By day, Hoboken resident and Stevens Institute of Technology graduate Rick Mann cures ailing computers. By night, the 23-year-old can be found performing at New York and New Jersey comedy clubs.
“My mom is pretty depressed,” said Mann last week over coffee and a cinnamon bun at Park Pastries on Washington Street. “She thinks this is just a hobby. But you’ll hear the same story from every comedian.”
While Mann said that he’s always been funny – in fact, in 1988 he was awarded the funniest student of his fifth grade class in Freehold, N.J. – it was only three years ago when he started to seriously consider becoming a stand up comic.
“I was on a road trip in Canada,” he explained. “And my friend and I picked up some girls at a bar and I kept them rolling all night. They kept saying ‘I can’t wait to see you on Saturday Night Live.'” When he returned to school he looked up Comic Strip Live on the Internet and found a local venue to perform. “I had an amazing first time on stage,” he said, fondly recalling his premiere performance. “I really over-prepared, but I was the only guy that night who didn’t get heckled.”
Since he graduated from Stevens with a Master’s last May, Mann has been performing at comedy clubs almost every night of the week. Last Monday he has his debut at Caroline’s in Manhattan.
Dressed in corporate casual khakis and a button shirt, his straight brown hair cut short, Mann looks like a typical Stevens student. After an hour in his company, however, it was clear that he sees the world in his own particular comedic way.
“Comedians are different than the funny guy in the group,” he explained. “As life goes by, you have to pay attention. But comedians write jokes, which is different than the average Joe just making fun of reality. Comedians look at reality and change it and rewrite it to make if funnier. It’s like a movie that is based on the truth that goes through a series of rewrites.”
Mann’s signature joke, “I like to get into car accidents with limousines… Just so I can see who’s inside,” is an example of the way he tweaks reality. And while he writes all of his own material, he said that his act has been most influenced by the dry, deadpan style of Steven “It’s-a-small-world-but-I wouldn’t-want-to-paint-it” Wright. He also describes his act as “fairly clean.”
“I have a drunk driving joke,” he said. “But that doesn’t go over well with the church audience.”
The joke did go over will with was a group of cafeteria employees from the Monmouth County Jail. Mann and three other comedians were hired last winter to entertain the prison’s kitchen crew and their spouses at the company Christmas party at the Days Inn in Freehold.
According to Mann, part of being a successful comedian is being able to alter your act to appeal to varying audiences.
“I have some college stuff that really only goes over well with a college audience,” he said. “But to be successful you have to be funny, control being funny and be able to make an arbitrary audience laugh.”
To hear his jokes or find out when and where he is scheduled to perform, visit Rick Mann’s web site at www.funnyman.com.