To say that T.P. Hearn is a little high-strung is an understatement.
“I’m a hyper person,” the comedian admits.
Hearn talks rapidly while he stalks the stage, stomps his feet for emphasis and gestures repeatedly to audience members as he works off his hyperactivity at comedy clubs and theaters around the country.
That constant movement and the expulsion of what he calls “nervous energy” is Hearn’s trademark, a pattern he has developed since becoming a comic in 1984.
Hearn, a native of Indianapolis who is in his early 30s, moved to Los Angeles in 1980 to be a singer. But he was always drawn to the comics who were on the bill with him. Hanging out with them after shows, the naturally funny Hearn would crack them up with his own jokes and stories.
The comics would tell Hearn he should try stand-up, and, thanks to some jokes they provided him — as well as a little liquid persuasion — Hearn hit the stage and found his new calling.
Hearn’s normally high energy level increased as he continued performing comedy. As a singer he was used to having people constantly watch as he worked. But “when the band went off, you’re in a smoky nightclub full of drunk people, and they’d start their own conversations,” Hearn says.
“So when I got up, being a singer, having always been able to get attention, I wanted their attention. I don’t want you talking when I’m talking.
“So I’d go, `Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop! You hear me talking to you!’ And I’d stomp my foot and I’d yell at them.
“After doing it for a while, I realized people were not just laughing at the jokes. They were laughing at me. They were laughing at the character, they were laughing at the energy.”
Hearn has gone on to work around the country and appear on such television shows as “Def Comedy Jam,” “Comicview” and “Make Me Laugh.”
Sometimes one can get exhausted just watching Hearn at work. It makes you wonder, how is he able to sustain all that energy when performing a typical 45-minute set?
“I love what I do. And I do what I do because I love it,” Hearn says. “I love people. And when I go out there on that stage, to me I’m just giving them love. And the more I give, the more they give back.”
And after a pre-performance ritual of pacing and foot-stomping, when he hits the stage “I throw my hands up and I ask God to give it to me one more time. And He does. It’s like He pours it through me and I throw it out to (the audience), and they throw it back and I throw it out. And once the cycle gets going, I’m gone. I’m rolling.”
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T.P. Hearn is performing Saturday at the Chicago Theatre, along with John Witherspoon, A.J. Johnson and T.K. Kirkland, in a show presented by All Jokes Aside. Tickets can be obtained through Ticketmaster outlets or by phone, at 312-559-1212.
R.I.P. — The Funny Bone
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But don’t feel too bad for the Funny Bone Comedy Club in Naperville, which is closing this weekend after nine years as a free-standing laughter room.
The club’s offshoot, Funny Bone Theater, which is about a mile down the road and around the corner in the Radisson Hotel Lisle-Naperville, at 3000 Warrenville Rd., Lisle, is a nice setup, with Mike Toomey’s one-man show “TV & Me: Confessions of a Vidiot Savant” in residence.
Still, to see a club close is always a touching thing. And this room, nestled in the Tower Crossing Shopping Center, was always a comfortable spot to catch good talent from around the area and road warriors from all over the country.
Jeff Cesario, Mark Roberts, Jeff Stilson, Wayne Cotter, Paul Gilmartin and Michael Winslow were among the talents who graced the place.
The good news is that those comedians and many more will be hitting the area under the Funny Bone banner, thanks to an agreement between club owner Bert Borth and management at the Radisson to utilize various conference rooms and ballrooms, in addition to the theater.
But check out the Funny Bone’s club space one last time this weekend (call 630-955-0500 for show times and reservations), and raise one last glass to a classy room.
The stand-up lineup
Here’s who’s plying their funny trade. Current club sets are scheduled to run through Saturday; all new acts begin on Wednesday unless otherwise noted. Lineups are subject to change.
– Two of the top comics in the business will converge on the Chicago area this weekend. First off is Richard Lewis, the king of comic neurosis, who is working through his issues at Zanies’ Wells Street location on Friday (1548 N. Wells St.; 312-337-4027), and then hits the Vernon Hills outlet on Saturday (230 Hawthorn Village Commons, Vernon Hills; 847-549-6030).
On Saturday it’s Steven Wright, the master of the monotone one-liners and bizarre monologues, making a special appearance at the Vic Theatre. You can get tickets from Ticketmaster locations or by calling 312-559-1212.
– They were improv-grown in Chicago but made a name for themselves in Amsterdam. Now, sketch comedy team Boom Chicago debuts in the city with “Pick-ups and Hiccups.”
Performed by Jill Benjamin and Seth Meyers and produced by Andrew Moskos, Boom Chicago, which played in Amsterdam for five years and was one of the raves at Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, is presenting a partly scripted, partly improvised show keying in on how men and women communicate with each other.
The show runs Fridays and Saturdays through April 17 at the Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark St. For more information, call 312-409-0119.