Comic Mike Cronin will play it safer when he returns to Spokane

Sep 15—The last time Mike Cronin came to town, no one told the veteran comic that it was OK to refrain from being hilarious after he finished his set at the Spokane Comedy Club.

Cronin, 36, had a memorable snow tubing experience after delivering his material.

“The staff at the club took us out to a mountain and I was having a great time until I shot into the woods,” Cronin said by phone from South Bend, Indiana. “There was a ramp to stop you from going into the woods, but I don’t think it was prepared for a guy my size and I just went flying into the woods.”

The 6-foot-1, 260-pound humorist laughed when recounting his dangerous adventure.

“I’ll play it safer when I come at this time,” Cronin said.

Count on Cronin to joke about relationships and being a first time father.

“Being a dad has totally changed my life,” Cronin said. “My fiance and I are absolutely crazy about our 1-year old son. He’s inspired a lot of material.”

Cronin’s future wife, Lindsey Rendell, is also a comic.

Cronin, who will perform Friday through Sunday at the Spokane Comedy Club, and Rendell get along famously even though they aren’t famous.

“I think it’s a good thing when couples are similar,” Cronin said. “All we do together is laugh, which is the greatest.”

There weren’t a lot of chuckles, however, when Cronin and Rendell played the name game while preparing for the arrival of their son.

“She came up with so many names that just weren’t going to work,” Cronin said. “She came up with Cecil, Oscar and Otis.

“I suggested Rory, which is a great Irish name. Rory is an old Gaelic name, which means red king, and it’s perfect since our son arrived with red hair.”

Despite that issue, Cronin and Rendell are going to marry.

“We got engaged in July of 2020, but we decided to wait out the pandemic,” Cronin said. “I can’t believe how much a wedding costs. If you have $3,000 to plan a budget for a party and you spend $1,400 on wedding invitations, you’re going to be pretty ticked off.”

Cronin and Rendell are going to get hitched in a traditional, costly wedding, but at least the experience will be grist for the stand-ups.

“Everything is material,” Cronin said.