Springfield comedian Tim Laffey joins Community Voices to talk about his upcoming stand-up shows across Central Illinois, recent touring, a nomination, and what’s ahead. Laffey has performed throughout the region with Belly Laffs Comedy and has several Central Illinois shows coming up.
Friday, Sept. 18, Laffey will perform at the Red Barn in Peoria for the Comedy Rot Showcase with the Comedy Rot Band. The show begins at 9 p.m. and there is no cover.
Saturday, Sept. 19, Laffey will be part of a Rolling Laughs pop-up at Old State Capitol Plaza in downtown Springfield. The adult comedy show begins at 7:30 p.m. and features Laffey, Robert Quance, Sara Smola and host Cassandra Simpson. The event is free. Rolling Laughs will also have a family-friendly kids variety show from 1 to 3 p.m. that afternoon.
Laffey will then head to Mason City Limits in Mason City on Friday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Sept. 26, where he will headline for the first time. Mason City Limits is an 18-and-older comedy club at 114 E. Chestnut St.
Laffey also talks about being nominated for the Best Local Comedian in the lllinois Times' Best of Springfield 2026. Voting ends Sept. 21 at 11:59 p.m.
Catch him at the Unusual Suspects murder mystery dinner happening at the Historic Edwards Place Saturday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 at 4:30 p.m.
Melissa Snider:
You're listening to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Melissa Snider. I have stand-up comedian Tim Laffey in the studio with me today. Tim, thank you for being here.
Tim Laffey:
Thank you for inviting me out here. It's great.
Melissa Snider:
Yes, I said your name right, didn't I?
Tim Laffey:
You did.
Melissa Snider:
Okay, awesome. I wasn't quite sure.
Tim Laffey:
Yep, it's just like the Taffy.
Melissa Snider:
Laffy Taffy. I love it.
Tim Laffey:
Unfortunately. Yep.
Melissa Snider:
So we're going to get right into it. So Tim, you have several shows coming up in central Illinois. You just had one in Mahomet on Friday.
Tim Laffey:
That's right. So the show in Mahomet went great. It's over at Yellow and Cove. They've been doing shows there for a number of years. Mike has been doing a great job. He just came into it enjoying comedy. So he started doing shows there. He does music and comedy. He does a lot of game nights and stuff too. He's doing great things over there. And then upcoming, I've got some awesome stuff. This Friday, I'm going to be in Peoria at the Red Barn for the Comedy Rot. It's A showcase show. So this will be my first time there. But from what I understand, they have a number of selected comics like myself who will be doing a longer set. And then they also have it open for other comics to just kind of have like an open mic as well. So it should be a lot of fun. The guy who runs it, Heath Thornton, he's kind of a wild man, but he keeps the shows a lot of fun.
Melissa Snider:
Keeps you on your toes.
Tim Laffey:
But then Saturday in Springfield is this big show. It's rolling laughs comedy. Cassandra Simpson has built her own stage that she can take anywhere. So she's going to bring it to the downtown plaza.
Melissa Snider:
So cool.
Tim Laffey:
It's really cool what she did with it. She'll have it set up. She's actually going to do a kid show in the afternoon, 1 o'clock so the kids can show up. There's going to be entertainment for the kids in case there are not kids that want to participate.
Melissa Snider:
So you got to get started sometime.
Tim Laffey:
Exactly. You're going to be like a clown. My friend Robbie is a clown and he's awesome.
Melissa Snider:
I know Robbie. I used to work with him. Love Robbie. NewsChannel 20.
Tim Laffey:
Absolutely. So that evening that Robbie and I will be back for an adult show, 7.30 on Saturday night, and that's free to the public. That is right by the Old State Capitol, so people can just bring their lawn chairs and have a good time. She had a show, I think, last month there and had like over 100 people show up. So it was a good turnout. People had a good time.
Melissa Snider:
Definitely. So 1 to 3 at the Old State Capitol Plaza, the kids variety show, and then 7.30, adult comedy show.
Tim Laffey:
That's right.
Melissa Snider:
You're gonna be there. Robbie's gonna be there. Who else is there?
Tim Laffey:
Sara Smola from Peoria will be there and Cassandra will be hosting the show. Awesome.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah. Have you ever done one of the Rolling Laughs comedy shows? I have.
Tim Laffey:
She did a show, it was in one of the community gardens. And I've done a couple of her open mics on the stage as well. It's a lot of fun. The roof lifts to about 6 foot two. I'm 6 foot tall, so I'm like just barely making it. She took an old camper, ripped out the walls, regutted everything, and then she built a stage.
Melissa Snider:
That's definitely unique. I've never seen that before.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, people should definitely come out and check it out.
Melissa Snider:
Then you have on September 25th, 26th, is it a double header?
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, I'm doing both nights. Headline, Mason City Limits, Comedy Club.
Melissa Snider:
What time is that?
Tim Laffey:
Will be at 8 o'clock, both nights.
Melissa Snider:
What's that club like? I've never been there.
Tim Laffey:
Oh, you gotta come check out this club
Melissa Snider:
Really? Must see, huh?
Tim Laffey
Absolutely. This is a gem of Central Illinois. This is like an authentic comedy club.
Melissa Snider:
How long has it been around for?
Tim Laffey:
I think 15 years, probably longer than that. Chris Speyrer is a stand-up comic from Dayton, Ohio. He started doing comedy around the country and somehow he ended up in Mason City, Illinois. But there was a building there and he bought it cheap and he converted it into this comedy club. And it's great. I mean, it's not fancy. It's genuine. Like people are having fun, just relaxed and you're kind of in a tight space and it's perfect.
Melissa Snider:
Right on. You just recently got back from a tour, right?
Tim Laffey:
Yeah. Well, I've been on the Pub and Grub Comedy Tour. So that's like a, that's an ongoing thing. This guy organizes shows across the country, and I'm lucky to get booked on a number of these shows. So through that, I've performed comedy in like 12 states now. It's great to just get on the road and go 8 hours away. We end up at some bar and grill or people are there for the show and they're just having a good time.
Melissa Snider:
So where all have you been around the country for that?
Tim Laffey:
Mostly in the Midwest and the High Plains.
Melissa Snider:
Okay.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, I made it as far as like North Dakota and as far south as Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Melissa Snider:
Nominated for the best comedian in Springfield in Illinois Times. Tell me about that.
Tim Laffey:
Oh, that's pretty cool. First time I've cracked the top five. A lot of comics will nominate themselves, and that's fine.
Melissa Snider:
Fair.
Tim Laffey:
I've never cared to do that. So somebody did nominate me this year, and so I did push that, and yeah, my friends got me put into the top five. So that's pretty cool.
Melissa Snider:
So when do people vote on that?
Tim Laffey:
They can vote right now on that. Right now.
Melissa Snider:
When does that close?
Tim Laffey:
Let's see. September soon.
Melissa Snider:
September soon.
Tim Laffey:
It's a Monday.
Melissa Snider:
Maybe next Monday. We'll see. Are you hosting the Unusual Suspects for your mystery dinner?
Tim Laffey:
The Unusual Suspects. I'm branching off. So I was a member of Capital City Improv for a couple years and I left that behind. But some friends of mine are still active in that. And one of them is directing this Unusual Suspects. So she asked me to audition and I did.
Melissa Snider:
Oh, you had to audition?
Tim Laffey:
I had to audition. That's fun. Yeah. So this is more of an acting improv role. It's been a lot of fun so far.
Melissa Snider:
So you don't have a script for this?
Tim Laffey:
I have a very short script. And then the rest of the time I just have to interact with other characters and then they'll be at the end the audience is able to question us, try to get some clues from us.
Melissa Snider:
Can you go into a little more detail of how it all works? I've never done something like that.
Tim Laffey:
People are buying tickets for the dinner and a show. It's an interactive show. And there's two different dates.
Melissa Snider:
You could do it Saturday, October 17th or Sunday, October 18th, right? That's correct. Age restriction on the event, 21 plus.
Tim Laffey:
That's right. There are drinks available, I believe, and dinner. And then we kind of do an introduction of characters and then you find out the murder happens.
Melissa Snider:
And this is at the Edwards Place.
Tim Laffey:
That's correct, yeah. So historic Edwards Place. And we can't touch anything when we're there. We have to sit on the floor.
Melissa Snider:
So then do the people stay at their tables all night? Is it like an interactive mystery investigation?
Tim Laffey:
It is. It'll be interactive. So I'm stationed in a room and I have a scene partner with me. There'll be groups that'll be coming in. We'll do our little set scene. and then they'll move on to the next room for the next suspect. I'm playing a French detective.
Melissa Snider:
Okay.
Tim Laffey:
I don't know if you noticed, I do not naturally have a French accent.
Melissa Snider:
Right, so do you have to practice for that?
Tim Laffey:
I do.
Melissa Snider:
Gotta get into character.
Tim Laffey:
It's a lot of fun.
Melissa Snider:
Is it detectives from a classic mystery or a novel?
Tim Laffey:
Yeah. So I guess they're spoofs of classic detectives. I'm not quite sure.
Melissa Snider:
We're going to have to just find out.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, there's like, we have our Sherlock and a Watson. I'm some famous French detective. I looked him up. He has a good mustache.
Melissa Snider:
There we go. That's all that matters.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah. We have Daphne from scooby-doo.
Melissa Snider:
No way.
Tim Laffey: Yeah.
Melissa Snider:
Oh, that's awesome.
Tim Laffey:
It's true. We have Nancy Drew...
Melissa Snider:
Nancy Drew?
Tim Laffey:
That's right.
Melissa Snider:
Oh my goodness.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah. And we've got some. Detectives who are like New Englanders. I don't know who they are.
Melissa Snider:
Okay. Well, we'll have to find out.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, I'm not well versed in my detectives.
Melissa Snider:
That's fair. We'll forgive you.
Tim Laffey:
Thank you.
Melissa Snider:
Tell me a little bit about yourself and how how your whole comedy career got started.
Tim Laffey:
Okay. So I am a farm kid from West Central Illinois, Hancock County. So yeah, I was a farm kid. I did, you know, I grew up with cows and hogs and dad was planting corns and corn and beans, you know.
Melissa Snider:
Love it. Yeah.
Tim Laffey:
I grew up pretty independent. My dad has always had a great sense of humor, which I really picked up on. Our whole family is really funny. We get together, we have a lot of fun. And I got influenced by Pee Wee Herman and Conan O'Brien. So I really like weird, smart humor, but also like A lot of parents have cool comedy records like George Carlin. My parents had the Smothers Brothers. The Smothers Brothers were huge in like the 60s and 70s. They were a comedy duo and I love it because one was the dumb one and one was the smart one. And the smart one was always trying to tell the dumb one, you can't do this or that or that's wrong. And then the dumb one would always get him. Right. And get him. I love it. I love that.
Melissa Snider:
Take me through your first comedy show to where you are now.
Tim Laffey:
Okay. So back in college, I kind of wanted to try performing, but I didn't know what to do. I had no clue.
Melissa Snider:
You just knew you were an entertainer.
Tim Laffey:
I knew I was funny and I wanted to try it. And my college had a comedian come and perform. And afterwards, I got to talk to him. I'm like, hey, I'm interested, what should I do? He had great advice for me. He said, go do it.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah.
Tim Laffey:
Perfect. It solved all the questions I had.
Melissa Snider:
You just got to do it.
Tim Laffey:
That's right.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah. Nike was on to something.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah. So 10 years later, I was taking master's classes here. And a friend of mine was like, I've always wanted to try this open mic. And I was like, hey, me too. So we went and checked it out. And I watched the performers. I'm like, okay, like half of them are kind of good, half of them are not so good. I could definitely be right in the middle. So the next month I went back, shout out to Donnie B for having the open mic in town. Yeah, he had a monthly open mic at that time. And I was able to go back and... I did fairly well. And so my buddy wanted me to do the open mic, did it. So that was back in 2011. Within like 3 months, Donnie asked me to feature on one of his weekend shows, which is pretty big.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah.
Tim Laffey:
So that was really cool. So that first show, I remember I had my little 8 minutes, which is all he gives a feature, which is like Normally it features like 20 minutes, 20, 30 minutes. Donnie gives you 8. Back at that time, I was still doing jokes about Donnie. And he's like beforehand, he was like, he's like, you can do those jokes. I don't mind. I'm like, okay. And then I did those jokes for the first show and they didn't go well. And afterwards, he pulled me aside. He's like, Don't make jokes about me. These people like me. I know you've got other jokes. You can replace those. I'm like, Donnie, I've been doing this three months. I do not have other jokes. Three months later, that means I had three open mics at Donnie's. I started going up to Mason City, so like 3 open mics there too. So I started performing stand-up comedy at my first shows. Then I started doing the Belly Laughs in about 2015. And my friend Buddha Eskew, who just passed away unfortunately, he and I started doing these shows in town and we never got on the radio. But the people who showed up loved it. I know we had a lot of fun. We had good shows. Right now I'm not doing any belly laugh shows, but Always good. We could start one up somewhere.
Melissa Snider:
Absolutely, why not?
Tim Laffey:
Just need a good spot.
Melissa Snider:
You're familiar with Mason City?
Tim Laffey:
Oh yeah. Mason City is not, it seems far away from Springfield, but it's really pretty close. It's an easy drive.
Melissa Snider:
Okay, so if somebody wants to get a ticket for one of your upcoming shows, where can they go?
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, so of course Saturday at the Capitol is free. Just show up, bring your chair. If you want to come out to Mason City Limits, and I encourage you to do so. You can get your tickets online. If you want to come and just get your tickets at the door, you're welcome to do that. Just keep in mind, Mason City Limits Comedy Club is cash only within. So for tickets and their bar, just cash only.
Melissa Snider:
And then what about in Peoria at the Red Barn?
Tim Laffey:
Those you can get at the door.
Melissa Snider:
And if somebody wants to keep up to date, where can they go?
Tim Laffey:
I'm on the Facebook. So find my comedy page, Tim Laffey. And just to clarify from the Laffy Taffy, it is I'm also on the Insta, as the kids say.
Melissa Snider:
What is your handle?
Tim Laffey:
Tim Laffey at belly laughs or Tim Laffey dash belly laughs.
Melissa Snider:
Okay.
Tim Laffey:
Something like that.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah, maybe just search it and it'll come up.
Tim Laffey:
It shouldn't be too hard.
Melissa Snider:
We mentioned about voting for best comedian in Springfield in the Illinois Times. Is there a website that you can go to?
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, go to the Illinois Times.com and there'll be links to the best of Springfield. where you can nominate or you can vote for community voices and WUIS on a number of categories. And if you happen to run across my name, you're welcome to put in a vote.
Melissa Snider:
Awesome, awesome.
Tim Laffey:
Oh, I don't think I told you about the World Series of Comedy.
Melissa Snider:
No.
Tim Laffey:
Oh yeah.
Melissa Snider:
Tell me more.
Tim Laffey:
This year I participated in the World Series of Comedy, which is a really cool comedy festival. It has a number of satellite locations throughout the country. I performed in three of those and did well. They have their big final festival in Las Vegas, which unfortunately I cannot attend this year, but it's a really cool event. I got to travel to Indianapolis and Detroit and to Little Rock, Arkansas. I met a ton of cool people. So yeah, I really wanted to talk about Springfield comedy in general.
Melissa Snider:
I'd love to hear it.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, like it's gone through, you know, peaks and valleys and that's normal. Like comics get good and then they move away. For a long time we had a really good scene going and then we had a number of people move on to like Chicago or elsewhere. And so now it's kind of an exciting time because we have like a new crop of comics coming in and they're learning their way and they're booking their own shows. So it's really cool. And then we still have like some good experience comics in the neighborhood. So, still you can see them and see how great they are. It's really fun.
Melissa Snider:
So would you ever move to a bigger market or would you stay in Springfield?
Tim Laffey:
Well, yes.
Melissa Snider:
You would?
Tim Laffey:
Yeah so, see me when you can.
Melissa Snider:
Get a ticket while you can!
Tim Laffey:
I mean, once you headline Mason City, I mean, your ticket is pretty much punched right to the top.
Melissa Snider:
There we go. So Tim, you have a show September 18th in Peoria at the Red Barn, and then Saturday, September 19th in Springfield at the Old State Capitol Plaza, and then Mason City Limits double headliner Friday and Saturday.
Tim Laffey:
That's correct.
Melissa Snider:
September 25th and 26th. If people want more information, the information should be on your Facebook, right?
Tim Laffey:
That's right. I'll keep people up to date where they can find me there.
Melissa Snider:
And then Unusual Suspects, that is happening October 17th and 18th.
Tim Laffey:
Yes.
Melissa Snider:
Awesome, at the Edwards Place.
Tim Laffey:
Yep. I'd love to see everybody out.
Melissa Snider:
All right, well, Tim. Thank you so much for coming in today.
Tim Laffey:
Yeah, thank you, Melissa. This has been great.
Jeff Williams:
Community Voices is events you might have missed and conversations with neighbors, artists, and area business people. Suggest a guest or comment at communityvoices@nprillinois.org. Get to know your neighbors with Community Voices at noon and 10 p.m. and on demand at nprillinois.org.
