Standard-Examiner staff?bgillman@standard.net?

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annibal Buress is low-key and laid-back, talking about how he’d like to be a gangster — but without all of the gang activities and the shooting.?

Because then, it’d be all about the barbecues and the dancing.?”This barbecue is great,” Buress would say. “Do you want to go bandana shopping after this?” ?The “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” writer makes two stand-up comedy appearances in Utah next week, including a Thursday-night performance at Wiseguys Comedy Club in Ogden.?Buress’ journey began with a college biology class at Southern Illinois University.?The teacher was in the midst of his lecture when Buress needed to vent some humor.?”I stopped the teacher and I just got up and started doing stand-up right there,” said Buress in a phone interview.

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Buress said he has been delivering his own styling of deadpan jokes ever since the impromptu biology performance. After college, he went to work on a career in the Chicago comedy clubs.?His career soon took him from Chicago to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, which houses NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”?But before he could land the high-profile job, he needed to get his big break.?That came after a series of fortunate events landed him on NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” show. He was asked to replace a comedian who had called in sick.?”I had submitted to get on the show maybe a month before,” Buress said. “They needed a last minute fill-in and I was available.”?

‘SNL’ calling?

Buress gave a performance that drew the attention of the producers from “Saturday Night Live.” He received the call two weeks after the Fallon set, which started an “SNL” run as a writer from 2009 to 2010.?Buress had already been schooled in sketch writing, so the move into a writer’s role suited him just fine. But it also brought some anxious times. ?”It definitely can be a bit nerve-racking to go into a high-profile job like that. It’s comedy, but it’s a different format,” Buress said. “I definitely was nervous when I first started.”?As a writer, Buress built scripts, as well as supplying jokes for the cast. But Buress said he was able to keep his own style regardless of who was speaking the lines.?”Because I really don’t like to change. So I would still write it with my tone and my mannerism, and I would coach the people to say it with my tone and mannerisms,” Buress said.?”They resisted at first. But I am very persuasive. And they listened and did what they were told.”?

NYC comedy?

Buress increased his exposure while working in New York City. “SNL” was his day job, and stand-up comic was the night shift.?”It was nice where we weren’t working as late. So I was still able to get up (on a comedy stage) a couple times a week at least and perform,” Buress said.?And sometimes he would turn the writers’ meeting into his own show. He’d tell everyone to be quiet and perform a 10-minute set.?”Then I would get that out and we would go back to work,” Buress said.?He left “Saturday Night Live” in 2010 to work as a writer for “30 Rock.” Now he has also been able to launch a nationwide tour, delivering his deadpan styling. ?The topics are all over the place: hoarding pickle juice, the connection between pawn shops and drug dealers, and why he didn’t cry at “Up.”?”I had a second job interview at this place,” goes one joke. “I don’t think they wanted to interview me twice. I think they wanted to see if I had two suits.”?The one-line, non-sequitur jokes have been his favorite, and only, comedy style since he was a kid. ?”This is how I talk. It’s very American of me, and I hope that Utah is ready for how edgy and crazy and deadpanned my humor is,” Buress said. “I don’t do wet humor. My humor is very dry. If you want wet humor — go somewhere else.”?