Happy November Philly! It’s the first Friday of the month which means it’s time for another First Friday Interview! Today we will be talking to Pat House, a comedian based outside of Philly. With years of bartending and lots of interaction with all sorts of people, Pat was constantly intrigued yet sometimes annoyed with some of the things he saw. Whether it’s relatable or out of your norm, he takes in these encounters and turns them into pure comedy that’ll give a laugh at the absurdity of other and their irritating habits.
Via PatHouseComedy.com
Next week, Pat will be coming to the Helium Comedy Club for two shows, November 9 and 10, 2021, that will both be showing at 8!
Philly PR Girl: We can’t wait for your show at the Helium Comedy Club here in Philly! It seems that you’ve been in comedy for quite a time. How did it all come together and what would you say got you into stand-up comedy?
Pat: Thank you! I’m looking forward to it as well. I headline Helium every November and I look forward to these shows every year. As a kid, I was a huge fan of comedy movies and SNL, and I became obsessed with stand-up in high school, thanks to Comedy Central. I would watch comedians all the time and quote my favorite comics at the lunch table.
In college (Temple!), I saw live comedy for the first time and I would go to every comedy show on campus. But the real catalyst occurred during my sophomore year, when I went to a show at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby called “Comedy Central Live!” with Dave Attell, Lewis Black, Mitch Hedberg and Mike Birbiglia – I never experienced anything like it – the sound of 3,000 people laughing and watching each comic just murder this giant theater. As I sat in the first row of the balcony, I kept saying to myself “I HAVE to try this ONCE! I’m signing up for an open-mic and I’m trying stand-up just ONCE!”
I did my very first open-mic shortly after seeing that show. Oct. 13, 2004 I went to the Laff House on South Street, signed-up, got on stage and here we are…
Philly PR Girl: Have you always wanted to be a comedian? If you were to do something other than comedy, what would it be?
Pat: I think deep down, I always wanted to be a comedian, but never really put that much thought into it. Watching comics on TV, I’d think “That’s so cool, that’s their job! That must be so cool to be a comedian!” But it never really occurred to me that I could be a comedian, if that makes sense. Once I started developing an act and getting some paid gigs, I had my “Wow! This is really happening!’ moment.
If I wasn’t doing comedy, I think I’d be a high school English teacher. I feel like my personality and sense of humor would be great with older kids.
Philly PR Girl: Though your skits come from personal experience, who would you say is your ultimate muse in comedy?
Pat: Everyday life is my muse in comedy. Not a single day goes by where I don’t write something down. I’ll see someone’s odd behavior or hear somebody say something ridiculous and I gotta jot it down. If *I* do something or say something weird, I write it down. I really don’t have any “jokes” in my set; it’s all true, relatable experiences that we all deal with everyday.
Philly PR Girl: As a writer, I often face writer’s block. As a comedian, have you ever faced some sort of block or drawn a blank mid-performance?
Pat: I personally feel like writer’s block sets in all the time. Or maybe I’m just lazy? When fresh ideas aren’t popping, I will take an older joke and try to expand on it, say some of my jokes out-loud or send emails out for gigs etc. If the writing is a struggle, there’s always something business-wise or constructive I can do.
Philly PR Girl: I’m sure there are countless memories, some positive and maybe even some negative, but what would you say is the most rewarding feeling you’ve experienced as being a comedian?
Pat: I think the most rewarding things in comedy are when people approach me after a show with a specific compliment or tell me that my set made their night. It means a lot when people tell me they loved a specific bit or story because it was relatable to them. I spent many, many years bartending and waiting tables and have a lot of stories from it, so I always have fellow food-industry people telling me how much they love that material. But as a comic, I’m in constant need of validation, so ANY compliment – even a simple “great job tonight!” is rewarding.
It was so fun getting to know Pat House and how he ties his everyday life to comedy! Stream his albums Heard Enough Yesterday and Biggest Thing on iTunes and Amazon and check out his podcast I Guess I’ll Do It with Pat House on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Don’t miss him at the Helium Comedy Club on November 9 or 1. Get tickets here! You can also keep up with him on Instagram and Twitter!
For more interviews like this, head over to our blog!
Till next time, Philly!
