Stand-up is ‘freedom’
CT COMEDIAN CHRISTINE O’LEARY SHARES WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A COMIC
“Comedy is a way to tell the truth, solve a problem and sell the material with a feeling,” says Connecticut comedian Christine O’Leary. “I love and live to share with people the greatest ‘high’ and joy I know — standing up and getting paid in laughs!” O’Leary, an award-winning performer who has toured the country, teaches, coaches and produces comedy virtually. She’s also artistic director of the comedy series at The Ridgefield Playhouse, and lives in New Fairfield.
“Yes, stand-up is a skill and craft that can be learned and honed, by writing 20 minutes a day for eight weeks,” she says. “Anyone can do it; there’s enough for everyone.”
Her students are budding adult and teen comics, plus some improv enthusiasts. Or as she put it, they’re “a variety of talented locals with day jobs, born onstage as stand-ups.”
O’Leary’s comedy course is a popular one; it’s been running eight
years and there’s never an empty seat. That’s 55 sold-out classes; she’s had more than 200 graduates. The comedian shared more via email.
“For me, stand-up is liberation and freedom,” she said. “You can ‘up your game’ in any career. I coach people to develop halfbaked ideas to be juried by their peers, then teach them to mine for comedy gold.
“Workshop ‘rip and reads’ (read-throughs) are recorded and the laughs win, not necessarily bits you thought were your best.
“After each class, students distill their material to develop a fiveminute set that’s theirs forever. After their first performance, they have rock star confidence and many repeat the workshop.”
O’Leary, who also has rock star confidence, has worked with many top comics over the years. She’s soaked up advice from the likes of Jay Leno and Sinbad, as well as Tracy Morgan, Margaret Cho and more.
She said Sinbad’s the one who gave her the best advice she ever heard. He shared it one night when they were working together.
This is paraphrased, she said, but his message was: “You can be
clean and great and kill in standup. What I am noticing is that women comedians are looking like they are starting to worry about being prettier instead of getting funnier. Funny is the way legends win and being legendary in standup has no gender, and you have the power to do this Christine.”
O’Leary said Sinbad, “watched my set from 3 feet away behind the red velvet curtain as if to watch me dig for the funny and not how I looked trying to do it. Since then, I’ve gone for the funny,
not the worry.”
Teaching others to go for the funny is what she’ll do when her next course starts in the beginning of January, via christineoleary.com . Everything is on Zoom now, but the lessons are the same. There’s the all-important “write every day,” mixed with practicing and refining, plus encouragement when needed.
“Comedians are a tribe and for the most part, very supportive of one another. … I remember Rita Rudner telling me, ‘Look at you right here and right now’ (when I was chosen to open for her). ‘Look at you, you’re doing everything right and are funny, keep going!’”
Since Rudner is a pioneer in women’s stand-up, her words had a lasting impact. O’Leary said she’s learned, “I can’t rush becoming who I want to be, while being who I am.”
Not only does she enjoy earning a living with comedy (she also hosts charity functions and does roasts and corporate training and events), she finds it helps her negotiate life. Looking for funny moments just makes everything easier to bear. That in mind, O’Leary offered some comedy suggestions for those who could use a good laugh.
“One special I’d recommend is
Gary Gulman’s ‘The Great Depresh’ — produced by Judd Apatow via HBO.” O’Leary said, “Gary is a brilliant bona fide star, who I consider a friend and have loved sincerely.”
Jessica Kirson’s “Talking to Myself” (Amazon Prime), produced by Bill Burr, is also exceptional, she said. It’s “fun to watch and she makes me laugh until I have a headache, the only kind I like, the ones you get from laughing!”
O’Leary said she’s always been funny. Even as a kid, when she saw cashews on her parents’ coffee table — the signal a party was in the making — her first thought was, “Oh my god, what am I gonna do to entertain them?!”
And these days, she said comedy has helped her cope “during a time when the landscape and history of hosting events successfully has changed completely.”
Part of her “pandemic pivot” included the switch from in-person classes to teaching on Zoom. “In my home life, comedy has been a cure-all, as well,” she said. “Yes, comedy is definitely therapeutic! Laughter is the best medicine.”