Comedian Mark Normand brings trouble to Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids

“I was brought up under the roller coaster in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. Maybe that accounts for my personality, which is a little nervous,” said Annie Hall's Alvy Singer.

Singer, the protagonist from Woody Allen’s masterpiece “Annie Hall” has something in common with comic Mark Normand. The veteran humorist came of age in a dilapidated mansion in New Orleans’ notorious Treme section.

“It was a weird place to grow up in since we were constantly getting robbed,” Normand said while calling from New York. “It definitely had an impact on me. I would often walk into the house and someone would be in my dad’s office stealing a computer or something. But our house was usually a disappointment for criminals. They would wander into our weird home and find that there was really not much worth stealing.”

Normand’s life was molded by living in a perpetual fixer-upper in a dodgy neighborhood in a wild and unpredictable city. “I reflected on how and where I grew up since I was a mess in college,” Normand says. “I was flunking out of college. I was a rudderless alcoholic.”

Comedy saved Normand, who discovered that he was passionate about writing and delivering humor. “I ended up succeeding with a job that most people don’t look at as realistic,” Normand said. “But comedy is real. The jokes are the truth. The funniest stuff isn’t made up.”

George Carlin, Mitch Hedberg, Bill Burr, Greg Giraldo and Steven Wright are some of Normand’s comedic heroes.

“All of those guys are comic legends to me,” Normand said. “George Carlin could do it all, social commentary, jokes. I’ve been into comedy ever since I was a little kid. I was a big Groucho Marx fan. He was the funniest, weirdest guy. Who would have ever thought that I would follow in their footsteps as a comic?”

Normand, 40, who will appear Saturday at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids, is an inveterate stand-up. The gig is not a steppingstone to a sitcom vehicle or a film. “I have nothing against that kind of work,” Normand said. “It’s just that I like to focus on the stage.”

Normand is a gritty comic, who is crazy about New York

“ I love New York. You have to love it to be in New York. I’ve been mugged three times. But that’s what happened when you lived in Brooklyn before sections were gentrified and you’re young, dumb and drunk,” he said.

Trouble seems to find Normand.

“It’s all true,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of interesting stuff happen to me and still do.”

The exploits of Normand and his pal and fellow comic, Joe List, can be heard on their weekly podcast, “Tuesdays with Stories” (yes, it’s a nod to Mitch Albom’s bestseller “Tuesdays with Morrie”).

“We talk about what happens to us,” Normand said. It’s all about the stories. We record on Monday and put up the podcast on Tuesday.”

The podcast is loose and fun and has featured such comic heavyweights as Lewis Black, Bill Burr and Bert Kreisher.

With Normand, truth is certainly stranger than fiction.

"It's fun to talk about that whether it’s on a stage or on a podcast," Normand said.

Normand is always coming up with new material since he has no choice but to create.

"It's all about having new content," Normand said. "Back in the day. It was different. You used to be able to write a new act and tour behind it for a while and then go on HBO but it's different now. You have to keep churning it out. It's daunting, but it's good for me since I don't have a chance to sit around and get lazy. I just have to continue writing and that's a good thing for me."