With over 34,000 subscribers and 4 million total views on YouTube, comedian Charlie
Berens will be live with his “Oh My Gosh” tour at the Forest
Roberts Theatre at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Originally from Milwaukee, Berens grew up in Wisconsin and vacationed near Michigan’s U.P. border. He went to study journalism in college, and later worked in
Los Angeles as a local news
reporter.
“Every station I went to, the news director would say ‘you say that funny,’” Berens said.
The funny Wisconsin voice and character in his head went one direction, while his career in news went
another, he explained.
Berens started off this character performing stand-up comedy.
“When you do stand-up, you definitely get nervous from time to time,”
Berens said. “I’ve been doing
stand-up for a number of years.”
Berens explained he trained with open mics, three to four per week at minimum, and sometimes that many
in one night.
“You go from club to club, and people don’t care who you are or have never seen any of your videos,” Berens said. “They’re more concerned about the set they’re about to do. You train yourself in the dead silence, and you get comfortable in the silence. You don’t assume your joke isn’t funny, just because people weren’t laughing
immediately, so you really build up the tolerance for that.”
A buddy of his recommended that he make a video of this character, which eventually took off, Berens said. Since then, he decided to make more episodes, which are available on YouTube under the name of Charlie Berens.
Berens said his favorite episode of the Manitowoc
Minute on YouTube is episode 12, when a kangaroo named Joey was on the loose in Kenosha County.
Besides the Manitowoc Minute, Berens’ YouTube channel consists of other video collections, such as “Comedic Commentary,”
“Interviews” and “News on the Rocks.”
Berens said he enjoys being both in front of a camera and performing on stage.
“There’s really nothing that beats being in a room with hundreds of people or whatever it is, feeling that
energy in the room, and
being able to make the crowd feel
a certain way,” Berens said. “When you do it right, it feels
really good. When you do it wrong, it’s pretty painful.”
According to Berens, NMU is the farthest north
he’s yet to visit with his show.
Berens explained his show will consist of him being in and out of character, crowd interaction and playing songs.
“I think it keeps ‘er
movin,” Berens said. “Come to
the show, it’s gonna be a big ole party.”
According to NMU’s
website, tickets are available
at all NMU outlets or
online (nmu.edu/tickets) for $15
for the general public, $10 for students and $5 for NMU students.
For information on tour dates, videos and
merchandise visit Beren’s website at www.manitowocminute.com.
