Interview: Singing Comedian Brian O'Sullivan On LITTLE FISH & His BIG LAUGHS

Actor/singer/comedian Brian O'Sullivan will perform his and Little Fish's first live Zoom LITTLE FISH, BIG LAUGHS WITH Brian O'Sullivan April 2 & 3, 2021. A regular denizen of the Los Angeles comedy clubs and theatre community, Brian will communicate his comic tales peppered with his witty lyrics and guitar-playing.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Brian!

How would you describe LITTLE FISH, BIG LAUGHS WITH Brian O'Sullivan in a three-line pitch?

Brian O'Sullivan is a singing comedian from Los Angeles, California. Inspired by artists "Weird Al" Yankovic, Stephen Lynch, and The Bloodhound gang, O'Sullivan uses catchy tunes and clever lyrics to deliver his punchlines. Armed with an acoustic guitar and unwavering comedic wit, Brian will tickle your funny bones, poking fun at pop culture, in a uniquely entertaining way.

Will this be all new material? Or will fans of yours recognize some older bits?

I would LOVE it if it were. Sadly, the pandemic has been a little damaging to my creative process, so a lot of this will be a "Best Of" show. That said, if you've never seen my show before, yes, it will be all new material... to you. It will be the first time I do a full live Zoom show. I've done stuff on Facebook Live and Instagram, but there is a delay, and you can't see anyone you're performing for, so it's not live, live. This should be a fun barometer for me to find out if I'm still funny, or if that was something that can also disappear in a pandemic. Having said all of that, there will be some material in here that no one has seen before.

Take us back to when you first connected with Little Fish? Being cast in 2018 for PLAZA SUITE? Or before?

It was great! I was playing Robert in Morgan-Wixson's production of BOEING BOEING in Santa Monica, directed by Branda Lock (who was also a company member of Little Fish), and Tara (the artistic director of Little Fish, at the time) came and saw me in it. At that time, they were still searching for a fourth actor for PLAZA SUITE. She had me audition two days later, and I had the part the next day. And I've worked on at least one show with them every year since. They're wonderful.

Tell us what elements were involved in LITTLE FISH, BIG LAUGHS WITH Brian O'Sullivan being Little Fish's first Zoom event?

Well, I think a lot of how we landed on doing the event this way is based on my previous experience with comedy in the pandemic. I mentioned before about the impersonalness (is that a word?) of doing a Facebook Live or Instagram Live... you just don't get that instant feedback of a which for a comedian desires. Zoom does have that power to keep an audience present and engaged. I have a ten-minute bit that is entirely reliant upon audience participation. I believe it will work... but that's half of the fun for me, discovering if something will work live, in a way I just can't fully rehearse; I have to be prepared for lots of different outcomes if things don't go as planned. And I love that. Keeps me on my toes, and in the moment.

I came across your song "Straight White Male Problems." I must admit I was apprehensive at first, but ended up loving the song. Did you write a lot of songs during this past pandemic year, besides the very clever "2020: The Song"?

I think I've written six songs since February 2020, and "2020: The Song" is the only one I felt was strong enough to share with my fans and friends online. I'm going to probably try one or two other songs in this show that I have written more recently, but I don't think they are as clever or as smart as some of my older material, including "Straight White Male Problems," which is arguably my absolute favorite song to perform live (especially when the audience really doesn't see that punchline coming).

What's the one idiom that you learned from your time at Chicago's Second City that you follow religiously?

Hmm... you obviously know that I love a good idiom. The name of the Main Stage show at Second City, while I was studying there in 2007 was called BETWEEN BARACK AND A HARD PLACE. And I found that sooooo mind-blowingly clever (both for the fact that it was about politics during an election year, but also because of the stretch of the pun on Barack). I guess you could say, as a solo comedian, living in Los Angeles, making my living for the past decade primarily off comedy, yet still being relatively unknown on the comedic circuit, does often make me feel like my career is between a rock and a hard place. But, at least I've made it this far. And I would consider my life and career to already be a success... even if very few people have ever heard of me.

Which do you prefer: being onstage as yourself? Or completely enveloped in a character?

I like this question a lot. Primarily because I am never actually myself on stage. The comedian "Brian O'Sullivan" is just another character I play, who happens to play guitar and sing jokes. For whatever reason, I've never personally identified as that guy in my own life; that's just for the stage. I have my degree in acting, and have wanted to be an actor since I was nine. And while I was studying improv in Chicago, I just wasn't booking any acting work, and it occurred to me, that maybe I could use some of those funny songs I wrote in college as the start of some sort of a one man show. It wasn't until after I had a whole show put together that I realized, "Oh, I'm a comedian now, I guess." But a much simpler answer to your question is I LOVE completely enveloping myself in a character in a play who is nothing like me. I love doing the work to get there, and I love doing the work to play there, in front of a live group of strangers. But the rehearsal process for my solo comedy shows can't be beat.

How would you compare the audiences in comedy clubs vs. those in your college tours? Rowdier? More blunt? Drunker?

I have a soft spot in my heart for both audiences. When I first started touring colleges, I was only twenty-four, so I really was practically the same age as my audience. So even though they were strangers, they felt more like friends. And that made it easier for me to take risks and try things that I thought were funny, without having to think much more about it. The older I got, the more aware I became of comedy, the better I wanted my writing to be. My standards in comedy grew dramatically between the ages of twenty-six through thirty. I think I only have one song in my current set list, that was written more than five years ago. So the older I got, the more I actually preferred the live comedy club. I didn't notice those audiences to be "rowdier" per say (although I don't think I've ever done a college show were alcohol was allowed), but I do find that a comedy club crowd tends to be more willing to follow you into weird comedic places, where a college crowd often needs the punchline to be highlighted, and maybe hit over the head a little bit. A comedy club crowd gives me more freedom to take chances, and is often more forgiving if I fall short. A college crowd usually feels more excited to be there, but they also have more of an "impress me" attitude, that comedy club crowds don't. People at a comedy club usually just want to have a good time, and I can feel that from the stage.

What did you want to be in your youth? A singer? A comedian? An actor? An astronaut?

Ha, ha! I've wanted to be an actor since I was nine years old. I was going to win an Academy Award by twenty-two, and would be looking to move into directing in my thirties. While I was in college, I first had the inkling to write comedy parody songs (à la "Weird Al"), and once my roommate taught me to play guitar, something inside of me sparked as "Oh, this could be a fun way to perform live in front of people, too!" I guess in a way, I still feel like I'm nine years old (as I still have the same passion for acting), and I'm just thirteen years away, at any moment, from winning my first Academy Award.

Who was the first person to tell you, you were funny?

As a kid, I always remember WANTING to be funny. I don't know when I first believed it. I was very serious in school. I was very quiet and respectful in class, and I always had good grades. People are often surprised to find out how much of an introvert I am in my real life. I remember having a friend in third grade, with this awesome laugh. His name was Brian, but he spelled his name wrong (B-R-Y-A-N), but we played on the same soccer team, and between drills at practice and on car rides to the games, I just remember trying to do things to make him laugh. I loved the sound of a good laugh. Still do.

Who were your performing idols?

Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura, is the reason I wanted to become an actor. I used to feel silly saying that in college, and around colleagues, but now that I am where I am in my career, I brag about it. I would LOVE to have a career that looked anything close to his. Also, I'm obviously influenced by "Weird Al" and Stephen Lynch (both very, very funny live). I like the silliness and pure fun that "Weird Al" can bring to anything, and I like the subtle cleverness of Stephen Lynch, while alone on stage with just him and his guitar.

What's in the post-pandemic future for Brian O'Sullivan?

Hopefully it includes a LOT of comedy! I would love to get back to some sort of regular touring (four to six shows out-of-state a month), and I would love, love, love to get back to acting in theatre. I've also started auditing for a lot of commercial work, so that would be nice to start booking. But any version of Brian O'Sullivan that is performing, post-pandemic, is a happy version of Brian O'Sullivan.

Thank you again, Brian! I look for to checking your LITTLE FISH, BIG LAUGHS.

For LITTLE FISH, BIG LAUGHS WITH Brian O'Sullivan viewing tickets April 2 & 3, log onto www.littlefishtheatre.org