Maui Comedian and Power Up Comedy founder Chino LaForge keeps the audience in stitches at an open mic night at Three’s Bar and Grill in Kihei. Beginning Tuesday, he will host Power Up Comedy’s weekly open mic night on Tuesdays at its new home, Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea. LaForge broke into stand-up comedy more than a decade ago — and he’s been putting his name on the map ever since. Shooting Stars Photography photo
There’s something funny about Chino LaForge.
Laughter seems to follow him wherever he goes — and the stand-up comedian says it’s the best sound in the world. “When I make people laugh, I feel like Barry Bonds when he hits a home run,” he said. “I go home feeling like the hero.”
LaForge broke into stand-up comedy at the age of 21 and has been making audiences laugh ever since. He’s made a name for himself on Maui (he was voted “Best Local Comedian” three times by the readers of Maui Time) and has performed throughout Hawaii and on the Mainland.
Growing up in Torrance, Calif., LaForge was the consummate class clown. At the age of 7, he watched George Carlin perform on TV, and while many of the jokes went over his head, he instinctively homed in on Carlin’s delivery, cadence and timing. After that, he said, “I was hooked on stand-up.”
It wasn’t long before he was digesting the styles of Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and other comedy legends. When LaForge was 9, a friend’s father took note of his talent for delivering punchlines. “He told me: ‘You are very funny, you should be a comedian,’ “ he recalled. Those now-prophetic words resonated with the then-9-year-old LaForge — and they would resurface more than a decade later.
Chino LaForge
LaForge moved to Maui at the age of 15 and attended Maui High School, where he found an outlet for his gregarious nature: the school’s drama program. After a post-high school stint as an amateur mixed martial arts fighter in Oregon, LaForge returned to Maui and started working as a bouncer. That’s when he decided to revive his childhood dream: He vowed to give stand-up comedy a try by his 21st birthday. So, he started writing jokes, and in 2007, signed up to perform during an open mic night at Life’s a Beach in Kihei.
It was an auspicious debut — one that was followed by a series of hits and misses at weekly open mic nights. At first, the misses seemed to outnumber the hits, but LaForge now knows it’s a rite of passage (albeit a cringe-worthy one) for all comics. “Everyone bombs on stage . . . and it can be pretty brutal,” he said. “But to make it as a comedian, you have to be able to take the criticism, learn from it and keep going.”
Undaunted, LaForge rolled with the punches and honed his craft — and clearly, his resilience paid off. By 2010, he had a well-stocked arsenal of jokes (along with strategies for handling obnoxious hecklers) and his name had become synonymous with comedy; he was performing regularly at several open mic nights, landing paid gigs and opening for big-name comics. He’d also returned to his theatrical roots, joining an improv performance group and appearing in productions of “Urinetown,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and, later, “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Taming of the Shrew” and a stage adaptation of “Pulp Fiction.”
That same year, LaForge had come to realize there were few opportunities for comedians on Maui. The realization prompted him to launch Power Up Comedy, a consortium of local entertainers who produce comedy shows and open mic nights. Now in its eighth year, Power Up Comedy has showcased more than 100 amateur and veteran comedians from Hawaii and the Mainland, including over a dozen headliners. It has also helped fledgling local comics test their mettle and carve out a career. (So far, eight have gone on to perform for Mainland audiences.)
In 2016, LaForge handed the reins of Power Up Comedy to fellow funnymen Chuck Thompson and Ted Anderson, packed his things and headed to Los Angeles. Since then, he’s taken the stage at notable venues like the Ha Ha Cafe Comedy Club, Flappers Comedy Club, The Ice House and The Comedy Store (where he performs regularly). He’s been billed alongside such luminaries as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Judd Apatow, Joe Rogan, Neal Brennan and Bobby Lee.
Last February, LaForge embarked on his second self-produced stand-up tour (his first was in 2011), and in the months that followed, performed at venues in 12 states. When the tour ended in late September, he returned to Maui to reunite with his Power Up Comedy clan. Over the past few months, he’s hosted open mic nights and comedy shows, brought headliners Adam Hunter and Jason Cheney to Maui and, of course, tickled plenty of funny bones.
LaForge has a knack for not only finding the humor in everyday situations, but also for subverting heavier subject matter; his material is largely autobiographical and steeped in his personal experiences. “It boils down to: How is what happened funny? How can it be funny?” he explained.
LaForge said crafting a stand-up bit is an iterative process — writing, rewriting, revising, re-revising — and no two audiences are alike, which means there’s no way of knowing if he will stick the landing. “It’s like being naked on stage. I can’t think of a better metaphor than that,” he laughed.
But one thing is for certain: When he’s on stage with a microphone in his hand, LaForge is in his element — exactly where he needs to be. “I’m a lifetime comedian,” he said. “I don’t plan on backing down. I want to be a performer that Maui can be proud of.”
LaForge will head back to Hollywood this spring, but in the interim, he will host Power Up Comedy’s open mic night on Tuesdays beginning Tuesday at Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea. Ready to put your comedic chops on display? Sign-up is at 9 p.m.; the show begins at 9:30. There is no cover charge. For more information about Power Up Comedy, visit www.facebook.com/MauiComedy or email pucomedy@gmail.com. To learn more about LaForge or to view a schedule of upcoming comedy shows, visit www.chinobrah.com or email chinobrah@gmail.com.
* Sarah Ruppenthal is a Maui-based writer. Do you have an interesting neighbor? Tell us about them at missruppenthal@gmail.com. Neighbors and “The State of Aloha,” written by Ben Lowenthal, alternate Fridays.
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