Blair Socci grew up surrounded by older boys in her San Juan Capistrano neighborhood, and she quickly learned that if she didn’t figure out how to deliver a joke, she’d end up being the punchline.
“I think a lot of comedians are the youngest kid in their family, and everyone in my family is really funny; there’s always a lot of mischief and pranks,” Socci said in a phone interview. “Everyone is always getting made fun of all the time, but when you’re the youngest, you have to deal with it, or you can become funny.”
Now a stand-up comedian, Socci will be taking the stage in a more professional capacity, representing her hometown as one of the supporting comedians for the Stand Up, Chow Down: An Anaheim Experience event, happening April 3-4 at the Anaheim Packing District.
In addition to the nights of comedy, several food trucks, including OC Tacos, Cali Delights, and Crusin Fusion, will be serving locals. Inside the Anaheim Packing District, restaurants that will honor the festival’s food vouchers with admission include Urbana Mexican Gastronomy, Stone Groove Stillhouse at Make, Mini Monster, Mangal, Randy’s Donuts, The Wooden Pearl, Parfait Paris, ADYA, Pique-Nique, and Pali Wine Co at Make. Other staples of the food hall, such as Stephen Le’s The Kroft, will be available for a pickup snack before the shows.
“I am so passionate about food that I once wrote an hour of stand-up about just about food,” Socci said. “I’m not doing any food material this time around, but I am looking forward to trying the food because that excites me. I’m also looking forward to working with Don’t Tell Comedy; everything they do is so high quality. For this one, they’re announcing the lineup, but for most of their shows, they don’t.”
Among the comedians performing at the two-day food and comedy event are Adam Ray, Rosebud Baker, Craig Conant, Andrew Orolfo, Audrey Stewart, Ben Brandfon, Leslie Liao, Cole Garrett, Felicia Folkes, Daniel Webb, Fumi Abe, J.C. Currais, Zavior Phillips, Jesus Trejo, Kat Bird, Sean Grant and Zach Noe Towers.
Although she was cracking jokes at an early age, Socci says that wasn’t what ultimately led her to stand-up. In college, her ultimate goal was to become a novelist, and she moved to New York to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at the New School. Her boyfriend at the time introduced her to stand-up, and she attended her first show at 25, where the seeds of comedy were first planted.
The romantic relationship didn’t last, but Socci filled her spare time by interning at several publications, including W Magazine and Splitsider, which was later acquired by New York Magazine, where she pitched articles about up-and-coming comedians. One of those pitches at W Magazine was on Michael Che, who at the time had just appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and started writing on “Saturday Night Live.”
“I was his first piece of press ever,” Socci said. “We became friends, and I was asking him these questions of someone who wanted to start comedy. My brain hadn’t told me that I wanted to do comedy, but then a couple of days later, in the shower, I had the thought that I should do this. I was really upset by the breakup, thought nothing could hurt me, then immediately fell in love with it and became obsessed.”
She performed at several clubs in the Big Apple, where she initially thought it would be a hobby she would pursue in her spare time, but before she knew it, it became a full-time gig. She’s since decided to move back to California, where she wants to expand her career and pursue acting, and has built up her portfolio.
Socci is a paid regular at The World Famous Comedy Store and has toured with comedians Marc Maron, Ron Funches, and Anthony Jeselnik. She’s been featured on “After Midnight,” “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” and Netflix’s “Q Force.” She was the co-host of “The Trevor Moore Show” on Comedy Central. Last year, she debuted a one-hour special, “Live From The Big Dog,” on YouTube.
The comic also has a unique voice that has landed her roles in voice acting, including the “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” movie, “Bob’s Burgers,” and the Audible series “Ghostwriter.” While her voice has expanded her professional opportunities, she said it’s not without its share of online trolling.
“Sometimes very spirited men will write underneath my videos that I sound like RFK Jr.,” she said. “It happens so much that there must be something there, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t hurt or bother me, like, what am I going to do?”
She said her desire to make people laugh was more recently cemented by the sudden loss of her brother, R.J. Socci, 42, a former college basketball player for the Cal Poly Mustangs, who died last March.
“It just really clarified my life’s purpose,” she said. “I just want to spread joy where I can, and every time that I get on stage, I want to honor my brother, make him proud and try to relieve even a touch of suffering for anyone else.”
On the menu
The Kroft, whose mantra is “comfort food reinvented,” will also welcome customers looking for a place to eat before and between stand-up sets.
The menu features a variety of sandwiches with protein options including chicken, fish, pork belly, and braised beef. For those looking to elevate their burger experience, the menu offers a selection of wagyu smash burgers, from a simple cheese sandwich to more adventurous options like the PB & J wagyu combo. The restaurant offers a fusion of cuisines, such as its birria egg rolls.
Le, founder and managing partner at The Kroft, grew up in the Bay Area and moved to Orange County in the early 2000s. Before opening The Kroft in 2014, Le thought about what he could bring to the bustling, diverse food hall in Anaheim. Based on his travels around the world and hometown influences, he believed that an elevated protein-first menu was the way to go.
“Our pork porchetta, which is an Italian pork sandwich, was inspired by Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco,” Le said in a phone interview. “I used to go there every Sunday and get a porchetta, which was hand-cut right off the spit, and that was so delicious. Our fried chicken sandwich was inspired by Bakesale Betty’s in Oakland, and we have a French dip, which was Houston-inspired.”
While the menu specializes in serving a variety of meats on bread from a local artisan bakery in Orange County, their poutine, a popular Canadian dish from Quebec, consisting of French fries topped with cheese curds and smothered in hot brown gravy, deserves a spotlight of its own.
Like many of its comfort-food menu twists, The Kroft’s poutine options include dishes like the loco moco, which swaps white rice for fries and tops it with two wagyu beef patties, grilled onions, a fried egg, brown gravy, cheese curds, ketchup glaze, and green onions.
Le said he believes food can bring everyone together, regardless of politics, culture, or background, and that pairing it with comedy for this event is just another example of people coming together.
“We love being a part of the community and these types of festivals where we can showcase ourselves, but also the talent that Orange County has to offer,” he said. “I feel like this could be an annual event and can only get bigger. It’s something Anaheim needs more of to not only spotlight the food, but also the culture we have.”
Stand Up, Chow Down: An Anaheim Experience
When: Various times, Saturday, April 3 & Sunday, April 4.
Where: Anaheim Packing District, 440 S Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim.
Admission: Tickets start at $27.
Information: donttellcomedy.com.