Burien comedian Robert Pidde – who was born at Highline Hospital and graduated from Highline High School – has released his first stand-up comedy album.

With his lanky frame and Seinfeld-esque styled delivery, Pidde prides himself on working “clean” versus “blue,” so his jokes are safe for all. He also claims to be an introvert who loves Costco, where he can go and buy enough bulk food so “you can never see anybody ever again” – certainly a timely philosophy during a pandemic.

He is a 2012 Central Washington University graduate, who has degrees in Philosophy (aha!) and Theater with focuses in Women Studies and Coaching. He has traveled all over Washington State, cracking jokes to audiences big and small.

Most recently, he worked as manager at the Comedy Underground in Seattle, which had to close in April due to the pandemic. The future of in person, stand-up comedy of course is in limbo now, and Pidde even started a GoFundMe page to help the staff at the historic Seattle club.

As a kid in B-Town, Pidde attended Seahurst Elementary, Sylvester Middle School and Highline High, and says that he was only about 5’0″ and 100 lbs. until he was 15-1/2 or so, when he suddenly had a growth spurt over the summer.

“I grew up to be 5’9″ and 140 lbs. over a summer and even though I loved sports, while everyone else had gotten used to their bodies for me it was a lot like being a baby deer that was still new with their limbs,” Pidde told The B-Town Blog. “Also it was much easier being short and playing baseball because the strike zone wasn’t that much bigger than the bat so all I had to a gauge was whether a pitch was perfect or not. They said I had a good eye, but it’s pretty easy to have a good eye when the ball was at your eyes or ankles and there wasn’t a lot of space in between.”

He also serves as the organizer for the comedy portion of Burien CARES Animal Control’s annual ‘Open Bite Nite’ fundraiser since it started eight years ago.

“I remember getting my first big laugh in theater at Highline High,” he said. “I loved that time because all of a sudden I wasn’t just some weird kid. I was a weird funny kid and that was a huge difference for me. I even minored in theater in college just to get ready to do stand up. I had been writing since I was 18 but had horrible stage fright (which I wouldn’t say has left but it is very manageable and focused now). I got into comedy when a guy in one of my philosophy classes needed an opener for a band. I was 21 and had just written a couple things that I really liked (and still like to this day) so I decided to give it a shot. They gave me 10 minutes to start (an eternity) but I had probably 20 bits written out and memorized. It went good enough. I got laughs in a hard situation to get laughs – while wearing my high school prom tuxedo and Van shoes. I looked at my notes just about every other time I did a joke even though it was all I’d thought about that day. The second I got off stage my friends were surprised I was actually pretty funny. I still cringe when I watch the tapes of that time but that feeling of getting good laughs was so great that I knew it was something I was going to want to do forever.”

Pidde has been named Comedy Underground Seattle’s “Comedian of the Year,” and has multiple clips playing on Sirius XM. His clean comedy album “Driving at the Speed of Friendship” is available on Amazon and Apple Music, and will be released Oct. 16, 2020. Sirius XM radio has already picked up several tracks for radio play from the album. People who preorder the album will recieve three tracks before anyone else has a chance to own them.

Here are some videos of Pidde in action: