Dan Schlissel is no stranger to building things from the ground up. As the owner and founder of Stand Up! Records, he has taken what was originally an offer to record a CD for Lewis Black into a Grammy Award winning venture with 87 records released from dozens of comedians including Marc Maron, Doug Stanhope and Maria Bamford. 12 years into the game, Stand Up! has become the watermark for good independent comedy. In 2010, Dan was on vacation in Akumal with several friends including comedian (and festival co-founder) Gus Lynch. When Dan approached Gus with the idea of a comedy Festival in Akumal, it was safe to say that Dan would put 100% into building this festival from the ground up. Youngnotions.com talks to Dan about his history in Comedy, what it takes to start a comedy festival and what lies ahead.

Photo by Nick Vlcek

Bill: You’ve travelled all around the country to record comedians for your label. Is this the first time your job has taken you out of the US?

Dan: No, this isn’t the first time I have recorded outside America. In October of 2010, I went to Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) to record audio for a Darryl Lenox CD/DVD project. In March 2011, I went to Glasgow, Scotland to record Danny Lobell. It’s not easy to cross borders to record, but I’ve done it. This is the first time I’ve taken on a project with this many moving parts, though.

Bill: So it’s safe to say that with all the travelling you’ve done, you’ve eaten a lot of airport food. Remember that steak sandwich you had at the Guacamole Grille in the Cancun airport?

Dan: Well, it was technically a beef milanesa (breaded steak) sandwich. I mention this because they had chicken milanesa as well, but I opted for the beef. It was three four-inch segments of really great sandwich on super fresh bread. I have to say, if you are in Cancun Airport, terminal three, go to Guacamole Grill. As far as airport food goes, it really doesn’t get any better. It seems odd that we’re starting this on one of the last things we did together as a group. Aren’t you going to ask about the rest of the trip?

Bill:Don’t worry. I’m just trying to paint a picture for the audience to see what the whole festival experience is like. Wasn’t that sandwich huge?

Dan: It was three sections long! The milanesa was thick, but tender. The bread was the picture of a perfect french loaf. It was spectacular for regular food, but for airport food, it was seriously off the chart. Wait… This has nothing to do with getting you all down there and back, let alone the shows or the fundraising.

Bill: Don’t worry. I’ll edit this stuff down to the only the most interesting parts. We’ll get to that other stuff later. Normally airports usually have such shitty food but this sandwich was amazing! We’re talking food court, too. This wasn’t like an airport Applebee’s or Margaritaville. I guess my question here is don’t you hate Jimmy Buffett?

Dan:Well, there was a Margaritaville at this airport as well. (Darlene) Westgor needed to hit that, of course. God forbid she skip an opportunity to drink… Anyway, I don’t get it. I won’t give that asshole that’s ruined so many paradise locations or his “peckerhead” fans a dime to ruin my time in any tropical spot, or airport food court for that matter, that’s for damned sure. The less money they take in, the sooner they go away is my theory.

(Editor’s note: The views of Sand Up! Records on Jimmy Buffett completely reflect those of youngnotions.com. Jimmy Buffett is a piece of shit and his music is awful. He needs to put the guitar and bong he carved out of driftwood down and leave everybody alone.)

Bill: I die a little every time I hear Margaritaville at a karaoke bar. Okay. That’s all the time we have! Great interview.

Dan: Are you fucking kidding me?!? I took eighteen comedians, a film crew, a sound crew, a writer for the City Pages and a programmer for 24/7 Comedy Radio to *ANOTHER COUNTRY*, for the first ever comedy festival to be put on there and you’re not going to say shit about it? I am going to fucking murder you when I see you next!

Bill: Don’t worry, I’ll shoehorn all that stuff in before I post the interview.

For more information on Jimmy Buffett, ask someone with horrible taste in music.