If Juston McKinney stayed in New York or Los Angeles to nurture his comedy career, rather than moving back to New Hampshire, he’d have no jokes about New England winters and the futility of keeping a picnic table that gets so little use.

He also might never have developed his bit about how seriously his state takes its “Live Free or Die” motto: “New Hampshire’s got fireworks, no seat belts, no sales tax,” he says, ticking off the list of state freedoms that differ from its New England neighbors. “It’s like Mexico. People come running across the border.” And he wouldn’t have bothered to riff on the Patriots’ multiple Super Bowl titles with his fake public service campaign to help New England families pay for the cost of championship gear.

McKinney performs regularly at the Lebanon Opera House, The Palace Theatre in Manchester, Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord and The Music Hall in Portsmouth, where he does a year-end show that usually sells out. His latest show, titled Parentally Challenged, comes to The Colonial Theatre in Keene on Oct. 21.

McKinney has honed his wide-eyed, seemingly bewildered, often bellowing rendition of life in New Hampshire to significant acclaim. Comedy Central has aired his one-hour and half-hour specials. This summer, he joined a stand-up showcase hosted by Patriots player Rob Gronkowski and taped for Showtime.

Born in Portsmouth, McKinney worked as a sheriff’s deputy in Kittery, Maine, and got the performance bug while doing DARE program anti-drug presentations for kids. In the late 1990s, he secured an agent and booking offers from managers and moved to New York. Later, he shifted to L.A. with his wife, another New Hampshire native who wanted to raise their kids back home.

In big cities, comedians work the clubs night after night, try out and refine material, gather a following and elbow-rub with the likes of Amy Schumer or Louis C.K. “It’s about networking and contacts,” McKinney says. In New Hampshire, “It’s out of sight, out of mind.”

Still, he managed to pick up a charity gig with Schumer this summer after running into her at the revered New York club Carolines on Broadway. His connections with the team behind Kevin James’ movies led to an appearance in Here Comes the Boom.

And while he can’t pop to the next town to get up on a club stage, he finds a way to put in his time. One recent night, he drove to Cambridge, Massachusetts for a 10 p.m. open-mic show to do 10 minutes of new material. “I got back at 1 in the morning, and I gotta get up at 6 with my kids.”

Often, he tests out jokes for the first time during his big New Hampshire theater shows—a risky prospect. Starting small, he’ll build them if they get a good reaction. When they bomb but he knows he has a unique idea, he considers it a worthy challenge to keep working on it. “Those are the gems,” he says.

Juston McKinney–comedian
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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The post Living Free and Funny appeared first on Take Magazine.

New Hampshire is the type of state where you tend to know your neighbors. So it wasn’t surprising for filmmaker Michael Venn to run into an old friend in downtown Portsmouth. Their conversation, however, was anything but typical.

Venn was shocked when his friend, a man in his 20s, shared his struggles with heroin addiction. “This is the type of kid you’d want your daughter to date,” he recalls. “Good looking, from a good family, seemed to have his act together.” That chance encounter, combined with myriad headlines about the state’s opioid crisis, inspired Venn’s film, The Heroin Effect. It had its inaugural screening March 30 to a sell-out crowd at The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Another Music Hall screening is scheduled for May 25.

In the U.S., 144 people die daily from heroin and other opioid overdoses. It’s an epidemic that’s touched many New Hampshire residents. For Venn, who professes an obsession with coffee (he’s rarely without a cup), his research on heroin and opiate use changed his perspective on addiction. “It’s a medical issue,” he says. “The only way to tackle this problem is to be real about it and start a conversation.”

Being real meant telling a story that humanizes addiction and focuses on positive outcomes. Venn interviewed more than 50 people for The Heroin Effect, including people in recovery, politicians, police officers, and judges. The film introduces Eric, Sandi, and Dean, former addicts who are now actively involved in the recovery movement. Each tells their own story, without narration. There’s also a riveting video diary by Daniel, who openly discusses his struggles with heroin use. The film is driven by their stories. “My goal is that the audience likes everyone they see on screen and identifies with them,” Venn says. “These people are your next door neighbors, family members, and friends.”

Venn has explored storytelling through music and writing since he was a child. After college, he initially followed his dream to be a musician, playing drums in bands locally and in New York City. He was always interested in film. “I was the kid who watched movies incessantly, then dissected them,” he says.

A faithful attendee of the New Hampshire Film Festival, Venn was inspired to write screenplays, eventually volunteering to help local filmmakers. That led to small acting parts, writing soundtracks, and then directing and producing his own work. Venn made his directorial and writing debut in 2010 with the short film Dark Scribbles. He produced and co-directed an award-winning documentary, In Danger of Being Discovered as well as a PSA, It’s Time, Let’s Talk, about the opiate crisis. He’s also written and directed music videos.

Venn hopes to secure a film distributor for The Heroin Effect and have it seen by as many people as possible. The film’s initial screening at the Music Hall generated statewide buzz. “People told me they were telling others about the movie,” he says. “If you’re still talking about the film after it’s shown, I’m doing something right.”

Michael Venn–Filmmaker
The Heroin Effect
Twitter
Website

Photo by Raya Al-Hashmi of Raya On Assignment

The post Telling Stories of Recovery appeared first on Take Magazine.