Eric Jacob is an actor and comedian who’s always thinking — and always writing.
An observation in a store, a conversation with a friend, or even a text might spark Eric’s next joke, and once he writes that joke, he can’t wait to share it with an audience. He even found humor in his father’s Alzheimer’s Disease. After his father was diagnosed, Eric asked him if it was OK to write some jokes about. His father said sure. “A lot of my comedy comes from my life or from what I see or from my friends, co-workers, family,” Eric says. Eric grew up in Marlboro, NJ. His mother was a real estate agent and his father worked in the garment industry in New York City. As a teenager he started a sports marketing firm, mainly so that he could get free autographs. In the 1990s, he headed to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and worked a day job as a high school teacher in a tough Los Angeles school. By 2014, he was working in real estate and raising a family. But performing was his passion, and he was told about a comedy competition at a Princeton's "Catch a Rising Star." Eric entered, and won! His victory earned him a spot opening for nationally known comic Bobby Collins. He continued opening for other comics such as Eddie Brill, Sherry Davey, Mike Gafney and Paul Bond. Since then, the floodgates have opened. Eric shot a pilot in December, called "Surviving Sam" starring Alicia Minshew (All My Children) and the director liked him so much that they created a web series to star in, a prankster sitcom called "What's It Gonna Take!" along with fellow comedian Tommy Gooch. Eric also had a recurring role in another web series, "Neverland the webseries", a sitcom about the world of live action role playing (LARPing). It is currently streaming online here with episode 2 being released shortly. His acting career also featured a role in "Trash Can on the Left", (check out poster here) a short film that received its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. It also played at the 2015 LA Shorts Fest. Eric was then asked to star in a 4 episode web-series called "A Hot Mess" based off of the character from "Surviving Sam". In it Eric played, Robert Stevens an attorney who was getting into trouble with different lady friends, clients and even a judge. There’s more than a sense of humor and talent behind his success. Eric brings hard work and determination to his career, writing something new for every stand up performance or bringing something original to every new character he plays. He performed at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick and was made into a short concert film. As a result, Eric was nominated for "best actor in a short film" at the 2017 World Music and Independent Film Festival(www.wmiff.net) for his role in "From Jersey! Live with Eric Jacob". The 8th annual Gala will be held July22-30th, 2017. |