actually here right now, but I’m back in New Orleans for the standard – Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas.

But I see you still have the 504 area code. Is it that hard to let go?

It’s not hard to let go, I’m just cheap and my friends remember it so why the hell not.

When you left New Orleans, the comedy scene here was much less developed than it is now. Do you think the scene here has come a long way in the past few years?

It’s come a long way in the New Orleans version of coming a long way. You know, New Orleans isn’t exactly a get up and go town. So the comedy scene has exploded since me and a bunch of guys left, but it’s still super lazy. It’s like a hungover dog, he barely gets there, but he still gets there. It’s just slow to the finish line. How New Orleans is, everything is a little half assed, everybody’s a little buzzed, and no one’s going all the way. I feel like if you go all the way, you’re going to leave.  

What do you think New Orleans can do to nurture a better comedy scene?

I feel like comedy just isn’t part of the vibe of the city. People don’t want to sit and think. They want to get drunk, they want to listen to jazz, dance, and watch sports. Comedy is kind of this intellectual thing you have to think about, and it needs enough people to give a shit. I just don’t think it would work.

Most of the comedy clubs here are really not even dedicated comedy clubs, they’re more like bars or all-purpose entertainment spots.

They had a few that were open that closed and then reopened and closed. But the only way a comedy club would work is if tourists went there and they put it in the middle of the French Quarter. I don’t think locals are going to a comedy club.

I know you’ve worked with Amy Schumer a good bit,  and I was surprised to see that she was doing a big New Year’s eve show in New Orleans this year. Is there any particular reason for this? Is it somehow your doing?

She just loves New Orleans. She’s obsessed with the city. I don’t know if me being from there is just a coincidence, but she goes there when she has time off. She loves the quarter, and she loves the food and is always eating at Pascal Manale’s or whatever the hell it’s called.

Amy has really blown up over the past few years. How’d you end up working with her?

I actually met up with her about seven years ago when she was a nobody and was getting laughed out of clubs in a bad way. She saw me at comedy club one night when I bombed and she asked, “can you open for me one night?” And I’m thinking, “Aww man, who is this blonde chick hitting on me?” So I said I’d open for her.  We did a college in Long Island and hit it off, so she was like “here’s some more dates.” Places like Chicago Improv, Denver Comedy Works. I’m like, oh my God I’m an open mic bar comedian from New Orleans, this is unbelievable. I was blown away. I was sleeping in hostels and on people’s floors, but I was doing comedy on the road. That’s how we met. She blew up from there.

So your resume includes all kinds of stuff, big standup gigs,  podcast and TV appearances. Is it difficult to switch between the different styles, or are you comfortable in all comedic settings?

It took a while. I’m not really comfortable with sketches or improv, but with saying funny things I think I’m all right. I can write jokes, stand up, do a funny podcast, be funny on TV. Funny is funny, so I’m comfortable with all those things. But I don’t think I can write a sketch for SNL or write a funny movie; that’s a whole different ballgame. I think I could probably learn, but at this point I can’t do it.

Is there any material about your New Orleans upbringing that has made it into your standup set over the years?

Not really. It’s so specific to New Orleans that it wouldn’t be worth it to spend the time writing it when people probably won’t get it. I’m a huge booze bag, so I have a lot of stuff on drinking. But I think my New Orleansness just kind of comes out in my act. It’s more personality wise than material. If you think about it, like what am I going to say, “Hey I Gah-Ron-Tee I wear seersucker. Oh look at that gator!”

Before you went to New York City did you start doing comedy in New Orleans, or is that something you got into after you moved ?

I went to film school in New York and then moved back to New Orleans. I was living with my parents, I was depressed, I was miserable. I needed a new prospect, so I tried stand up out of desperation and fell in love with it. I did it for like nine months in New Orleans then I moved back to New York. I felt so good again.

So what was it like those nine months, where did you do stand up here?

There was an open mic at Lucy’s every Tuesday that was the biggest one, and then La Nuit, which was like an improv club on Freret St. that had an open mic on Mondays. We also drove to Lafayette and Baton Rouge just to get stage time.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I’m excited to be back. It’s my hometown and not a lot of comedians come out of New Orleans, yet comedy-wise I think it’s one of the best cities in the country. I’m proud to be from here, and to have to my name on that bill. I’ve been gone for nine years, so it’s nice to feel like I’ve accomplished something and then can come back to the Joy Theater. I never thought that would be something I said I did.

I’ve also got a special on Comedy Central in October as well. I just did Colbert, and I did Conan a couple months ago. I’ve been gearing up for the one hour special that shoots in October, and it’s probably going to come out early next year. That’s one of the big things on my plate right now.  I’ve just been running sets and I’ve been all over the road working on it. I’ll be with Amy Schumer on her European tour, so I’ll be over there working on it. There’s a lot of good stuff cooking.

Mark Normand will headline the Joy Theater on Thursday, September 1 at 8pm. Matt Owens and Cassidy Henehan will open the night. Tickets are currently on sale here.