Even when he was in middle school, standup comedian Jimmy Cash thought being a janitor was kind of funny.
“Me and my friends would be ignoring the lesson, thinking we didn’t need to know this because we were going to be janitors anyway. And sure enough, I became a janitor.”Cash, 38, has been a janitor in the Worcester Public Schools for 18 years.
A janitor with a side hustle as a comedian,Cash will appear at Plymouth’s New World Tavern at 7 p.m. May 10headlining a Tuesday night dinner comedy showcase also featuring AJ Hapenny, Liam McGurk and Kathe Farris.
Becoming a janitor wasn’t that much of a stretch; his dad was a janitor. Cash said he knew the job and how people felt about it.
“I think sometimes people think it's below them, but it’s a great living and it’s honest work,” Cash said.
Perhaps what Cash didn’t foresee was becoming a comic who mined humor from his daily activities sweeping floors, cleaning up spills and interacting with students and teachers at the local elementary school. He had grown up idolizing famous funny folks such asAdam Sandler, David Spade and Chris Farley, but he didn’t know how you became a comedian until he went to see one of Dick Doherty’s Beantown Comedy Escape shows featuring Mike Donovan at the Worcester Crowne Plaza Hotel.
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“I didn’t know people did comedy on a local level. I thought you were either Seinfeld or you weren’t. When I saw this group of characters, I knew anybody could do this,” he said.
He wanted to try comedy right then, but found out most open mikes, where new comedians learn their trade, were held on weeknights when he was busy cleaning up.
“I put it on the back burner for more than a decade, until I got the head custodian job (and started working days), “then I started chasing it,” Cash said.
He took a comedy class that culminated in a live performance called a “bringer” where each student is asked to invite some friends to the show.
“I did really well and thought I could just wait for my phone to ring. I found out (it wasn’t that easy), because no matter how funny you are, a lot of work goes into building your chops, getting comfortable onstage and crafting your jokes. I didn’t realize how much went into it,” said Cash.
Cash started doing open mikes as often as he could, sometimes performing as many as seven shows in a week while still reporting for duty at 6a.m. for his day job.
“I started getting noticed and getting booked on little shows on the weekends. There were all these little victories. I remember getting booked at Scoreboards in Leominster and thinking I had arrived,” he said, laughing. “But, it was like a building block and I started to feel more confident.”
Eventually, all that hard work and experience led to Cash becoming a regular opener for Bob Marley, the busy veteran comic from Portland, Maine, and to headlining shows himself.
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Cash said he is excited about headlining more shows.
“The gigs are just starting to trickle in. I’m just starting to get my feet wet. You’ve got to be good, but you’ve also got to be able to sell tickets,” Cash said.
One thing that has helped Cash become more well known are his very popular TikTok and social media videos poking fun at his life as a janitor, an idea that was inspired by his teenage daughter.
“I had dabbled (in making funny videos), but my daughter tipped me off that TikTok was where it’s at right now. I looked at her and said, ‘I don’t know. I don’t get it.’ But, I just started watching TikToks and tried to use what I had done in some YouTube videos, gave it a shot and saw what happened,” Cash said.
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His TikTok page now has 542,000 followers. The videos, featuring Cash as Mr. James, various female teachers, fellow janitorsand King Nathan, the young student who idolizes Mr. James, have gotten thousands and even millions of views. One, about the unreliability and coarseness of institutional brown paper towels, has more than 22 million views.
“I learned you just have to keep it short and to the point and not to overthink it.People’s attention spans are so short these days," Cash said. "Anything over a minute is just too long now.”
Cash saidit is a little hard to reconcile that some people attending his comedy shows know him more from TikTok videos than standup comedy.
“Sometimes they will introduce me as a TikTok star and it’s a little surreal. I’ll say, ‘Which one (video) do you want me to do first?’ They are just going to have to find out that my standup might not be exactly what you see on TikTok,” Cash said. But, he’s confident it will all work out.
“It’s two different worlds, but it’s all under the same umbrella of humor.”
Not all of Cash’s material is about janitorial splendor. Other go-to topics aremaintaining his longtime sobriety, being a dad in a blended family, and a bit of observational humor.
“I write a lot, but most of it never sees the light of day. I have to get better at getting more of it to the stage,” said Cash.
Cash’s newfound fame (he says he was recognized a few times on vacation with his family at Universal Studios in Florida) has also led to a role as the Red Sox groundskeeper in a series of new commercials for Plymouth Rock Assurance called "The Bostonians." It also features various Boston sports personalities and characters like Jack Edwards, Wally the Green Monster, Pat Patriot and Blades (the Bruins mascot). Cash saidhe sometimes gets auditions through Boston Casting for acting roles and isn’t worried about becoming pigeonholed.
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“Hey, it might help put my daughter through community college!” he said.
Given all his success, some suggest it’s time for Cash to give up his custodial job, but so far he isn’t quitting.
"(Sure) I get paid all right to do comedy, but they aren’t going to pay for my dentist appointments. I’m going to ride both until the wheels fall off,” Cash said.
He does admit that sometimes after a great night of performing at a large theater like Foxwoods, knocking ‘em dead for Bob Marley, he might laugh a little thinking to himself, “I can’t believe I have to clean toilets tomorrow.”
Note:Writer Jim Dorman can relate. He is also a full-time custodian for a school system on the South Shore.
Laugh with Jimmy Cash
When: 7 p.m. May 10
Where:New World Tavern, 56 Main St., Plymouth
Tickets: $40 in advance at eventbrite.comor$50 at the door
Info: 508-927-4250;thenewworldtavern.comor on Facebook
Also featuring:AJ Hapenny, Liam McGurk and Kathe Farris
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