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Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents

Sean O'Connor

Comedy Central · 2013 · 22 min

An aggressively casual set built around deeply embarrassing personal failures.

Sean O’Connor delivers his material as if he was shoved onto the stage moments before speaking. His cadence is conversational to the point of seeming accidental, operating as a guy just relaying an ongoing string of embarrassing moments to a room full of strangers. He leans heavily into his own awkwardness, breaking down why he is entirely too silly for most sexual encounters and explaining the necessity of glitter at a Ke$ha concert. The highlight of the set is a winding story about how a teenage attempt to attract girls resulted in his pictures being hijacked by a gay porn site.

Filmed at the Royale in Boston in 2013, the twenty-minute set was part of the second season of Comedy Central’s The Half Hour. He operates at a highly relaxed pace, occasionally laughing at his own setups and treating the stage more like a bar stool. At the time, O’Connor had recently finished a staff writing gig on Sports Show with Norm Macdonald and was releasing his debut album James Dean Type.

The set list

3 bits
  1. The importance of glitter at a Ke$ha concert

    Explaining why glitter is essential when attending a Ke$ha show.

  2. Briefly becoming an internet gay porn star

    Recounting how joke photos taken with friends wound up stolen and placed on an adult website.

  3. Why Halloween is his favorite holiday

    Sharing personal comedic reasons why Halloween ranks as his favorite holiday.

How it plays

Tone
Awkward, humorous, and personal.
On stage
Self-described awkward stage personality relying strictly on personal, self-focused stories rather than observational comedy.
Pace
Nervous and panicking backstage beforehand, settling into a focused rhythm once onstage where the performance came together.
About
Personal failures and misadventures, Pop concerts and glitter, Holidays, Accidental involvement in adult internet photos

Backstory

Appearing on season two of Comedy Central's showcase series The Half Hour (later renamed Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents), which filmed in Boston and showcased emerging stand-ups.

Details

Released
Taped
Royale Theatre, Boston
Runtime
22 min
Where
Comedy Central
Topics

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