Sam Miller | |
---|---|
Born | 1982 or 1983 (age 41–42)[1] Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington[2] |
Medium | Stand-up comedy, podcast |
Years active | 2014-present |
Website | sammillercomedy.com |
Sam Miller is an American comedian from Olympia, Washington. He has headlined across the United States, and released his debut album Round Trip on Stand Up! Records in 2023.[3][4][5][6] His work is known for dealing frankly with issues of homelessness and drug addiction; Miller has been sober since 2008.[7][2] Seattle magazine City Arts called Miller "an endearingly positive presence" in the comedy scene of the Pacific Northwest.[8][9]
Early life
Miller was born in a military hospital at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.[2] Miller's father, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, died when Miller was 12.[10] His mother, now retired, was a psychiatric nurse practitioner.[8] He grew up in Spanaway, Washington; after his father's death, the family moved to nearby Olympia.[11][2][12]
Miller began using drugs at age 14.[13] As a teenager, Miller was arrested several times for minor drug violations and similar offenses, and was incarcerated in Yakima County Jail.[8] After being expelled from high school, Miller worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a wilderness firefighter in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. He lost the job because of his drug problems.[4][2] He was homeless for about a decade.[14] During this time, he worked a variety of jobs, including dishwasher, bouncer, warehouse worker, landscaper, assistant preschool teacher, bartender, and farmhand.[15][12] Miller decided to get sober in 2008,[16][17] and eventually worked at a youth homeless shelter.[18][19] He graduated from Evergreen State College in 2017 and became a chemical dependency counselor and public speaker on addiction recovery.[8][20][21][22]
Career
Miller's first public performance was as part of a vaudeville show in Olympia in the mid-2000s, balancing a lawnmower on his chin.[23][24]
Miller first did stand-up in 2014 at an open mic in Olympia. Much of his comedy deals with issues of homelessness, the prison system and stigmatization of drug addiction.[25] Other topics include marriage and parenting, and living as a large person (he is 6 foot 6 and 360 pounds).[16][17][2][6]
Miller has performed across the United States.[5][6][19] Miller took second place in the 2021 Seattle International Comedy Competition.[16] He also competed in the 2016 SICC.[23][24][12][26] He was described by a fellow competitor as "like half grizzled sea captain and half someone who works at Build-A-Bear. You don’t know whether to be terrified or to hug him."[27] Miller also won the Seattle-based stand-up competition Comedy on Trial in 2017.[3][28]
Miller's journey from addiction to stand-up was profiled on the Seattle Times' Outsiders podcast in 2020, which looked at issues around homelessness.[14][7] He also wrote about his life story in an article for Newsweek in 2023.[15]
In 2017, he created and performed a multimedia stage show, The Jail Letters Project, based on correspondence between Miller and his mother while he was incarcerated in Yakima County Jail for drug-related offenses in 2003.
Discography
- Round Trip (Stand Up! Records, 2023)
Selected podcasts
- The Art of Bombing: A Guide to Stand-Up Comedy, Episode 100: "Sam Miller & Loads of Fun" (June 25, 2019)[29]
- The Vance Crowe Podcast, "Coronavirus Perspective: The Homeless During Coronavirus" (March 26, 2020)[18]
- Topical Depression with Natalie Holt, November 14, 2019[30]
- Outsiders, Episode 5, February 26, 2020[14]
- The Parental Compass, November 17, 2021[10]
- Revisionary Podcast, January 5, 2022[31]
- Fadam and Friends, December 26, 2022[16]
- Open Mic'ers Podcast, July 6, 2023[32]
- DADennial, "Comedy, Recovery, and Fatherhood" (July 19, 2023)[33]
- Loose Toss, "Chin Balancing with Sam Miller" (October 31, 2023)[34]
- Passion Pod, March 18, 2024[17]
- The Bob & Tom Show, June 9, 2023;[11] October 18, 2023;[35] April 3, 2024[1]
References
- ^ a b "Full Show Podcast for April 3, 2024". The Bob & Tom Show. April 3, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c d e f Benoit, Matt (2023-09-07). "Olympia Comedian Sam Miller Brings Jokes, Inspiration to Fairhaven on September 15". WhatcomTalk. Bellingham, Washington. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
WCFTPA2024
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Drake, Jessica (May 10, 2023). "Comedian Sam Miller is 'real big' and gets big laughs". Wenatchee World. Wenatchee, Washington. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b "Three nights of comedy coming to the L-A area". Sun-Journal. Lewiston, Maine. August 30, 2023. p. C12. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c McGouirk, Brandon (September 1, 2023). "From sobriety to stand-up: Comedy giant Sam Miller brings laughter to Macon this winter". WGXA News. Macon, Georgia. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b James, Will (March 2, 2020). "Outsiders: A comedian's journey back from homelessness and substance use". KNKX Public Radio. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c d Hamil, Brett (April 13, 2017). "Sam Miller and 'The Jail Letters Project'". City Arts. Seattle, Washington. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Denkmann, Libby; Burrows, Jason (October 2, 2023). "Comedian Hasan Minhaj admits he made up some of his material. How do Washington comics react?". KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio. Seattle. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Bobby Williams (November 17, 2021). "Parenting as a Recovering Addict (Guest: Sam Miller) Episode 61". The Parental Compass (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b "Comedian Sam Miller On Going From Homeless to HOA President". The Bob & Tom Show. June 9, 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c "Sam Miller – Olympia". Seattle International Comedy Competition. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ St. Pierre Nelson, Simone (November 21, 2019). "Eleven years sober, this stand-up comedian now helps teens in recovery". KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio. Seattle. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c Scott Greenstone (February 26, 2020). "Episode 5: Let's Dance". Outsiders (Podcast). KNKX Public Radio. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Miller, Sam (October 22, 2023). "I Inhaled Drugs for 10 Years. One Bleak Moment Turned My Life Around". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c d Adam Tiller (December 26, 2022). "Bonus Pod with Sam Miller". Fadam and Friends (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b c Chris Johnson (March 18, 2024). "Episode 138 Sam Miller (Comedian)". Passion Pod (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Vance Crowe (March 26, 2020). "Coronavirus Perspective: The Homeless During Coronavirus with Sam Miller". The Vance Crowe Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Greenstone, Scott (October 22, 2023). "Sam Miller once slept outside Olympia's Capitol Theater. Now it's the setting for his comedy special". KNKX Public Radio. Seattle. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Gunstone, Tari (2017-01-23). "The Necessity of Laughter: An Interview with Local Comedian Sam Miller". Cooper Point Journal. Olympia, Washington. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
OlyArts2017
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Greenstone, Scott (February 28, 2020). "Did you hear the one about the homeless guy? Sam Miller uses his own life for stand-up comedy". Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Gilmore, Molly (October 18, 2019). "Storyteller's condition fuels his comedy act". The Olympian. Olympia, Washington. p. W5. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ a b Gilmore, Molly (October 12, 2018). "Lord Franzannian leads a vaudeville comeback in Olympia". The Olympian. Olympia, Washington. p. W4. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
WeeklyVolcano2018
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Our 2021 Field of Contestants". Seattle International Comedy Competition. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Gilmore, Molly (2021-11-15). "Olympia's Sam Miller leads the laughs in Seattle International Comedy Competition". The Olympian. Olympia, Washington. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Haha, Johnny (August 20, 2014). "LOL-apalooza! A Guide to Bumbershoot's Comedy Offerings". The Stranger. Seattle, Washington. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Dan Bublitz, Jr. (June 25, 2019). "Episode 100: Sam Miller & Loads of Fun". The Art of Bombing: A Guide to Stand-Up Comedy (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Natalie Holt (November 14, 2019). "Penguins with Katie Holt, Alyssa Yeoman, and Sam Miller". Topical Depression with Natalie Holt (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ "Drinking On His Tab featuring Sam Miller". Revisionary Podcast (Podcast). January 5, 2022. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Jason Robbins, Jacob Craig (July 6, 2023). "Ep. 162: Comedian Sam Miller". Open Mic'ers Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Mike Trenk (July 19, 2023). "Comedy, Recovery, and Fatherhood with Sam Miller". DADennial (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Willie Griswold and Collin Unger (October 31, 2023). "Chin Balancing with Sam Miller". Loose Toss (Podcast). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ "Sam Miller's Nightmare Flight". The Bob & Tom Show. October 18, 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-01.