“What Doesn’t Kill Us Only Makes Us Funnier”

by Casey Rowley

Get ready to laugh; maybe even cry a bit…Mark Eddie has just entered élite Magazine.  This musical stand-up comedian has produced promos and jingles for Nick at Nite and Nickelodeon, gone aboard The Disney Cruise Lines® for The Mark Eddie Show, was featured on multiple top radio stations, including The Five O’clock Funnies®, XM® and Sirius Satellite Radio®, and currently takes his act on the road to comedy clubs, colleges and theaters around the country.  His latest CD entitled, Comedy that Rocks is a live performance that’s packed with comical stories, parodies and original songs.  With a mixture of witty songs and amusing impressions, Eddie captures audiences from all across the spectrum.
Eddie started out as a self proclaimed “air-guitar hero.”  “I used to get in front of my bedroom mirror and pantomime to Kiss songs,” Eddie states.  Shortly after he graduated to “the broom.”  The K-Mart broom became Eddie’s muse to rock out like Tom Cruise in Risky Business.  Out of “shear sympathy,” Eddie’s father bought him a guitar to get started on his musical way.
After some self-teaching and professional lessons, Eddie earned enough money from washing cars to buy a second-hand Sears electric guitar and a beat-up amp.  “Me and my drummer/buddy Jimmy rocked out in the basement of his house playing 30-minute versions of, Louie Louie and Sweet Home Alabama, which drove his parents (and neighbors) nuts, I’m sure! Whoa! Humble beginnings!”
Eddie states he always wanted to be a rock star, but after getting kicked out of a band for being too funny, his outlook began to change.
“Well, our bass player did not find it amusing at all.  He convinced the other members to kick me out of the band on the basis that their band was not a vehicle for a rising young comedian.” However, Eddie still found a way to make money through his talents. For instance, he wrote jingles and commercials for local and regional clients in college.
Though he hadn’t thought of combining music on a comedy stage until years later while performing solo at the coffeehouses circuit,  “I began to write funny songs, make musical observations and add in some humorous storytelling.  This became the basis of what is now my musical stand-up comedy…”
Comedy that Rocks includes singing impressions of Dave Matthews, Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen.  “The first half of the CD is my solo act on stage at The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach.  The second half is my band and I ‘rockin’ out’ some classic tunes live on stage while adding in some of the fun stuff that got me kicked out of bands!”
Exactly where does a singer/songwriter/comedian come up with enough riveting material to keep audiences enthralled?
“I believe it is a funny world we live in,” Eddie writes, “I could do a two hour show just talking about my obsessive compulsive Italian/American mom or my amateur karaoke singing brother who is also a serious cop.”  Eddie says nothing is to be taken too seriously.  “Going to the doctors is humbling, embarrassing and amusing too…Waiting in line at the bank, a trip to the grocery store or picking up a prescription at a pharmacy can give me 20 minutes of new material.”  Just be careful, next time you see Eddie, you might turn into his next comedy act!
Eddie’s top career moments include an induction into the KLOS Five O’clock Funnies® Hall of Fame and headlining the world famous Hollywood Improv.  Robin Williams welcomed Eddie into what he called “The Improv Standing Ovation Club” after playing Light My Fire with The Doors’ Robby Kreiger.  But life hasn’t been all music and comedy for Eddie.  Diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes at the age of four has given Eddie a different perspective on life.  “When I started kindergarten, I thought everyone took shots! I was pulling out needles in the classroom and the teachers (and kids) were freaking out.”  Eddie realized his classmate’s lack of education made it hard for them to understand. “One mom didn’t want me dating her daughter in high school because as she said, ‘you’ll be pushing him around in a wheelchair someday’.” Nowadays, Eddie takes the opportunity to help with local charities and even throw a few jokes about his disease on the stage.
“I have a phenomenal diabetes team right here in the SCV under the direction of Dr. Steven Baron.  Together they help me to control my diabetes instead of my diabetes controlling me.”  Eddie performs regularly for the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fundraisers.  Eddie adds, “Someday they’ll find a cure for diabetes.  I don’t intend on being the only celebrity in history who’s VH-1 Behind the Music special ends in a tragic Snickers overdose!” He also once served on the advisory board for Laughter Heals.  The organization promotes healing qualities through the therapeutic nature of laughter.
“Whether it’s your health, your job, your family, your car or your credit card situation, we all have things that make us laugh,” Eddie states, “They say; what doesn’t kill us only makes us funnier!”
Visit www.MarkEddie.com for more information on show dates and to watch Eddie in action.