It wasn't until O'Shea's college days that he first stepped inside the
doors of a comedy club. Before his college days ended he had gathered
up just enough courage to step out on-stage for the first time. "It
was on my birthday," recalls O'Shea, "at a comedy contest in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was going to school." Eric O'Shea was
so afraid to go up that he almost slipped out the back door of the club
…but… somehow he gathered up the nerve to take the stage.
By 1997 this young and talented comic, now with professional performing
experience under his belt, found himself back at college… this time
he wasn't hitting the books, though, he was the live entertainment. And
although no longer a student himself performing at colleges has proved
to be a valuable education. After less than six months of performing as
an opener for more established acts O'Shea was able to hone his comedic
skills enough to move onto headlining status. He's been headlining at
colleges ever since.
"You usually do an hour show," says O'Shea, who has performed
at more than 300 colleges and universities across America. "You can
bring an opener but I kind of like to work by myself. It almost challenges
you more to see how you handle just going up cold like that." Eric
O'Shea has gone from a comic wanna-be, so frightened to take the stage
that he seriously considered escaping out the back door of the club, to
a dedicated veteran performer who these days actually relishes the challenge
that stepping out on a cold, empty stage and warming up his own audience
provides him.
"You're booked for an hour," says O'Shea, "but you can
pretty much go as long as you want so college shows are a great way to
try out new material." Of course the students get plenty of the tried
and tested material thrown in as well. Favorites at the colleges he performs
at include his youth oriented material… humorous observations on
family reunions, board games, surviving life with your mom and childhood's
often-embarrassing and awkward moments.
George
Carlin and Bill Cosby were O'Shea's biggest comedic influences growing
up. "I like guys who are clean and funny," says O'Shea. "I
like dirty comics, too …but… I really like comics that make
you think, rather than just throwing out something a guy can do at a bar.
You kinda try to separate yourself," says O'Shea of the clean image
he's earned for himself over the years in an industry that seems to be
pushing the envelope more and more these days. "I always liked Paul
Reiser and Jerry Seinfeld's work too," says O'Shea of his more recent
comedic influences. In fact his love of the Seinfeld TV show spawned one
of his most popular pieces over the years — a look at what the Seinfeld
gang might have been like back in kindergarten. Whenever O'Shea performs
this funny bit, along with it's right-on impersonations, its always a
big hit with the college crowds.
The mainstay of his act, until this past year or two, was his observational
humor on childhood. People used to ask him… ‘Do you write like
that on purpose?’ "I was never catering to little kids or even
the college crowd," says O'Shea, "it just happened to go like
that. I'm very close to my family and that's what came out of my mouth."
"That's not the main gist of my new material," says O'Shea of
his shift in direction these days. "About a year ago part of me said…
you know what, it's time to just expand myself and use some of my life
experiences a lot more. My new material is still very animated and observational
but I think it's more of an adult point of view. I'm almost having more
fun with this than I had when I was starting… I can't describe it.
I'm doing more corporates now, so it's really starting to expand. I'm
just having a lot of fun."
But mixed in with O'Shea's embrace of all that is silly in life is his
slightly more serious nature; a touch of maturity alongside his big-kid-at-heart
approach to life… O'Shea has a CREDO he lives by… The three
things he considers most important, when it comes to success in life,
are… STRENGTH — for the tough times; PASSION — it has to
come from the heart; and CHARACTER — you have to do it the ‘right’
way.
