Johnny Mac, a stand-up comedian raised in West Windsor, was looking forward to visiting Hoagie Haven for a cheesesteak and bacon sandwich in between shows at Catch a Rising Star at the Hyatt on Friday and Saturday, July 18 and 19. Mac, who moved to 6 Channing Way, West Windsor, in 1972, grew up as John McMenamin.##M:[more]##
The future stand-up attended Dutch Neck School and was in the first class to enter West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (now High School South) in seventh grade and graduate in 1979. He has fond memories of riding his bicycle from Grovers Mill to Quakerbridge Mall. “I’ve seen West Windsor explode,” he says. Mac also remembers ice skating on Grovers Mill Pond and shooting off rockets in a nearby field.
In high school he was a drummer in the band, jazz band, orchestra, and pit bands for the musicals. He also has fond memories of the marching band under the direction of Tony Pappalardo — especially the annual performance in the P-Rade in Princeton. “I remember the arches and how we played so much louder when marching through them,” he says. A bass in the choir, he credits David Christensen, the longtime choir director, with the group’s performance at Carnegie Hall.
His parents, John and Rita, who now live near Daytona, Florida, still keep in touch with friends in West Windsor. His sisters include Jean, who lives in Virginia; Trish in South Jersey; and Maryanne in Denver.
A graduate of Glassboro State (now Rowan University), he majored in communications and public relations. After college he worked for Marriott Hotels and commuted from West Windsor to New York City on the 6:30 a.m. train.
It was during a lunch at the Marriott Marquis in New York City when he realized that he was not working in his chosen field. “My friend asked me ‘what do you want to do with your life?’ and I answered, ‘I want to be a comedian — but I don’t know how to do it.’”
Not long after that he saw a small ad in the Wall Street Journal for a comedy experience workshop. His studies with Steve Rosenfield led to five minutes on stage at the original Improv. “My heart was jumping out of my chest,” he says. “I caught the bug and felt so alive.”
He also studied improv at McCarter Theater as a young adult. “I needed it to enhance comedy and free up my mind,” he says. “In comedy you need to have material and react to people. It’s not like acting — It’s just you and instant feedback.”
Mac can be seen in the first 19 minutes of the HBO film, “Recount” with Kevin Spacey, the star of “The Usual Suspects” written by West Windsor-Plainsboro graduate Christopher McQuarrie and directed by WW-P graduate Bryan Singer. Although he did not know them in high school, his siblings did.
Mac, who lives in Ponte Vedra, Florida with his wife, and two dogs, has three step children and one step granddaughter. Although he has been to Catch a Rising Star several times, this was his first time as headliner. “It’s been a long journey,” he says.
“People really have to make an effort to go out,” he says. “They need to laugh.”
