Comedy Central comic brings tour to South
Tonight may be Joe DeRosa’s first time performing in Columbia, but based on his touring experience, the South is home to a unique element of stand-up comedy.
“The venues I play in the South … have very heavy grassroots elements about them,” he said. “You gotta go to the right venues wherever you go. You could go to New York or San Francisco or Paris or London — If you go to the wrong venue, it’s gonna suck because you’re gonna get the worst experience of what that area has to offer.”
DeRosa, who tours for about half the year, said he appreciates Southern audiences because they generally attend shows expecting a good performance.
“The people coming out to the shows tend to be fans of the venue. They’re not there to get hammered,” he said. “The Southern tour I do once a year is nothing but those kind of venues.”
Originally from Philadelphia, which remains his favorite place to perform, DeRosa started doing stand-up comedy at a Laff House open-mic in his hometown.
“Once I stepped foot in that place, I was enamored. I couldn’t believe there was this venue where stand-up comedy took place every night. That was crazy to me,” DeRosa said. “It’s almost like if you were a kid and you found a place where there was a carnival all the time.”
And that was that. DeRosa began spending much of his free time performing in the club and any venues in the area hosting comedy.
“I always had the want to do [stand-up], and once I actually did it, that’s when I realized the want was the need.”
Within two years, much to his “surprise and elation,” his comedy career began to take off, and he moved to New York City, where he’s been for the past decade.
DeRosa studied television production at Kutztown University, but when asked what career he’d be pursuing if he weren’t a comedian, he truly didn’t know.
“I didn’t get along very well at most of the jobs I had before stand-up comedy,” he said. “I wasn’t a guy that got fired a lot or anything, but I was a guy that was always late and very lazy.”
As he jumped from one job to the next, DeRosa found nothing but frustration with people in customer service, busy kitchens in the food industry and waking up early to be in an office.
“When I found comedy, I realized why none of those other jobs worked, because this is the job that allows me those freedoms I always wanted,” he said. “I can say whatever I want; I can act however I want. I look forward to work. There’s no pressure. The only expectations are the ones I put on myself.”
Since establishing his career as a stand-up comic, DeRosa has explored a wide range of job opportunities, including writing, directing and acting.
“You start to realize pretty quickly, once you get into this business and start to make a little bit of money, that you can’t just rely on stand-up anymore. You kind of have to be out there, exposing yourself in different areas of the business,” he said. “It forced me to pinpoint which of those areas I wanted to be a part of because I could contribute something.”
DeRosa has appeared on FX’s “Louie,” HBO’s “Bored to Death” and IFC’s “Z-Rock,” and he’s been a regular guest on Fox News’ “Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld,” as well as the “Opie and Anthony” talk radio show.
In 2012, along with fellow comedians Bill Burr and Robert Kelly, DeRosa wrote a book, “Cheat: A Man’s Guide to Infidelity.” He also co-hosts the podcast “Uninformed” with Burr.
In addition to several other short films, DeRosa wrote, directed and acted in “Shooting Angles” (2010), which features Colin Quinn, as well as Burr and Kelly.
Along with his second half-hour “Comedy Central Presents” special, set to air in May, one recent production DeRosa is particularly proud of is “We Should Break Up,” a Web series he wrote and directed, co-starring comedian Nikki Glaser. DeRosa is also in computer rock band Funeral in the Mirror with James Pinkstone, and a new album will be released soon.
While it took some time for DeRosa to appreciate his career, he knows he’s lucky.
“There was a time when I was much more egotistical and arrogant, when I felt like, ‘I deserve this,’” he said. “Now I kind of look at it and say, ‘Wow.’ I’m really lucky. I get to do comedy. This is my job. I can perform in New York, and I get to perform around the country. You get to go to a place and people actually want you to be there. You have to be grateful for that.”
For young, aspiring comedians, DeRosa’s advice is simple.
“Work hard and enjoy yourself,” he said. “If you do those two things, you can’t go wrong. There’s nothing bad about working hard, unless you become a complete workaholic and you ignore every other aspect of your life, but that’s impossible to do if you enjoy yourself.”
Presented by Comedy Is Your Friend of Columbia and Stand Up State Comedy of Greenville, Joe DeRosa will perform tonight at New Brookland Tavern at 122 State St. Tickets are $7, and the show starts at 9 p.m. Openers to the act will be USC graduate Justin Thompson, Greenville comedian Nick Shaheen and local comics Jenn Snyder and Camilo Potes.