Comedian O'Flanagan to make inaugural appearance in Owensboro

Los Angeles-based actor, comedian and writer Ryan O’Flanagan will make his Owensboro debut with a stand-up show at 7:30 p.m. May 15 at the Brew Bridge, 800 W. Second St.

The show will be part of O’Flanagan’s ongoing “Party Angel” tour which kicked off in New Orleans back in March.

“I was actually in Evansville last year, so I was fairly close by,” O’Flanagan, 35, said during a phone interview Thursday. “... I remember hearing about Owensboro for some reason (at that show); so when I booked this show, I was like, ‘Oh, weirdly enough. I’ve actually heard of Owensboro.

“... I’m excited, man. I’ve been reading up all about it (and) doing my research.”

Originally from Seekonk, Massachusetts, O’Flanagan said his initial aim in the performing arts was to become an actor.

“I remember it was freshman year of high school (where) some buddies of mine … had one of those old handheld camcorders and we would make movies for class,” he said. “I think there was one project that we had to make a movie for (that) was a reenactment of ‘The Pearl’ — that (John) Steinbeck book.

“... That was the first time I ever did any sort of acting or performing; it was so much fun. … For the rest of the year, we would always do movies for extra credit ….”

O’Flanagan attended Boston College to major in theatre and began trying his hand at stand-up comedy. He ended up getting involved in the open mic scene for about a year before moving out to L.A. after graduation where he started getting his feet wet in the comedy realm.

“I was obsessed,” he said. “For the first couple of years I was here, … my work ethic was out of control. I was doing, sometimes, 22 (to) 25 mics a week. I would do three open mics a night every single night (while) working a full-time job during the day.

“I was just like, ‘If I moved all the way out here, no one’s gonna work harder than me.’ ”

O’Flanagan ended up hosting a mic of his own at the Westside Comedy Theater where he ended up meeting future friends that would become his sketch comedy group Dead Kevin, which was featured on Comedy Central’s television series “Tosh.0.”

Since then, O’Flanagan has stayed busy in the industry since arriving in City of Angels with appearances on ABC’s Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning mockumentary sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” FXX’s comedy hit “Dave,” the Zooey Deschanel-led sitcom “New Girl” and Fox/Hulu’s science fiction comedy-drama show “The Orville.”

One of his most prominent roles was playing teacher Steven “Kraz” Krazanski in the first season of Netflix’s mockumentary “American Vandal.”

Additionally, O’Flanagan has ventured into voice acting for shows such as Fox/TBS’ ”American Dad!” Hulu/Peacock’s “The Mighty Ones” and Disney Channel’s “The Owl House.”

He’s also kept up his stand-up career with spots on “Last Call with Carson Daly,” “Adam Devine’s House Party” and his own half hour Comedy Central special, along with performances at Just for Laughs Montreal, Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival and the Vodafone Comedy Festival in Dublin.

Furthermore, O’Flanagan partnered with the comedy video website and production company Funny or Die to produce his viral “Overly Excited Tourist” series.

O’Flanagan finds it’s his work online and on television that has drawn people to his stand-up — which he describes as “chill, mellow, absurdist kind of comedy.”

“... Most of the people that follow me and people that come to my live shows are usually fans of my sketches online. They’re rarely just fans of my stand-up,” he said. “Hopefully they leave being like, ‘Well now, I’m a big fan of your stand-up.’ ”

For those in attendance at the show, O’Flanagan hopes the environment comes off, at the most, as “a good hang.”

“... I’ll always do my shows, and then pretty much no matter what, I’ll always go and hang out after,” he said. “... I always (want you) to feel like you had a good, fun night out with friends ….”

Tickets are on sale now at ryanoflanagan.com.