Meet Eric Owusu | TV Writer & Comedian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Owusu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
Relaxing is the habit that helped me succeed the most. I moved to Los Angeles, saddled with a lot of “I’ve gotta make it no matter what!” energy. It made me write all the time and go to all the comedy shows I could and hustle and make things happen. That nervousness and worry helped me get my first real staffing meetings. Then I got to a point during that time where I had to tell myself that I could never get staffed as a writer on a television show. I could never go on the road and make money as a stand-up comedian. There’s a high chance that those things won’t happen for me. But if they don’t, that’s ok because it doesn’t make me any less funny or talented or creative or capable. I can live a happy, fulfilled life by not working in the machine but still making art and doing comedy on my own. And once I let go of that worry, I was able to breathe easier, walk into meetings with calm confidence as opposed to palpable desperation, and get the staff writing gig of my dreams.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a very funny yet serious man. I love doing stand-up comedy and giving audiences laughter. It makes me happy and it strokes my small but sturdy ego. What sets me apart is my style and my set of experiences. I moved around quite a bit as a child, so I was never really shy and I’ve always been able to talk to and befriend new people I meet. This practice helps me connect with people beyond a superficial “hi, how’s your day?” So I take that with me everywhere I go and I use that on stage and in Hollywood meetings and in writers rooms and at cookouts and parties and weddings and everywhere else people decide to invite me.

When I connect with people, if I like the person I’m connecting with, I like to ask thought-provoking questions like what gets them out of bed everyday and how they’re doing emotionally lately. I love talking to people about that, and telling them my answers to those prompts, because they get us to think about and vocalize what’s so special about being alive right now: the experience of living. I believe having a cognizance of that is essential in living a full life and in enjoying the biggest parts of a full life, which include the things we do for a living. Bonus points if you do creative things you enjoy for a living. So having serious conversations like that, while finding moments to connect with people and laugh at appropriate parts of those convos, have helped me connect with audiences in comedy clubs and in corporate entertainment offices. Which in turn have helped me build a life and a career out of comedy in Los Angeles.

It’s not a perfect way of doing things. Not everyone is ready or willing to open up to me about what keeps them going. I think it’s because most people haven’t ever had that talk with themselves, so they definitely can’t have it with a strange comedy man. But it works for me, and has worked for the most part for me thus far. I’ve learned to read the room, and be what I need to be for the situation in which I find myself. I want people to know me as a funny, smart, genuine person who loves to have a good time and loves to facilitate other people around me having an even better time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
You have to go to the beach, on a good hike, and get some phenomenal Mexican food if you’re visiting LA. Everything else is icing on the cake, but those three things are the cake! So, I’d take this hypothetical friend to a beach. My favorites are Lechuza, Will Rogers, Treasure Island Beach, or Huntington Beach. Next, I’d take this friend to get birria tacos. They’re all over LA and they’re delicious. I’d recommend Birrieria San Marcos in Sherman Oaks. Also, Stand Up Comida is a delicious taco and burrito pop up that pays homage to comedy legends. I’d take this buddy to get drinks at popping rooftop places like EP+LP and Mama Shelter, but also cool lowkey places like El Cid and Granville in North Hollywood. I’d take them to places like Rodeo Drive and to The Watts Towers, so they could see all the different sides of LA. And I’d of course take them to comedy shows at The Elysian, The Pack, The Hollywood Improv, The Glendale Room, and wherever fun pop-up comedy shows happen in this big, wonderful, incredible city of angels.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout Sketchup, the premier sketch comedy group at The University of Maryland, College Park! That group is where I got my start in comedy and fell in love with creating, collaborating, and performing comedy.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric.kay.owusu/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-owusu-454570167

Twitter: https://twitter.com/owusukid

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/owusukid

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ericowusucomedy

Other: TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@ericowusucomedy Press https://weownthelaughs.com/2022/03/comedian-of-the-day-3-29-22-eric-owusu/