Connor Wood, famously known as Fibula across his social media accounts, launched the itinerary and ticket sales for his first comedy tour Wednesday.
The “Fibs & Friends” tour will hit 11 cities total, kicking off in The Crocodile in Seattle, Washington on Feb. 29. Following the Leap Day debut show, Wood will travel to Portland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Phoenix, Chicago, Nashville, Washington D.C., Boston and Denver.
Wood spoke to TheWrap for an exclusive interview over Zoom about the upcoming tour and his comedic growth spurt.
“I’m on the ground in my room, laptop has gone out on me, link wasn’t working, and now we got the sun [shining in his face] gorgeously — yeah, no this is perfect,” he said as he joined the Zoom on his phone. “I was hoping this was how it would be.”
Wood found his comedic footing on TikTok, where he would post relatable quarantine rants during the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of spur-of-the-moment comedy versus planning his content creation on social media, Wood said he honed his style and delivery with the help of Judd Apatow’s book “Sick in the Head.”
“[He] was like, you can start with the punchline, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I’ve been starting with the punchline because that’s how I do the TikToks.’ You start with the joke and then you go backwards, and he had talked about it like a spiral — you actually spiral out instead of [in]. You start with the point and go outwards. So I have all these TikToks, and I’m like, ‘Okay, this one did really well. What if you turn this into a 60-second video, which is all TikTok used to be —I think it’s like 10 minutes now — and then just add back in all the parts that you had to cut to make it 60 seconds?’ That’s how a lot of the jokes on my set have come to be because they’ve just grown from that 60-second bit into like a five-minute bit now it’s a seven-minute bit, now it’s a 10-minute bit.”
Fresh from the New York Comedy Festival where he was named a “Comic to Watch”, Wood is excited to return to the East Coast.
“That was my first time not being called a TikTok-er. I was called a comic, so that was fun for me. That was a big coming of age out in the city,” he said.
As of Tuesday afternoon when Wood spoke with TheWrap, loyal followers of his podcast “Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast,” which he co-hosts with Brooke Averick, had already found the ticket link for Brooklyn’s Bell House show and sold it out.
“I mentioned on my podcast that we were going to do a show in New York and someone has already found that link. I don’t even have the link, and they sold out the first show,” he said. “I think as we’re on this call, they’re adding a second show. But those are some loyal loyal people out in New York so I’m stoked to get back out there.”
Wood initially posted about going on tour by asking his fans where he should stop for comedy shows. He expected maybe 50 comments, but there were over 1000. Two of Wood’s previous “Fibs & Friends” shows at Mic Drop Comedy in San Diego sold out in a similar fashion — before Wood even announced them on social media — but he does not expect it to happen again.
“I’m sure tomorrow when we make the announcement I’m gonna get a lot of flack from cities I’ve never heard of,” Wood said. “I never want to get to a point where I’m expecting it to sell out because the second it doesn’t, you’ll never see me again. I’ll disappear into the woods. The venues we’re working with are really cool, and they’re all expecting to add a second show so I’m not gonna put out any expectations because I’d like to be happily surprised, but fingers crossed.”
As for themes or material fans can expect on tour, Wood is still open to tweaking his performance and leaning into crowd work.
“My crowds are pretty involved. It’s like I’m a preacher and if they feel called to comment on something, they do it. That’s fun for me. I love doing the crowd work,” he said. “I’m not a typical crowd work person. I’m working on that still, but it’s been fun to have the shows evolve because it’s stuff that you can’t write. We had the scooped bagel guy, which was so awesome. He called in [on] one of the people’s phones from one of my shows in New York, and that changed the whole show. I gave the exclusive scooped bagel guy interview at my show at The Stand.”
When asked what he’d like people to take away from his tour, Wood said he ultimately hopes that audiences feel like they get their money’s worth when they buy tickets. Guest comedians will attend various stops along the way, such as Isabel Steckel. More “close pals in the comedy space” will be announced later. The billing promises Wood’s wit, charm and absurdity.
“Absurdity is good, and that’s not shock factor, also. I want to be clear because I think that that’s not something I do as much as other people. But absurdity is cool because it’s a novelty. It’s kind of like going to a circus and seeing everyone do their act. It keeps people on their toes, and it also is a kind of job security as a comedian,” the comedian said. “If you can do some physical comedy to keep people on their toes, it’s like, ‘Oh, I actually could not have experienced this joke if not from him or this person or whatever.’”
Ultimately, Wood said the persona he’s honed on TikTok will be on full display.
“That’s been kind of my whole thing with TikTok too. It’s like ‘Oh, I’m glad he’s willing to embarrass himself to like drive the point home.’ And I am. I am.”
Tickets are now on sale for the “Fibs & Friends” tour.