Patrice Oneal (born Patrice Lumumba Malcolm Oneal on December 7, 1969 in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States) is an African-American comedian, actor, and former…more
Born
12/7/1969,
Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Patrice's first stand-up experience came after he was heckling another comic, and then the other comic asked Patrice to come up on stage to see if he could do better.
[On when he knew he wanted to pursue a comedy career]Patrice Oneal: When I was seventeen. I had a legitimate desire and want to do comedy at seventeen, but I started at twenty-two. It's like exercise. You say, "I'll do it tomorrow," and then you don't do it and say, "I'll do it tomorrow," and then 365 tomorrows later you still haven't done it. Eventually, I did it today and I've been doing it today ever since.
[On acting]Patrice Oneal: I think serious acting is easier than being comedic. It is easier for me to be dramatic on camera than it is for me to be comedic. I enjoyed being serious on camera. I would love to have a great role. I was looking at Dane Cook in Mr. Brooks and it looks like he's doing something that's going to bring him out of that whole standup world.
[On the audience at his shows]Patrice Oneal: A lot of people walk out of my show. If I've got 250-300 people in the audience, 20 will walk out. I average about 20 walkouts, which is good. Because everybody else stays, and I love that. That's what comedy is. Not everybody should be laughing at everything at the same time. That's not even natural.