January 2026 - Make 'em Laugh: Tyler Lovely

Tyler Lovely on stage at Hyena's Comedy Club. Photo Credit: Carddmadd

Tyler Lovely likes to say comedy found him at the exact moment he needed it. Or as he puts it, with a shrug and a smirk: it was “poor decision making.” At 20, hungover and stumbling to a shift at Dion’s after “four or five days of non-stop partying,” Lovely found himself facing a sobering realization. “All my friends were either in college or in jail,” he says. “And here I am, hungover, working at a Dion’s with no direction.”

That walk changed everything. With his earbuds pumping a Pete Holmes comedy set from Pandora, Lovely felt something shift. “Here’s a guy making me feel better with his personality and this stuff he wrote,” he recalls. “This guy made something that makes me feel better, and it sounds like he’s having FUN doing it.”

In that moment, Lovely decided that if people could make a life out of joy—out of making others feel good—then that was the life he wanted. “If there are people out there living a life focused on making people feel good,” he says, “then I will be one of them.”

Now a fast-rising comic working rooms statewide, Lovely approaches comedy like an ongoing experiment. He gravitates toward material that evolves in real time, constantly testing, refining, and sometimes abandoning ideas onstage. “The approach I’m taking right now is something called ‘writing on stage,’” he explains. Traditional joke-writing—sitting down and crafting polished bits—never felt natural. “I’ve never been studious or organized,” he laughs. “To apply that to my comedy was strenuous.”

Instead, he forces his brain to live in the absurd and observational all day—seeing life through a “funny lens,” as he puts it—then brings those raw elements onstage. What happens there determines the fate of a joke. “The work from there is simply bringing those key elements to the stage,” he says, “and using my comedy experience to turn it into an idea that either flourishes or bombs.” And then, with perfect timing: “I’m drawn to animal jokes.”

New Mexico’s comedy scene has shaped him just as much as he’s shaped his material. “Aside from the catalytic converters I’ve lost in the process,” he jokes, “New Mexico has been essentially a dream for someone starting a life in the arts.” The diversity of audiences means no two nights ever feel the same. “One night I’m performing for 35 turquoise-wearing millennials in Santa Fe, the next night it’s an audience consisting entirely of people with face tattoos,” he says. “I’ve even performed for a guy once that had a tattoo of a face—on his face.”

For Lovely, that variety is an education. “Performing in front of diverse audiences outside of your comfort zone is a regular thing for the comics in this state,” he says. “Diversity makes better art.” Then, in true Albuquerque fashion, he adds, “If New Mexico is one thing, it’s dry. If New Mexico is two things, it’s also diverse.”

Some moments have surprised him—like leading 200 strangers in a Christmas carol sing-along during a seasonal bit. Some nights have bombed. None, however, has made him think seriously about quitting. “The rough ones are where the real growth happens,” he says. “Besides, what would I do with my Fridays if I quit? CrossFit? Poetry?” He pauses for effect. “I would still be smoking cigarettes outside the comedy show, but with that quitter’s resentment. Couldn’t be me.”

With a new year ahead, Lovely is diving into unknown territory—beginning with a blank notebook and a commitment to storytelling onstage. “Anybody following me throughout this year can expect nothing BUT new and experimental,” he says. “If my new stuff is unsuccessful, I will likely resentfully turn toward props. So if you see me juggling this year, just know—I tried.”

One thing is certain: bad decisions brought him to comedy, but good instincts, and a crowd hungry for laughter, are keeping him there.