You may have seen comedian Eric Schwartz in one of his many appearances on Showtime, “The Tonight Show,” BET or his HULU special “Surrender to the Blender.” If you haven’t, get over to YouTube because you’re missing one funny man.
Schwartz is currently embarking on his “Release the Sounds” tour (he is in Kansas City on Tuesday, April 17th) but found time to answer some questions between gigs.
Mike Smith: Who in the hell is the OTHER Eric Schwartz and how did he beat you to
EricSchwartz.com? He isn’t near as funny as you are.
Eric Schwartz: THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS QUESTION AND STARTING IT WITH “WHO IN THE HELL…”
Most people don’t realize we’re two completely different people. Yes, two different people, who happen to have the same name, and who happen to both do comedy and music. It’s beyond frustrating–it’s infuriating! But, I have to admit, “the other Eric Schwartz” is a supremely talented musician and brilliant writer. It’s hard to be mad at the guy when his only crime is not changing the name his parents gave him. At least he’s not out there bringing shame to the name. By the way, I’m pretty sure he calls me, “the other Eric Schwartz,” too.
To make things even more interesting, we actually know each other. He moved from the East Coast to two blocks from me in L.A. We’ve actually shown up to the same gig before after the booker tagged us both on Facebook. He once dated someone I knew and she would sometimes accidentally call me all sultry like, “Baby…did you see the moooon tonight?” I was like, “Yeah, Suzanne. But I’m not taking my clothes off like the last time we talked.”
MS: How did you get into comedy?
ES: I got hooked on Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Robin Williams and SNL as a kid. I would do their bits and characters to my friends at school. Everyone already thought of me as a comedian at that point, but I knew I had to start writing material. I was also a DJ, which is where the musical element came in. In college, I put on my own comedy shows in the dorms mixing comedy and music and somehow didn’t get kicked out.
MS: When do you know a joke is working? Or isn’t?
ES: Unless my ears take the night off, I can tell right away. The cool thing about a live show is the audience will let you know if it’s working or not.
MS: Do you have a good “I put that heckler in his place” story?
ES: Most hecklers are actually having a good time and want to participate. They just go a bit overboard on their approach. But if you ever encounter a mean-spirited heckler, here’s something you can do. Make peace by offering them a free CD. When they thank you, shout, “SEE DEEZ NUTS!”
MS: Besides your tour, what else are you working on.
ES: The “Release The Sounds” Tour is in support of the audio from my first hour special, “Surrender to the Blender” being re-released to Sirius-XM, as well as digital platforms like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. I’m also working on shooting my second special this year.
For upcoming tour dates or to hear some of Eric’s work, click
HERE
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