CANNIBAL CORPSE's PAUL MAZURKIEWICZ Sets Record Straight: I Am Not Doing Standup Comedy

In a new interview with the “Iron City Rocks” podcast, CANNIBAL CORPSE drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz spoke about his recent appearances at The Commodore, an improv and sketch comedy theater in the Tampa, Florida area. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, man, it’s funny because I know it’s gotten on Blabbermouth [that I was doing it], and it got on Blabbermouth the first time I did it. This is my third time doing this. But everybody thinks I’m doing standup comedy. I don’t know why they list it as I’m doing standup comedy. I’m not. And if you read what it says, it’s pretty self-explanatory what the situation is.”

He continued: “What happened is — we were talking sports earlier — I’m from Buffalo. I still play ice hockey. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, actually. I started skating when I was five, and I’m still playing. So, a guy that was on my team, I guess it was about a year ago, ’cause the first one I did was last March [of 2024], he was, like, ‘Hey, I got a little kind of weird thing for you,’ and asked me if I wanted to… He’s involved with The Commodore, this place in Tampa that’s kind of an improvy kind of a comedy shop, and they do different kinds of shows, but a lot of it, the thing is improv. And he said, ‘Hey, man, that would be great. Maybe what you would do is go up and tell some stories, tell a story for five minutes.’ So I’m just talking, kind of like I am now. I’m doing an interview and I’m talking about a story, whether it was [actor] Jim Carrey or anything that was, I felt, worthy of talking, that has happened to me in my life or in the band, but specifically me. And then they would do the troupe, which is like six or seven individuals, the guys and girls would do comedy skits, like improv skits. So I talk, I do my thing, I go sit down, they go up on stage for about 10 minutes and they just go off the cuff. And it’s loosely based on what I’m talking about, I guess. So, I do maybe, I guess it’s like four stories I end up talking, and then they do the comedy like that. So it’s a maybe a little over an hour of a show. But that’s it.”

Paul added: “I don’t know how it got twisted to where I was doing standup comedy, ’cause it’s obviously completely different than that. But, yeah, it was all because of the guy. My friend asked me if I would like to do that and he knew I probably had some cool stories and help the comedy place out. And I was, like, ‘It’s something different. Why not?’ And, yeah, here I am about to do it for the third time. So, yeah, it’s fun stuff — little different, like I said, for me. I’m not used to doing that. But it was cool. So, I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

Asked if his spoken-word show is something he would consider taking on the road, Paul said: “It’s weird. At first I was, like, ‘Man, I don’t know. This isn’t me.’ I’m not that much of a guy that wants to be up there talking like that. I’ll do interviews and I feel like I can talk, I suppose, but I’m not a lead singer. I’m playing the drums. I don’t talk in front of people like that. It’s actually a little nerve-racking. When I first did it last year, I was, like, ‘Oh my God. I’m so nervous,’ because I’m just telling stories. That’s all I’m doing here. I’m by myself in front of people telling stories. So it’s that whole speaking to a large group and they’re listening to your every word here. And I’m on a stage, and I just don’t do that. So I was a little concerned at first, am I gonna get up there and freeze up? Or am I gonna start fumbling my words and sound like a complete idiot? And I did all right. I guess I did fairly well, it seemed. They asked me to come back again, and I did the second one in November. And they wanted me to do it again. So it was, like, ‘All right, cool.’ I mean, I don’t know if I’d wanna take it to that extreme of like — am I that guy that’s gonna wanna go up and do it and [go], ‘Oh, let’s take it on the road.’ It was done for my friend and their comedy club and all that. But hey, you never know. Like I said, I’m having fun doing it, so who knows what the future holds?”

When Paul‘s appearance at The Commodore was first announced, the event was described as “death metal meets alternative comedy in this one-of-a-kind show! Paul Mazurkiewicz, drummer and founding member of CANNIBAL CORPSE, shares stories from his incredible career that inspire comedy from Tampa’s best improv comedians.”

The Commodore is a 2,250 square-foot space which opened in 2023.

The owners of The Commodore include local performers Matt Walker, Kevin Michalski, John Lasavath, Justin Peters and Kelly Buttermore, who joined forces to build the “ideal space for independent comedy in Tampa Bay.”

The Commodore features shows several nights per week from top local, regional, and national performers, with a programming focus on the sort of adventurous, alternative work that you might see on a nightly basis in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, according to the theater’s page.

Mazurkiewicz is best known as the drummer of the death metal band CANNIBAL CORPSE. Mazurkiewicz was originally the drummer for the band TIRANT SIN, alongside two other future CANNIBAL CORPSE members Chris Barnes and Bob Rusay. The trio joined Alex Webster and Jack Owen in 1988, forming CANNIBAL CORPSE. He is also currently the drummer for assorted side projects including UMBILICUS and HEAVEN’S GATE. Besides drumming, he also plays the guitar, and is the group’s primary lyricist and contributes heavily to composing songs; he penned the songs “Dead Human Collection”, “Frantic Disembowelment”, “Monolith”, “Carrion Sculpted Entity” and “Worm Infested”. Mazurkiewicz, along with Webster, is one of the sole remaining founding members of the band.