COMEDY Q&A: Patrice O'Neal - fresh off the Charlie Sheen Roast

Comedian Patrice O'Neal is in Philly this weekend for a string of shows at Helium Comedy Club. But first he chats with us about prepping for the roast, his battle with fast food and, as a 45-year-old vet, how he's staying relevant among the constant influx of fresh-faced up-and-comers.

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COMEDY Q&A: Patrice O'Neal — fresh off the Charlie Sheen Roast

POSTED: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 1:00 PM

Filed Under: Comedy Stand-up

City Paper: Your performance on the recent Charlie Sheen Roast seemed more natural than the other performers. Was it entirely off-the-cuff?

Patrice O’Neal: I prepared, but you leave space to maneuver. Sometimes you’re able to go off script and improv. It’s like sports: The art goes with the preparation and professionalism, and vice versa. As long as you have your fundamentals — preparing what you want to do and writing it down — [you'll be] fine. Ssometimes you have to be involved with the situation that’s in front of you — like a tired L.A. audience. It's not like I was planning on being a crusader. I was just trying not to suck.

CP: What's it been like having Diabetes?

PO: I got the diagnosis when I was 21 or 22. It’s starting to take its toll now. It’s one of those diseases that are bad, but it’s such a long deterioration process. As opposed to cancer or HIV, diabetes is such a gradual attack, and then one day you wake up and your feet are hurting and your eyes are blurry and then you’re scrambling. [But if you eat right], it’s something you can attack and have a long healthy life.

CP: What's your big weakness? I'm a beer and wings guy.

PO: Sometimes I do eat fast food. If I'm at Taco Bell I try to eat some chicken or something. Shitty food is delicious. Right now I’m in Philly and I’m doing pretty good at not eating bad Philadelphia food. Thank God I’m not into Philly cheesesteaks. I'd go into a coma. The best way to eat is natural foods. I don’t drink liquor, I might have a sip of beer on the Fourth of July, but I 99.9 percent don’t eat pork. I eat a lot of fish and stuff but sometimes you get sick of that. The best way to live is raw eating and exercise. I’m trying to get into that delusional state of mind where healthy eating is delicious.

CP: Are you content with your standup career, or are you trying to transition into something else?

PO: I like to produce. I’d like to have a production company that makes good TV. I want a taste of everything, but the process is arduous. I'd like to be able to do standup on my terms but I still have to do it at the club’s terms. At a theater, you can give every drop, energy wise. In a theater, everybody seems to be at their best, but I’m not at that level yet. I’m still relevant but sometimes some young Turk comes around and he’s 35 and seasoned, and I'm 45 — I’m not on the way out, but it’s perception. Sinbad is still an amazing comic, but the perception is that he’s out. It’s a young person’s world and sometimes you have to step out of the way and not clog up the system. Why be a big fish in a little pond? You mess up the ecosystem, you always gotta move on to the next thing. I like to create shows. I want to be serious about that.

CP: Is it frustrating when young whippersnappers show up and get everything handed to them on a silver platter?

PO: I have a meeting with MTV2. I have grey hair and the guy in the room looks like Mark Sanchez. He’s 22, and I have to listen to this kid tell me the facts of life. It ain't going to work out. I’m too curmudgeonly. I’m too set in my ways. But there is a place for me. I’ve proved that there are places for me in the world. I still have things to say. I haven’t reached that point of exhaustion with comedy, I still like it, and I’m hoping to still wring it out as much as I can [as a comic]. After that, I hope to ride off into the sunset and collect residual checks.

Tonight, 8 p.m. and Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., $20-$27, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sanson St., 215-496-9001, heliumcomedy.com.

(ryan.carey@citypaper.net) (@slackerDIYtoday)

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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