Meet Sean Ryan McBride of Scratch Comedy! in Roosevelt Row

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Ryan McBride.

Sean Ryan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story? Yes. But most of it was an accident of me just getting lucky. It all started when I was working at IKEA. I met a guy named Roman Aguirre. He was majoring in film production at Collins College and asked me if I’d be in his capstone project. It was my first part ever. No lines. But I had a blast working on it. It was a short called Luck of the Draw. About a man trying to win his wife back in a poker game. (spoiler it was left open-ended so it’s up for interpretation if I get her back). After that though Roman and I bought our our lighting set with green screen and started making small films.

Eventually, I was going back to college after my daughter was born. I was walking around Mesa Community College in the Fall of 2009 and took a shortcut to the parking lot through the formally named Outback Theatre, (it’s not Australian, it was just far from the admin office in the ’70s.) Anyway, I was going through that hallway and I saw a flyer for a late start Staged Combat class. As a fully grown 12-year-old in a 21-year-old body, I just couldn’t say no to such a perfect class. So, I joined it. That class was fun and I met a few people in there.

One day I was screwing around with my former classmate, Aaron Blanco, doing rolls and flips onto those blue crash pads… you know the ones…. and this teacher, Bryanna Patrick, saw me doing things I don’t think my body could do now 11 years later. Anyway, she called Aaron out of the room and from what I understand she asked him why I did not audition for her show Oedipus Rex. To be honest, I didn’t audition because I didn’t know but at the time I wouldn’t have auditioned anyway. Either way, he obviously didn’t know why I didn’t so she just told him to tell me to come to the first rehearsal. I went and I was in the Greek Chorus. I took on no lines because of my extreme stage fright which I still work with today.

During that show, I met two people who would turn out to be the biggest influences of who I am today. Billy Jones and Travis Marsala. Travis worked as the sound designer for Oedipus Rex but he is and always will be whatever you need from him creatively. He can do it all as far as I know. Billy is one of the best comic actors I know, I’m not sure why he did Oedipus Rex but I’m glad he did. During this time they were both working on a web series on our now unused YouTube channel, Darkwater Studios called Sergeant Brock. It was an absolutely ridiculous series it’s still around and if you have an hour of time to waste you could see the whole series. Anyway, I asked to be part of the crew for the show flaunting all my equipment. I bought their love and I’ll be honest it was one of my greatest investments.

After Oedipus, I joined the Mesa Community College Improv Troupe: Elliot Salsbury Revolution which Travis and Billy were already a part of. It lasted one semester until it came crumbling down. So, we three made our own web series called Roommates (also viewable in an hour time period at our abandoned YouTube). Roommates was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in film. It was a long time ago but it was just pure creative fun with no limits to what we could do. Until of course Billy and Travis moved away to different universities in the summer of 2010.

That summer, I auditioned to be in Jester’z Comedy. They are a wonderful family-friendly improv troupe now based out of Mesa Riverview. I got cast in an understudy position with Mandy Case. Mandy was also in Elliot Salsbury Revolution but jumped ship with me when it collapsed. My time at Jester’z was short-lived. Maybe a few months. I was still at MCC and had been cast in a children’s show called Reynard the Fox that I wasn’t allowed to say no to. For a few years, I stayed at MCC doing shows. I steered away from comedy for a bit. But I was able to get cast in plays at the Hale Theatre Centre in Gilbert! I did Christmas Carol and Rapunzel for them. Great people out there.

In the spring of 2013, I got my Associates in Fine Arts from MCC and quickly enrolled at ASU to finish up my bachelor’s. It was here I found The Farce Side. The Farce Side is the second-longest college sketch troupe in the country behind UofA (GROSS). I did two semesters with that troupe before I graduated and learned that all I want to do is make people laugh. I graduated from ASU in 2015.

Outside of college, I have been in a few docudramas. The largest part was for Nat Geo’s Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers. I played a person named Detective Richard Donahue who was shot during the Boston Bomber incident. Luckily, he came out of it alright. For some reason, they filmed that production in Mesa. Oh! This is on Netflix so go find me! good luck!

My current project is probably the one I hold dearest to my heart is my theatre company. The ITCH Theatre. We are a non-profit that hosts a monthly sketch comedy show. Our sketch group is called Scratch Comedy! We have been active for nearly two years now and we are still going strong. We have had to move venues and find new cast members. All in all, it’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve done professionally.

My paragraphs are getting shorter and shorter and I’m running out of steam so I think I’m going to end this here.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being a young single parent has definitely made things less than easy for me. I, however, am fortunate enough to have amazing parents who are always willing to lend a helping hand. I would not be able to do what I do today without them. They have supported me through so much I honestly do not know what I would have done without them. I would have drowned by now in the monotony of the daily grind.

Every show has it’s struggling. All of our performers graciously volunteer their time and are only here because they love making comedy. So, working around people’s schedules is always an issue. Right now, we are meeting twice a week hoping that people will be able to attend at least once that week. In our last show, we had a two-person sketch where the two people cast hadn’t been able to rehearse together until the day of the performance.

Scratch Comedy! – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
In January of 2018, I put together a group of 5 people to create Scratch Comedy! Aubrey Wehofer, Cody Walker, Dave Lorello, Dustin Nguyen and myself. Our first shows were fun but very much a journey of discovery for what we could do. Our first shows were out of Second Beat Improv Theatre. Sam Haldiman really gave us a great platform and was wonderful to work with. Eventually, our group grew larger and within a year, we were overselling Second Beat. With that, we looked for a new venue. One where we could sit more people and maybe have more control over our environment.

We ended up finding The Trunk Space. The people at The Trunk Space are wonderful. Typically they are a music venue but they were open to giving us a shot. Our first show there was in February of 2018 and we’ve been performing there on the first Sunday of the month regularly since April.

Scratch Comedy produces a live one-hour sketch show every month with original content. We’ve done anything from a night of advice from Christopher Walken to getting in trouble with Julian Assange and his pet Cockroach.

While we do not have a show lined up for November at The Trunk Space we will be performing at Canal Convergence in Scottsdale this year. Friday, November 15th from 9-10 pm on their outdoor stage. This show will be different from our normal show. It is free to the public!

Our next show at The Trunk Space is on December 8th. It is going to be the best in the show, maybe soon, we will even do the worst of show. It would still be funny, just for all the wrong reasons.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’m turning 33 in November so I am still very young and do not have much to choose from. I will say my proudest moment was probably when I was still at ASU. I was doing this show called This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing. It was a children’s show and my daughter was old enough to watch it, get it and enjoy it. It follows these three girls who lose their parents and have to find their own way in the world. They all go their own ways and make it on their own terms.

That show was directed by Erika Hughes who is a perfect human. She won’t agree but it’s true. Her ability to give us, the performers, ownership of the show was something I’ve never experienced before or since then. I believe I played about seven different characters in that show. Rage.

Pricing:

• $10 a ticket at The Trunk Space

Contact Info:

• Email: SeanRyan@itchtheatre.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/scratchcomedyaz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/scratchcomedyaz

Image Credit:
Randall Dunahee – Personal Photo, Tiana Gaudioso – Other Photos, Cody Walker – Logo, Roman Aguirre – Cast photo

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