Meet Grady Pruitt | Stand Up Comic

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grady Pruitt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grady, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always been a huge fan of stand up comedy. I knew that’s what I wanted to do for a living since high school. I was an average student, I loved sports but I wasn’t good enough to play in college. I struggled with every job I’ve ever had. I did stand up for the first time the summer after my sophomore year in college. I loved it immediately and did not to go back for my junior year. I made a decision that I would deal with the consequences of pursuing an unstable career that I love and am passionate about

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a stand up comic from Houston Texas. I won the Improvs Funniest Comic In Texas contest in 2017. I released my first album What happened to Shame in September of 2023, and I just recorded my first special that will be released on my YouTube channel soon. I started stand up in the summer of 2016. I was awful when I first started. I only got booked on two shows my first year of doing stand up. There were no open mics in Houston when I first started so I would drive to Austin every weekend to do open mics and I would sleep in my car. I bombed over and over, but I just kept on trying. That’s one of the beautiful and tragic things about stand up, you can keep on trying no matter what. It took me about 6 months of going up nearly every night before I wrote my first joke that actually got big laughs. It was a huge rush. After a year I started to get recognized by some the more veteran comics in the scene and I started getting booked on shows. I won’ the Funniest Comic In Texas contest a year and a half into comedy and that led to me getting a lot of shows in Houston. Making a career in stand up is very challenging. I learned that there a lot of things out of my control. I try to only focus on the things I can control and that’s writing, getting on stage as much as possible and doing my best to put out quality work. I’ve been doing stand up for over 7 years now and I still consider myself at the beginning of my journey. I’m proud of things I have accomplished and I think I can do a lot more.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The Secret Group and The Riot are two comedy clubs in Houston that put on great shows. Those are the spots where all the comics in the city hangout at before and after their spots. The Secret Group is more grungy and underground, and the Riot is more mainstream. They are both great and get completely different types of audiences. There are a lot of talented comics in Houston and you can catch them at those clubs all the time

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Tre Tutson is my good friend. We started stand up in Houston right around the same time. We would wait hours to go on at open mics, and then hang out for hours after the mics talking about comedy and life. I think it’s really important to have a group of close friends with you when you are attempting something very challenging. He’s the most naturally gifted comic I’ve ever met, so he excelled quickly. It really helped me to have a friend of mine that was so talented because it pushed me to become better.

Instagram: pruittgrady

Twitter: PruittGrady

Facebook: Grady Pruitt

Youtube: gradypruitt8858

Image Credits
Grady Pruitt