One Student’s Experience with Stand Up Comedy, Improv,Theater and O.C.D.
BY: MARY WILSON
Opinions Editor
Pat Ryan knows a thing or two about comedy. In addition to the normal stresses of everyday college life, Ryan is a stand-up comedian, first becoming interested in high school. “I would always joke around with my friends to try to make them laugh,” he said.
After a couple of years at Meramec, Ryan went to an open mic with a friend.
“I didn’t even know we were going to an open mic,” Ryan said. “I thought we were just going to a comedy show. When I found out that anyone could sign up, it’s like, ‘I’m going up.’ I didn’t have any jokes prepared, but I went up.”
His stand-up comedy career started picking up from there. “I actually got some laughs,” Ryan said.
Ryan gives off a calm demeanor, speaks with ease and is quick to smile or crack a joke.
“The hardest part is getting the courage to go onstage,” he said. The road to being a comedian isn’t an easy one, and for Ryan, the hardest part is getting the courage to go up on stage.
“Sometimes when [your jokes] aren’t really that good, you just gotta get up there and tell them, ” he said. “If you’re lucky, at least one person will laugh and that will give you the confidence to keep trying.”
In addition to being a stand-up comedian and improv actor, Ryan has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and posts about the disorder on his social media accounts.
“I just thought maybe one day, I’ll post about being OCD. It kind of snowballed from there. I started getting a lot of likes, so people are actually seeing my stuff. Most of my funny pictures, got like six or seven likes at the most, and then it’s like, ‘Oh this one got 20-something likes.’ All right, I’ll post some OCD stuff on the side.”
“I’ve always liked to try and make people laugh,” he said about his inspiration to go into stand-up comedy. “99% of [the people in the stand up community] are very nice. You get the occasional jerk, but they don’t end up being around for long. The St. Louis comedy community is a very tight-knit community. If one person’s being a jerk to another comic, everyone will back them up.”
Ryan is also the President of Meramec Improv club.
“Improv’s a lot of fun,” Ryan said. “A good portion of the stand-up comedy also does improv and vice versa. So, we’re all trying to bring it together.”
For Ryan, improv has more benefits than one might think. “I have less anxiety doing improv because you just say whatever comes to your mind, no consequences. I just try to think about, where are we are gonna take this scene.?”
As far as advice for aspiring comedians goes, Ryan is quick to get to his point.
“My advice for aspiring comedians would be to get up to the mic. That’s the hard part for everybody. Try to be the best you can to be on stage.”
