Craig “The Lovemaster” Shoemaker Shows Comedy Heals

Photo: Michael Schwartz/WireImage

An AmericasComedy.Com Interview

Craig Shoemaker, a.k.a. “The Lovemaster,” is one busy guy. He’s producing his own documentary, “Live to Laugh,” has a full docket of comedy stand-up gigs, owns an online company called “The Laughter Store,” founded and serves a non-profit organization called “Laughter Heals” (where he uses his two decades of stand-up to help those struggling with cancer and other life threatening diseases to self-heal with laughter), and last but certainly not least, is a devoted family man.

Recently, AmericasComedy.Com had the opportunity to hang out with Shoemaker on the phone and got to know him better.

The pre-pubescent Lovemaster
Shoemaker started doing stand-up in high school, where he was the class clown. In fact, it was in high school that the Lovemaster persona for which he is most well known was born.

“I developed the Lovemaster in high school. The girls would all use the f-word with me — you know, ‘friends.’ And I hated that. I hated that they called me ‘friend.’

“You know how women go to the bathroom, when they gather for the posse-pee? I was such a geek that they let me go with them. I was 5’1″, 92-pounds in high school. I hadn’t hit puberty. In fact, I was the last kid to hit puberty, which was a nightmare. And we’d go to the bathroom and they’d all talk about these guys. It was always, like, an edgy guy. You know, ‘Oh, Tommy’s so cute, fix me up with Tommy.’ I sit there, ‘Sure, I”ll fix you up.’ I’d be sitting on the tub and they’re all smoking cigarettes and talking about all the guys and that’s when the Lovemaster sort of started channeling. He was pre-pubescent at the time, also.”

‘I’ll show you my one pubic hair, baby.’ (in an adolescent, voice cracking version of today’s ‘Lovemaster’). So, that’s when he sort of developed. Those were the fetal stages, so to speak, of the Lovemaster, but I did not do him on stage until about ten years later.”

His first time on stage
His first gig on stage was in a bar where he performed in between sets of a friend’s band, when he was 16-years old.

“I invited eight friends and it was a completely urban (now they say ‘urban,’ but it was black club) and I looked like John-Boy Walton. My friends, my white friends, didn’t laugh, though, because they were so afraid. . . I got a couple chuckles and it was, literally, like a hit on a crack pipe. So, now I’m getting paid for it at an early age.”

So, he’d get into these clubs as a performer and, officially, was not supposed to be allowed to sit in the audience and watch the other comedians. But they’d turn their heads.

“It was Philadelphia, for God’s sake. In the places I was playing, people weren’t in a smoking jacket or a tuxedo, and a gown . . . .”

College
When Shoemaker went away to college, he honed his comedy skills. As a matter of fact, Shoemaker recently received his doctorate from the college he attended, “The California University of Pennsylvania,” located along the banks of the Monangahela River in California, Pa. California was a coal mining town.

“It’s as close as I could come to going to school in the real California. It was all that I could afford. There’s no surfing on the Manangahela River, trust me.”

The car
At college, Shoemaker had a bright orange 1965 Cadillac ambulance.

“It had holes in the bottom. I was doing Fred Flintstone. I could stop with my feet. And I had to stop every hundred miles for a tank of oil.”

Paying parking fines with comedy
As a bold freshman, Shoemaker parked his ambulance regularly in the college president’s parking spot until he had accumulated $400 worth of tickets. Threatened to be thrown out of school and have his car impounded, Shoemaker suggested that he perform stand-up for the president.

“I performed at the President’s Inaugural Ball. I went into his quarters — these really nice quarters — and I did my celebrity smoking pot routine for dignitaries from all over the state of Pennsylvania. There I was on the floor doing Curly from ‘The Three Stooges’ stoned, and they retracted all of the parking tickets. Here I am now, years later, receiving my doctorate degree. They let me into the quarters again, where I stood in the same spot where I had imitated Jimmy Carter smoking pot.”

An usual route to headlining
Shoemaker did not follow the open mic trail or pound the pavement to be discovered. Rather, he performed at strip clubs and asked to do his stand-up wherever there was a microphone and stage.

“I played some seedy places . . . fraternity houses, just anywhere I could get on a stage. I didn’t really go the hanging-out-at-comedy-clubs route. I did it my own way. And, I headlined pretty fast because I used to do impressions and, just like a guitar, those are two ways you can headline fast. It doesn’t make you any funnier or any better, but it does see to it that you get on the fast track for headlining.”

The Lovemaster hits puberty
Shoemaker continued to develop the Lovemaster while he was touring with Kenny Loggins. Shoemaker did not do the Lovemaster bit on the Loggins tour, however, because the tour opening had to be clean.

“It’s interesting because, as comedians, we’re so isolated. You work with yourself. You can hang out with comedians, but the problem with that is everybody goes, ‘That was my joke, yeah, I came up with that.’ So with the Loggins tour, I had an audience to not only develop with these really clever, fun guys, but to encourage me to continue developing these characters, jokes or bits . . .  the Lovemaster was really born on that tour.”

The Lovemaster grows up
Finally, Shoemaker debuted the Lovemaster with just a couple of lines. When the owner of the old school comedy club, Rooster T. Feathers in Northern Calif., billed him as “The Lovemaster,” Shoemaker was hesitant because it was just a small part of his act.

“The owner said, ‘No, trust me.’ So finally, I debuted it and it was just like a couple lines and now I’m more known for that than for anything. Even though it’s only a small part of my act, I had people screaming out . . .”

You can listen to Shoemaker’s latest hit CD, “The Son of Lovemaster” on iTunes or Amazon

Constantly writing
Shoemaker rewrites and tries “Lovemaster” lines on a continual basis. At last count, he had about 700 lines. And, he writes “Lovemaster” industry-specific innuendo, depending upon his audiences. For example, he performed for real estate agents last week, so he added specific real estate lines.

“Yeah, baby. This is so big, it has got its own Starbucks. Yeah, if you check this out, you’re going to want to subdivide.”

What women really want
Shoemaker is convinced that the secret of the Lovemaster’s popularity is that it hits the chord of what women really want, but won’t admit they want.

“They love that confident, cocky guy (no pun intended). I actually have had women, in the past, ask to sleep with me as ‘The Lovemaster’ and no one else. They don’t want anything to do with me, funny boy white guy. They want the ‘Lovemaster’ and I’ve had it happen where I came out of character and they basically said, ‘Shut up.’”

Marriage dynamics
Shoemaker is happily married with three boys and two dogs, one of which he is not fond.

“Oh, yeah. I’m very happily married, actually, which doesn’t do well for comedy, except for we’re very, very different. Comedy is conflict, so, fortunately, I don’t have to deal with the conflict that leads to couple’s therapy with this one. This is just the conflict that we’re very different and now it’s just about me being an idiot.”

“Live to Laugh”
Shoemaker has been working on “Live to Laugh,” a documentary about the healing power of laughter, for several years now. He thought the movie was ready to be released a couple of years ago, but now sees the delays were a good thing. His current team, assembled from the same team which produced “The Secret,” is “amazing,” according to Shoemaker.

“I want to start a laughter movement. I really do. Laughter is like Switzerland. It’s neutral, but we don’t have the money behind it. There’s no laughter lobby in Washington to say that we have the power inside our own bodies, souls and minds to change the paradigm, as far as health and wellness is concerned. People have talked about this since the beginning of time. We can laugh ourselves ‘well,’ literally. It oxygenates your body. Healing endorphins are released. Stress, which is a huge disease cause, is relieved.  So, what if you laugh? We ['Live To Laugh' foundation members] would like to change the paradigm in this country and see to it that people have an awareness of the power of laughter and what it can do for you. So, we’re working on the funding right now. We’re going through different channels. We’re not going the traditional Hollywood way . . .”

The Laughter Store

Shoemaker’s company, “The Laughter Store,” is the place to go for comedy gifts that give back, relieve stress, release endorphins, have universal appeal and last long after flowers would have wilted and chocolates devoured. Out of  “The Laughter Store’s” more than one thousand products, the remote controlled “Fart Machine” is the big seller.

“I just don’t understand why people buy “normal” gifts and accept that these are the only gifts you have to give. If people know what laughter does for you, why don’t they buy people comedy gifts instead of a cheese log for those lactose intolerant or cookies for a diabetic? I never understood it. Or, flowers that die? I never got the flowers that die. A good gift that will keep on going is a comedy gift, a gift that will make you laugh.”

Shoemaker’s favorite thing to do
Shoemaker is quite versatile. Out of everything he has done — stand-up, acting, voice overs, writing and producing — radio is his favorite. Shoemaker had a syndicated show, which won the  prestigious “Crystal Award of Excellence,” after a mere ten months on the air. Two of Shoemaker’s stand-up comedy routines made it to the “Top 10” list on XM Radio, with “Playing Army” ranking number one. His “Lovemaster” routine was voted “Most Popular Comedy” on XM Radio’s “Big Schtick Awards.”

“I really miss radio. Terrestrial radio is having a very difficult time right now. They have the corporate bean counters, they get in there, these nerdy guys that just look at the numbers and bottom line and there is no creativity anymore. There’s no critical thinking. It’s very sad what happened to terrestrial radio. I hope it makes a comeback. I heard some rumors that it will . . . talk radio, especially. Where are the people you wake up to with the personality? Even hanging with you guys, it’s by telephone, but I enjoy it. Have some laughter and communication. I’m interested in hearing about other people and different perspectives and radio does that. It’s a great medium for that. No other medium has anything like that where you can really be in touch with people. It’s more of a performance than all the other creative outlets.”

The good news is that Shoemaker is spreading the love. Check out the comedy clubs and theaters near you, so that you can experience “The Lovemaster” in person.

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