Casey Watson makes jokes by night, digs clams by day. Photo courtesy of Casey Watson

Casey Watson has been a comedian performing around Maine and New England for more than three years. Watson, 28, is a house comic at Empire Comedy Club in Portland, and also works as a clam digger in the Midcoast. He splits his time between Portland and Phippsburg.

He’s performed with nationally known comedians like Ari Shaffir, Kam Patterson and Big Jay Oakerson, and in 2023 won the New England’s Funniest Comedian competition. He’ll be performing at Empire Thursday as part of a comedy showcase, and will headline there on Feb. 8. He answered five questions about his work.

How did you become a comedian? 

It was something that was always in my mind, but I never thought I would do it. I didn’t like getting on stage in front of people. I always thought I’d get anxious and nervous and scared or whatever. But then, during the pandemic, I started watching even more Comedy Central and comedians than I had been. And at this point, we’re all doing nothing, so I though I might as well give this a try. So there was an open mic (in Bath) and I just did it. Then I just never stopped. I don’t know how I’ve done it for this long.

Where do you get your material? 

A lot of my stuff is about my family, or stuff I’ve done. It’s a lot of true stuff that, that I use. It’s about being around clam diggers my whole life and my parents (who work in the seafood business, too) and then playing basketball in college (at the University of Maine/Farmington.)

Do you think being from Maine, or digging clams, has helped make you funny?

I think so. I think it’s a New England thing in general. I feel like it’s the way we all grew up, teasing each other about everything.  Every group of friends that I’ve ever been in (from Maine) jokes around in a way that’s different from friends I’ve had from outside New England. I’ve been around guys digging clams from the time I was little kid, and those guys joked around about everything. Nothing’s off limits.

What’s the worst thing a heckler ever said to you?

I know the vision of a heckler is the guy coming in and just saying “you suck.” But a lot of the time what you run into is someone just responding to you, like they’re having a conversation with you while they’re sitting in the front row. Only you can hear them, so if you answer them, the rest of the crowd is like “Who is he talking to?” Most of the time the people who do it are just having a good time. Knock on wood, I haven’t had anybody say anything offensive.

Did you have a favorite comedian growing up? Somebody who inspired you?

When I was younger, my dad really liked George Carlin. So he showed me a lot of (Carlin’s performances). And any time I’d stay home sick from school I’d have Comedy Central on all day long, just watching whoever they had on. In college I watched a lot of Bill Burr with friends. During the pandemic I started to see Sam Morril (a New York City comic) and really liked him.