Steven Chen is an absurdist comic from Potomac, Md. He does stand-up to keep himself entertained.

How did you get into comedy?

Growing up, I went to (the now megachurch) McLean Bible Church, where we had a Jewish pastor. Still pretty funny. Come to think of it, that might be the basis of my humor. It’s just a pretty normal thing, but there’s something silly about it. This twist that flips expectations and it’s kind of so strange, it seems like it’s been made up. I’m surprised that place didn’t churn out more comedians.

What’s your comedic style?

My goal is to trick people into thinking I’m on to something or that I’m making a good point, and then I pull the rug out or pause to have them realize it’s all nonsense. I explain onstage sometimes that I know I’m weird and my comedy is like jazz — no one knows what’s going on up here, but a couple people are always like, “All right!” The goal for my comedy is for it to be like a dream. I want people to say, “I think he was doing comedy — he was onstage, but I don’t know if he knew he was supposed to be there. People were laughing, but he wasn’t, like, telling jokes.” Walt Whitman once wrote, “Stand up for the stupid and crazy,” and I feel like that’s kind of been the model.

If you were to consult with my LinkedIn, I’m currently a chicken baptizer at Chick-fil-A, but in reality, I produce videos and support corporate culture development for a health care IT company. I don’t think I’m at liberty to disclose the company’s name, as I had to change my name and disaffiliate from them on LinkedIn after my profile was discovered by “human” resources.