Davis loved this opportunity to get onstage in front of thousands almost every night. He understood what a completely unique opportunity he had, to perform fresh jokes in front of such large crowds of people.
"I knew it was going to be quite an experience," Davis reflects. "Most comedians will never get that experience, you know? We left on April 1, and Dane's a practical joker, so we were a little concerned that he might be pulling a pretty amazing prank on us. But when we saw the buses, we knew it was real."
While Davis has plenty of experience hosting events and generating enthusiasm, comedy seems to take a different side of his personality to war. The bite, the bitterness that many comedians use to fuel their routines, is nowhere to be found when Davis is onstage. Davis is going for something else. A new kind of comedy — nice-guy comedy.
In fact, one of the jokes he works on developing during "Tourgasm" is based on the fact that his friends think he's "too nice."
"Even when I was a kid, even though I didn't start until 7 years ago, I used to do [comedy] for my family," Davis says. "The weirdest thing is that most people study other comedians. I purposely didn't want to see other comedians. I didn't watch any specials. I wouldn't watch Comedy Central. I wanted to do it like Jimi Hendrix, you know, pick up the guitar upside-down and just learn my way."
Davis does admit that now, he's more open to influence and coaching - but only from the best.
"One thing I learned from Dane Cook is, he doesn't set goals, he wills them," Davis says. "I love being around that. They say who you hang with is who you become, and I'm so excited to have such a smart, wonderful, loyal friend like Dane Cook to learn from and mentor me in the comedy world."
What's refreshing about Davis is his make-it-happen-for-yourself personality. At the core of his aspirations, is the belief that being true to his values will take him where he wants to go. He's going to prove that nice guys can — and will — finish first.
The ultimate goal for him is to end up a "wealthy beach bum," and live on an island, occasionally picking up projects such as movies, but mainly just surfing.
"I'm planning on being a really in-shape, 65-year-old man," Davis says.
Davis is currently touring the country with Kelly, whom he claims to have developed a much more solid relationship with since the argumentative era of "Tourgasm."
"Robert Kelly and I have really become great friends," Davis says. "We're like brothers now. Do we butt heads still? Yeah, we do, we're two different personalities. We clash a little bit from time to time. But I tell ya, there's a great respect for one another. I'm doing the road with Robert the whole summer, and we've just been having a great time."
If the bond of comedy can level these two extremes to a peaceful balance, then comedy must be the number one prescription drug of the future. And if anyone's on a mission to prescribe it to as many people possible, it's the already-addicted Davis.
"Too much comedy's my hobby, you know?" he says. "I know how to sell comedy to people."
For more on Jay Davis, visit his official website at JayDavisComedy.com. You can also connect with Jay on MySpace at MySpace.com/JayDavisComedy.
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