Bad puns and eyerolls on public transportation are a hit for comedian Marcus Monroe

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Being a performer means all kinds of different things in 2025. It can mean on stage, on camera, or on social media. Often it means all of those things. Shorewood native Marcus Monroe says being a comedian can mean a lot of things too.

Monroe is an Andy Kaufman Award winner, a 'Best Of' the Edinburgh Fringe-Fest winner, and his one man show was listed as a 'top-pick' in the New York Times. When CBS 58 Morning News anchor Mike Curkov met up with Monroe on a Monday morning in late April, Monroe was dressed as a wedge of cheese telling bad jokes on Milwaukee's streetcar 'The Hop.'

"Am I an artist? I don't know." said Monroe. "I guess, sure. I think anyone who uses their creative juices can be considered an artist.

He had his juices flowing for unsuspecting commuters.

"People really hate my cheese puns." He told a passenger who had, momentarily taken out his earbuds. "But I'm pretty fondue of them."

The guy put his earbuds back in and walked away without saying anything.

"That's pretty much how it goes." Marcus said.

Marcus grew up in Shorewood but he's been a New York City-based comedian and performer for about 20 years now.

"In New York City, I play all the clubs and theatres and it's great." he said. "but sometimes, I do comedy in the subway."

That might be where you've seen him. He's amassed more than 1.3 million followers across platforms.

"I do stand-up as these characters. As these different characters." Monroe explained. "So, I'm not me. I'm not Marcus Monroe. I'm whoever the character is. If I'm cheese, ok what would cheese say if he tried to do stand-up comedy.

His friends in New York help him record the sets, then he edits it, and posts it to social media. The video he posted on May 4th for Stars Wars Day racked up nearly two million views in less than a week.

"How does Darth Vader like his coffee?" he asks a car full of people in the video. "You'd think black but Noooooooooo."

The passengers don't seem to get the reference.

He's done more than 30 different characters on the train.

"Is it true you're done dating?" he, while dressed as a chef, asks a puppet also dressed as a chef. "Yes. No more dating. I have crust issues."

The jokes are puns. Often very bad puns. They're funny but it's the reaction of the riders that makes the whole thing work.

"To me, comedy, it's not about me." he said. "It's about everyone else."

Back on the Hop, dressed as a cheese he asked told another man: "I have dyslexia. But that doesn't stop me from, every morning, writing in my dairy." The man dramatically rolled his eyes and groaned.

"It's funny in the edit but when I'm doing it on the subway in New York." said Monroe. "Oh my gosh. I have anxiety. I am dreading it."

His stand-up work is totally different. He's more of a story-telling comic on stage.

"It's all observational. I have a crazy interesting life." he said. "I used to juggle for over 20 years professionally. My wife's 15 years older than me."

The pair met while he was juggling at Bastille Days in Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee.

"Which means she can do our taxes. She listens to jazz. She can do long division."  Monroe joked in another of his videos.

The stand-up, the subway bits, and the Boy Friends Podcast he does with two of his friends makes for a lot of content producing.

"It's kind of the game now. You kind of have to do it to get people to come to your shows." said Monroe

He just performed at the Badger Comedy Festival in Janesville but he says he'll be back in Wisconsin to perform later in the year.

In the meantime, you see him, or a version of him, struggling with a tough NYC commuter crowd on his Instagram and TikTok.

"You might recognize me. I did grow a foot since you last saw me." he said in another clip, while dressed as a giant foot.