Philly native Big Jay Oakerson, the king of sit down comedy, tells his (dirty) jokes on Comedy Central

Big Jay Oakerson is not your average stand up comedian, in part because he sits. The Philadelphia native performs while planted on a stool, rather than standing at a mic or pacing around a stage. It makes his sets feel more casual, makes him feel more approachable. Like he's your buddy cracking a (dirty) joke while you sit at the bar. How dirty? The New York Times said about Oakerson, "If New York had a poet laureate for penis jokes, he would hold the title."

Oakerson's first hour-long special for Comedy Central, Big Jay Oakerson: Live at Webster Hall, airs Friday at midnight. Oakerson will also return to his hometown come August, he hits Helium Comedy Club to plays six shows from Aug. 11 to 14.

This is a big year for you.

It's a little overwhelming, anxiety is running high. I want it to be well received and I want people from my high school [Overbrook Park's Robert E. Lamberton High School] to know I didn't just fade into obscurity.

Spoken like a true comedian. Things are going well, so you're anxious.

It's all crazy anxiety. It's almost with everything good happening, more people can say, "This stinks." There's no fear of failure if you're not succeeding. The other shoe will drop at some point.

You do a ton of crowd work. There's less control in that.

I wasn't good at the written word funny. But I was the best when there was a circle of people hanging out cracking jokes. It's street corner humor.

Why do you like crowd work so much?

It keeps it moving and different. Everyone is a weirdo, everyone has a story. You'll find something odd in everyone. No one's in it alone. You have a weird thing? I have a weird thing too. It connects the audience to me, I hope. A friend of mind told me there's a mainstream, Nickleback-like success that goes across the pop charts. It's big, it's accessible, your parents aren't upset by it at all. But when you find something niche, it becomes your thing. It's not a primetime sitcom, but your fans will follow you to the end of the earth. Like, I love my grandmother more than anything but she can't watch my comedy. It's not for her.

Oh, dear lord, no.

I did a Showtime show called White Boyz In the Hood, and it was uncensored. I went home for a holiday and I just see my grandmother watching it. And I run over and try to turn it off. She's so sweet, she says, "The people seem to enjoy watching you! " She just watched me tell a two minute [anal sex] joke but at least people enjoyed it.

Your comedy, because you talk to the crowd so much, feels very intimate to me but Webster Hall is not an intimate place.

I didn't want to perform on the actual theater stage. They built me a thrust that was a few feet lower, so I'm surrounded by people. I sat on the stool for the entire hour. Sitting on a stool on a visual end, I hate looking at myself sitting down. I look like a pile of tires. I'm so insecure about how I look on TV. But I wanted to make a thousand person theater feel like a hundred theater comedy club. They really wanted me to work the crowd. Comedy central really took the reins off.

Why do you like to sit down?

I want to bring people to me rather than go to them. I want to control the room from that angle. When I started in Philadelphia, I started at the Laff House, which was predominantly black. I'd watch all these guys have these frenetic moves. But when I move, it hits like thunder. There's a confidence in that: Come and listen to my stupid stories. I don't think I'm thinking reinventing the wheel but I'm creating a tone people connect to. And you have to listen, which requires patience on my end with the crowd having to figure out what I do. The fact that I'm so dirty and over the top, it makes it more approachable that I'm sitting down. I'm not looming over people. People won't laugh at something if it's too dark or too mean, but this is more casual than that. I'm personal and story based. But it's also like I'm one of you.

You come back home in August. Are you excited?

I stay true to Philly in many ways. I'm a diehard eagles fan. I watch the Sixers and Eagles every year. I call Philly out in interviews, so it's cool to come back and feel that hometown love. My mom and stepdad and brothers and sisters who live in Philly, they get to come out too. My mom remembers me opening for someone or headlining and there was no one in the audience. She now gets to see people line up and take up pictures. It makes my mom happy, that  she didn't [mess] up. I dropped out of community college and my mom was upset about that, but after all these years later, she feels I made the right decision. As the dirty over the top comic that I am, I'm very sentimental and sensitive, so I'm taken back when people come  to my shows.