This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Unger on Edge

Comedian tackles personal experiences, Sarah Palin's looks.

He may not be a dark, angry guy, but he definitely tries to be honest about the way he views the world.

Comedian Marc Unger, who takes the stage this weekend at Scotty’s, described his comedic style as edgy but truthful, both in material and language.

“It’s kind of who I am and how I communicate as a comic,” Unger said. “I’m not afraid of the f-word or other [swear] words, but I try not to be gratuitous just for the sake of using those words.”

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Much of his material touches on personal experiences, such as hitting middle age, the realities of cancer and which drugs he thinks are OK to use.

“I talk about why I no longer use cocaine and about how I think all drugs should be legal for senior citizens,” he said.

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He also tackles some current event and political topics, such as the media attention given to Sarah Palin, attributing the attention not to her ideas, but to what he describes as her “kind-of-hot-chick-who-works-at-the-bank look.”

Unger has performed stand-up on and off for parts of the past 20 years, getting his start in Chicago while he was taking classes at Second City. Eventually developing a knack for stand-up, he started booking hosting gigs right away, eventually traveling and honing his skills around comedy clubs in the Midwest.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1998, he had some writing and acting opportunities, including landing a role in an episode of “Friends” and making a few short films. He eventually got fed up with both comedy and L.A., leaving both around 2000.

Although he never found his way back to L.A. – eventually settling down in Baltimore, where some of his family was located – he did find his way back to stand-up in 2007 and now consistently performs gigs, mostly along the East Coast from Maryland to New York.

In addition to finding his love for stand-up again, he’s also gotten married and enjoyed a few years of hosting a radio show in Baltimore with his brother, Andrew.

“The Fighting Ungers,” a comedy-sports show he described as “an edgier ‘Car Guys,’” with a sports focus and “a dysfunctional brother dynamic,” ran on WNST-AM and FOX Sports 1370 in Baltimore for a few years until last year. The team is now looking to move the show to a new station.

“We’re currently in negotiations to move to a bigger station within the market,” Unger said. “We’d ultimately like to be on satellite, so we’ll see how that goes.”

He has also done a one-man show, titled “Drinking Up the Pieces” and directed by Rain Pryor, Richard Pryor’s daughter.

Unger described the show, which has premiered at a number of festivals, as a “serio-comedic piece” about a lost relationship and struggling with depression.

Unger will perform at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Comedy Cove at Scotty’s Steak House. His set will be preceded by comedians Carmen Lynch and Greg Stone. Tickets are $12. Visit the club's website for more information.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?