Comedian Tommy Davidson will perform June 10-12 at Laugh Out Loud Comedy club. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Tommy Davidson

Stand-up comedian and actor Tommy Davidson isn’t just playing his five-show run at San Antonio’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club for laughs.

The In Living Color alum will donate a portion of the June 10-12 shows’ proceeds to the Robb Elementary School Memorial Fund in Uvalde. Last month, a shooter entered the campus and killed 19 children and two teachers, igniting a nationwide conversation about our failure to rein in gun violence.

During an interview with the Current this week, Davidson, 58, talked about his decision to donate to the families, his relationship with the Alamo City and why it’s important to continue delivering what his audiences have long expected from him — love and jokes.

Talk to me about your decision to donate a percentage of each LOL show to the Robb Elementary School Memorial Fund.

I can’t stomach the fact that our children could be killed randomly because someone doesn’t want to change the law. I have a special affinity for our Latino children, who are just as much American as I am. All our kids had to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to me. I think everybody needs to be protected. That is why I’m doing it.

How political do you get in your standup these days?

Not at all. I stick to funny. These aren’t political statements. I’m making statements about children and love. Love and children have to do with life.

Do you ever worry about losing fans for any of the personal stands you take away from the stage?

No, because my audience members are composed of everyone. They’re composed of Latinos, whites, Asians, everybody. I’m American. I don’t have to be afraid of someone having a problem with me wanting to protect children. That’s not the kind of fan that I want anyway.

What’s your take on comedians who get political on stage and use their platform to spread messages that conflict with your beliefs? I won’t name names, but there are comedians out there who do hateful material.

Hate begets hate, right? Love begets love. You do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself. The way I look at that is, live and let live. We have the free will to take whatever action we want, but the universe has the right to a reaction. It plays its own self out. If your rhetoric is all about the negative and all about being exclusive and not being a part of a whole, then you cause a vacuum for yourself. There’s a natural process rolling that’s bigger than all of us.

What’s your relationship like with San Antonio?

I’ve been going there for years. I did a movie there with Jim Carrey — Ace Ventura: [When Nature Calls]. It’s one of my favorite places. There’s a lot of military personnel and military family that live there and that come from around the world. It’s one of my favorite cities because of the diversity. It’s like any other American city to me. You can get Chinese food over there. You can get Mexican food over here. You can get soul food over here. You can get Greek food over there. They even got Whataburger!

Ah, there you go. Are you a fan of Whataburger?

Yeah, when I’m really hungry. If there’s one place that’s gonna fill you up, it’s gonna be that. Don’t go there if you’re not hungry. And do it after 2 a.m.

How important is it to laugh right now?

It’s our life breath, right? Supposed we couldn’t do that after the Civil War or Vietnam or World War II. Suppose we couldn’t do that after the pandemic. It’s what keeps us going.

As a comedian, does it feel like we’re coming out of the pandemic and getting back into the swing of things?

Yeah, I think we’re getting back into the swing of things. One of the things about our species and why we’re still here is that we’ve been able to survive all that stuff that comes from nature. We’ve moved far enough along that people can get back to work and to the grocery store and to the hospitals. We’re moving. It’s been a tragic and sober time for everyone.

Would you ever stop coming to a state like Texas to perform if gun laws don’t change or abortion rights were taken away? Would that be a way to make a statement to lawmakers?

I don’t think that would happen, but I don’t know for sure. I know it wouldn’t stop me. The world is gonna keep turning. It was here a long time before I got here, and it’s gonna be here a long time after I’m gone. I can only do the best with what I have. I have jokes. I have love. I’ve probably been to every military installment and war zone around the world and brought my comedy with me. It’s done nothing but good. So, I’m gonna stick with my program.

$44-$176, 7:30 p.m. & 9:45 p.m. Fri, 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. Sat, 7:30 p.m. Sun, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx.com/sanantonio.

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This article appears in Jun 1-14, 2022.