Ewing resident Eric Potts, a recently-retired police officer, is pursuing a career as a stand-up comic.
Retired Plainsboro detective Eric Potts’ retirements plans include a comedy career
By Lynn Miller
How does a police detective become a stand-up comic? Practice, practice, practice is the answer.
Ewing resident Eric Potts, a detective in the Plainsboro Police Department who retired last June, was faced with deciding what he wanted to do with the rest of his life after having spent the last 25 years as a cop.
“I had spent many years in law enforcement and I wanted to do something completely different,” Potts said. “but I didn’t know what I wanted to do,”
Potts found his calling after reading a newspaper article about a comedy school at Catch a Rising Star.
“I thought I’d take it for fun, and once I got on stage I found out how much I enjoyed doing it,” he said, adding that although he got a late start on his new career, he has a half a lifetime of experience to draw from.
“Younger comics mainly talk about sex, drugs, and drinking,” said Potts said, who now pursues comedy full time.
One subject not in his act — for now at least — is material based on his time in law enforcement. “I’m not out of it long enough that I want to write (a routine) about it,” he said.
Potts is seemingly off to a great start in his new career. He has performed at comedy venues such as Helium, Stress Factory, Catch a Rising Star, LOL, Sarcasm, and Comedy Cabaret. He recently opened for Gilbert Gottfried with 350 people in the audience and did a benefit show in Glassboro for a man with stage 4 lung cancer.
A sample of Potts act? He shared the following joke about retirement: “My kids pooled their money together and bought me a gift, they told me it was in the garage. I was excited and ran out to see what it was. It was a big box with a big bow. I tore it open and it was empty. I asked what’s this? They told me, we bought you your retirement home. I got them back, the next day I drove up in a Corvette. The kids said what’s that? I said it’s your college fund.”
Potts was raised in Jackson and graduated from Jackson High School, where he acted in school plays. “As the youngest of three kids I was always trying to get attention,” Potts said. “I was a jokester but I never thought about being a standup comic.”
After graduation from high school Potts spent six years in the Army, and afterwards went into police work. “When Plainsboro advertised openings in the police department, 1,000 people took the test,” Potts said. “They took three of us.”
Potts and his family are long-time residents of Ewing. His wife, Cheri, is an office receptionist for Association Associates in Hamilton. Their sons are 19 and 15, and their daughter is 16.
“My wife has been a huge supporter of my comedy and spends a lot of our weekends at comedy clubs helping me when I’m managing the room,” Potts said. “She stays around to listen to new material and has met some great comics and become friendly with a lot of them.”
Over the years, he has done voiceover work for radio stations and worked as an overnight DJ on 94.3 FM.
“I love doing radio, I’m decent at public speaking, and I’ve written programs,” Potts said. “I got on stage and caught the bug. I love to write and I wanted to write comedy. I wish that this had been planted more than 20 years ago.”
Potts is now the house emcee at Sarcasm Comedy on Friday nights and Catch a Rising Star on Saturday nights.
“Catch was my first place on stage and it has a spot in my heart,” he said. “The word is getting out about Sarcasm, and it’s getting a buzz.”
Sarcasm Comedy recently moved from Cherry Hill to Hightstown. Sarcasm also runs a comedy school; the same one Potts took to get started in comedy. Visit sarcasmcomedy.com or E-mail laugh@sarcasmcomedy.com for details.
Potts also runs “World Tavern” trivia on Tuesdays at Wildflowers Too in Yardville, and on Thursdays at the Firkin Tavern in Ewing.
Potts does a podcast called “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” with two other comics. Kevin Downey Jr., seen on America’s Got Talent this past summer; and Scott Friedman, a comic and morning show host on WZXL 100.7 FM Atlantic City’s rock station.
“It’s a long story about how we came up with the title but the Herb Albert album by the same name does have a lot to do with it,” Potts said.
“For aspiring comics I run a comedy writers roundtable where local and national headlining comics get together and help with their writing,” Potts said. “It’s a cooperative group where we share ideas and help each other.” E-mail retrolunchshow@yahoo.com to get on the mailing list.
“Comedy is an art,” Potts said. “You never want to look rehearsed.” While some comics tape an index card onto a water bottle it did not work for Potts. He blocks his material into topics. “I know my routine and I can do a 35 minute routine now,” he said. “I can add to it and change it up. I’m also getting more comfortable talking to the audience.”
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