Local Spotlight: Buzz Ouellette

These days – considering an accelerating and tense presidential campaign, skyrocketing food and housing costs and war time tensions abroad -- it sort of feels like everyone could use a good laugh.

If you’re in southern Maine. You’re in luck.

Meet Patrick ‘Buzz’ Ouellette, one of the founders of the Comedy Mill in Biddeford.

The Comedy Mill, first organized about nine months ago, features comedy productions at local venues, including the Eagles Club in Saco and a regular open-mic night on Wednesday evenings at Mulligan’s in Biddeford.

Buzz, along with co-founders Paul Roy and Nate Curran, puts a lot of effort into giving aspiring stand-up comedians a venue to test and share their comic material with live audiences.

Ouellette, 37, graduated in 2005 from Biddeford High School, where he was an avid football player. “Football was life when I was in high school,” he said.

Like most people, Buzz followed a winding path to get where he is today. “I remember thinking I wanted to be a cop, and then I thought I wanted to be a teacher,” he said.

He landed at Husson University where he was recruited as a football player. “I and a whole gang of my classmates were all recruited to play there, and we stuck it out for the whole four years. We got our education and still smashed heads.”

Ouellette studied secondary science education, thinking he would be a high school science teacher and high school football coach. But finding work as a teacher proved to be challenging and not financially rewarding.

So, Ouellette shifted gears and landed an engineering job with a company in Rochester, New Hampshire. Today, he works for a bio-tech firm near Portsmouth.

Ouelette says his private sector experience – along with his meandering career path – all played vital roles in providing him with plenty of material for his dream of performing comedy before an audience.

“As a comedian, you need to be a real person,” Ouelette explains. “Being real is where you find humor. I’m a pretty happy-go-lucky kinds of guy, but some comedians are the most depressed people you will ever meet.”

The Comedy Mill has been drawing bigger and bigger crowds and now you guys are producing a show this coming weekend with some well-known national talent.

“Yeah, so we’re pretty excited about it. The Biddeford Belly Laughs show happens on Saturday, August 24 at Mulligan’s, and it will be showcasing Lee Syatt and featuring Crystal Bernard. I love being involved with this stuff. It feels like I finally found my people.”

Who were the comics who influenced and motivated you to begin the Comedy Mill?

“Wow, there’s really so many of them. I love listening to comedy Podcasts and going to shows . . . off the top of my head I would probably say Patrice O’Neal, Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle as some of my favorites.

“Comedy just really speaks to me at a fundamental level. It is a really good bridge that connects people from all different backgrounds. If you’re able to laugh together then you can begin to see others and all the things you have in common with them.”

You guys do a regular open mic night at Mulligan’s on Wednesday evenings. How many people usually show up to try a five-minute set on stage?

“Last week, we had 22 comics. It ebbs and flows, but it’s definitely becoming more well known. It’s not a judgment zone. It’s a place to share your voice, your ideas and your stories.

“I mean, really, who hasn’t – at one time or another – fantasized about being a comic. Imagine when you’re filling out your federal income tax form and writing ‘artist’ in the place where you’re asked to name your occupation.”

“If you’re passionate about something, and then you get to do it – well, then there’s no better feeling. I have no doubt that one of our local comics is going to break onto the national scene. And then, we’ll all be saying, ‘Hey, I knew that guy. I saw him in Biddeford.”

The Wednesday night open mic nights are free, correct?

“Yeah, I mean I would hope people get a drink or maybe some food before or after the show, but it’s free to watch or perform. It starts at 8 p.m., and we put the sign-out list up at 7:30.

“I love meeting all sorts of new people. I encourage everyone to just be themselves. You’re not always going to hit a home-run, but it’s about the process of finding your own voice, and learning how to be comfortable behind the microphone.

“You want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans for the future.”

Randy Seaver is a freelance writer living in Biddeford. He is a former newspaper reporter and editor and is the principal of a small strategic communications firm. He can be contacted at randy@randyseaver.com.