Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean McBride.
Hi Sean, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Wilbraham, Massachusetts (Home of Friendly’s Ice Cream), but moved to Los Angeles in 2006 for a job at the NFL Network. It was a dream job out of college, but I made the decision to “retire” after 3 wonderful seasons, instead choosing to focus my efforts on stand-up comedy. I made a lot of great friends during my tenure protecting the shield, but most importantly, I was able to purchase a beautiful Toyota Corolla that drove me right into the next phase of my career.
I took a leap of faith when I left my job at NFLN and I honestly do feel like the Comedy Gods rewarded me when I got a phone call from an old-school headliner, Vic Dunlop, to open for him on the road. The timing couldn’t have been better, as I had just recently run out of Roger Goodell’s blood money. Every comic should be as lucky as I was to get to learn from an OG comic like Vic. He got his start on the Richard Pryor Show in 1977, working alongside Robin Williams, Paul Mooney, Sandra Bernhard, and John Witherspoon, and he never looked back. By the time I had Vic riding shotgun in my car, he had been everywhere and seen it all. He had done everything one could hope to do in a career and I got to pick his brain every single car ride the last 2.5 years he was alive. I felt like I was living in the Mitch Albom book, “Tuesdays with Morrie”. It was incredible.
After Vic passed away, as sad as it was, it really forced me to learn the business side of comedy. Up until that point, he had always been the one getting us booked, but now I had to be the one doing it for myself. From 2011 up through the start of the pandemic, I was on the road 6-8 months out of the year, but comedy rates being what they are, I was never earning enough money to save anything, I was always just covering my bills. As soon as I would get home for a month-long stretch, there would always be pressure to make money, and in those instances, I would always hop back on set working as a Production Assistant or in the Art Department on different television shows and films. The best part about this time in my life, much like my time with Vic, anytime you’re on set, especially for a major production, it’s such a great learning experience. I learned so much and over time I started applying that knowledge into my own productions.
While it’s always nice to have great ideas, it’s even better to have the ability to bring those ideas to life in some way. There’s the old saying, “Don’t tell me, show me”, and that I think is what I am happiest about with where I’m at today, is my ability to carve out an actual plan for getting something done and making it look industry-standard. Los Angeles is such a great city to create art in. If you’re out here long enough and make enough friends, you can bring any idea to life in some capacity, you just need to be organized and communicate with everyone involved. Order and competence go a long way on set, so long as you remain respectful throughout the process and deliver on what you promise people.
I’ve been fortunate to work with many amazing individuals. I started a production company, “Everyone Can Eat”, with my good friend, Director and Editor, Michael v. Greene. We specialize in creating socially conscious content geared toward swaying public opinion in matters of health, social justice, and the betterment of humankind. We got our first distribution deal in 2018 for our film, “LIVE”, a psychological thriller, aiming to draw attention to human trafficking. It was distributed by Entertainment Studios / Freestyle Digital Media and currently streaming on numerous platforms, including The Grio Network, where it continues to generate buzz to this day. During the pandemic we were hired to create content for the VaccinateLA campaign, working with the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Our film, “Vaccinate Watts”, was an official selection in the 2022 American Public Health Association’s annual film festival, and also took home the award for Best Short Documentary at the Santa Clarita International Film Festival.
Beyond that, Michael and I have several feature scripts being shopped, and are in development on a script for record producer and LA native, Jimmy Humilde from the record label, Rancho Humilde. I also produce the Cosmic Comedy Show, featuring the best comics from around Los Angeles, in Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, Echo Park, Hawthorne, Pasadena, and Huntington Beach. The Southern California local comedy scene is a great way to meet people, especially if you’re like me, and always looking to stretch every last dollar to bring an idea to life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’m definitely a glass half full kind of person, so even when things are going bumpy, I try to equate it to a turbulent plane ride and tell myself that eventually things are going to smooth back out. When I left my job at the NFL Network and committed to going on the road doing stand-up, if I’d of known how hard it was going to actually be, I don’t think I’d of ever gotten the nerve to actually go through with it and go for it. I’d of been too scared. When things are going bad though, it’s just kind of like, “Gee, this sucks. Can’t wait for it to be over with.” At this point in my life, I’ve put myself out there enough to know, eventually the tough times will pass by. Eventually, I’ll get through the snowstorm and be back home. It’s funny to me thinking about “the struggles”, because isn’t everything before “making it” technically a struggle? I guess I’m struggling now, but I’m also enjoying the climb, and even though I haven’t made it necessarily, I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve been incredibly lucky in my life, except for when my Toyota Corolla died on the side of the road in Victorville, CA (City of Champions), on the 10 coming back from Vegas in 2018 with 430,000 miles on it. But really, how can I complain? I got almost half a mil out of “The Silver Bullet” and she got one last trip to Vegas. Getting home that day was a struggle though. Not gonna lie. Enterprise did NOT pick me up!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I really pride myself on how organized I am. I’m one of those people where I just have lists upon lists upon lists, filled-up notebooks and spreadsheets. I’m constantly writing anything down that I think will help me speed up the production process. I have a very similar approach to my comedy career. I used to invest so much time into doing whatever it took to get in with different bookers around the country and it worked well. I’ve since altered my approach to running my own shows across SoCal and instead of focusing on getting booked, I focus on getting crowds to the shows for not only myself but all the great comics I’m lucky to be friends with. It’s important to me that when they are performing on one of my shows, they’re getting paid and experiencing the same energy and atmosphere you feel in a great comedy club. It’s all about attention to detail and that’s an area I always will strive to be good at, no matter what I’m doing.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
When I was on the road, packing miles onto “The Silver Bullet”, it was a ton of fun, but I’ve come to realize, and I hate to sound cliche, but when it comes to genuine happiness, nothing compares to family. In 2015 I met the love of my life, a fellow member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, displaced in the City of Angels. She is a brilliant woman, so caring and so strong and I know for a fact our relationship would not have worked out if I was going to continue working in Oklahoma City and Wichita for back-to-back weeks and $800. That’s good though. Sometimes in life you need someone to kick you in the butt and tell you you’re worth more and capable of more. She also gave me my now and forever greatest joy in life, our daughter, who was born on 2/2/22, much to the displeasure of all the other moms, who were hoping to get induced on that day. Sorry, ladies. Anything I do the rest of my life will always come in second to them. They’re what make me happy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.everyonecaneat.com / www.thecosmiccomedyshow.com
- Instagram: @seansmcbride / @thecosmiccomedyshow
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/seansmcbride
- Twitter: @seansmcbride
- Youtube: @laughbureau
