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July 13, 2007
Punching In to Punch Lines: John F. O'Donnell
By: Sara Benincasa
The Apiary presents a new interview series on the day jobs of comedic artists, brought to you by Sara Benincasa. Up first, is stand up John F. O'Donnell.
John F. O'Donnell, you have been on the stages of the clubs and on the TV, but does comedy pay all your bills?
Oh heavens NO! I have two real jobs just to keep afloat while I pursue the art of comedy.
So, what do you do to make ends meet?
I work in sales for a test prep company in midtown, Manhattan. We sell prep courses for like the LSAT, MCAT, SAT etc... It can be incredibly boring and soul-sucking, but I do get to kind of mess with people on the phone, which is fun. I tell them that basically if they don't take a course from us, they're not going to get the score they need on the test, which means that they're not going to get into the school they want to, which means that they won't get the job they want, which means that they will never find happiness in their life, which means that they will die alone in the forest. I don't like to call myself a "salesman." I like to call myself a "facilitator or people's hopes and dreams."
But by far my more interesting job is that of CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN OPERATOR. Yes, it's true. I work for a company that rents out chocolate fountains to bar-mitzvahs, weddings, sweet sixteens, private parties, etc... I show up in my chef's coat. I set up the fountain, I melt the chocolate and I make sure the fat bastards don't put their hands in it. I'm a chocolate fountain man. It's good, because it's fast cash and kind of fun. Everybody generally loves me at these events, because I'm the dude with 15lbs of chocolate. I got the job off of Craig's List. The subject line said, "Do you like chocolate and tight spaces?" ...And I was like, "Do I ever!" Then it said to email my resume, which is hilarious. It also said finish this sentence... "I'd be perfect for this job, because..."
And wrote, "I'd be perfect for this job, because I live to make people smile and laugh." Cheesy I know, but I got the job.
What's the best non-comedy job you've ever had? Why?
I had this great job when I was in college in Ann Arbor. I was a video store clerk. It was rad, because the place was independently owned. I used to get free food in exchange for free rentals from this really good restaurant next store. Plus, I got to be the cool, uber-pretentious, college town video guy. I had really long hair at the time, and I hated the government even more than I do now. I was an angry person in those days, and it was really nifty to get to judge another human being's entire self-worth based solely on their movie selection.
Creatively speaking, have you gleaned any material from your day jobs?
Here and there, yes. But most of my stuff is more abstract or borne out of my frustration with the state of the world and the human condition.
And where might we find you working these days?
I'm in NYC for comedy. Everything else is bullshit. I have a FREE Wednesday 8pm show called THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN that I co-host with Timmy Williams from the WKUK. It's at a bar called THE CREEK AND THE CAVE. It's probably the coolest place and show that most people haven't been to yet, because it's so new. Everybody gets a free beer after the headliner goes up. The next show is July 25th.
Do you have any spiritual/practical advice for young seekers on the comedic path?
The best thing is to figure it out by doing it. Books, classes and shit like that have the potential to make you a hack. A hacky comedian to me is like Al Qaeda. Also, there is no God. And that's okay. Life is still beautiful.
Posted by The Apiary at July 13, 2007 10:41 AM
Comments
Hey! I used to work at Campus Video in Ann Arbor, and it was right next to a mediocre deli owned by the same guy. The video store was a dump though. Right before i started, the owner had run out of money and stopped paying the video distributor so we didn't have any new videos for 4 months. i think i got mono from that place.
great new feature, apiary! keep it up.
Posted by: quarterempty at July 13, 2007 1:50 PM
Job well done. Work it out, Sara!
Posted by: Eliot at July 13, 2007 6:04 PM