New York native Eric D’Alessandro has always found his place in the spotlight. His passion for comedy is equally credited to his creative mindset, as well as his big Italian family which inspires his raw comedic sketches and uncensored, relatable rhetoric.  Having grown up with a camera in his hand, Eric created a YouTube channel where he developed his comedic skills from a young age. Through his sketches which feature original characters like “Maria Marie,” as well as impressions of celebrities like Drake and comedic covers of popular songs, his YouTube platform helped Eric build a loyal fanbase. The millions of views on his videos laid the groundwork for Eric to gain over 98k followers on Instagram. Through social media, Eric is able to share original, timely and relatable content for the everyday American. A pivotal moment in Eric’s career was when he moved cross-country to Los Angeles in order to pursue his passion as a creator. California has helped Eric generate a new fanbase that lies beyond the five boroughs, as well as provide him with a slew of new content, the major being the comparison of East Coast and West Coast lifestyles. Eric has sold out every show he has headlined, including 1,300 seats at New Jersey’s iPlay America and has been featured on multiple podcasts and TV shows. Most notably, Eric was featured in the 2016 drama/mystery movie Nerve, alongside Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, in part because the film’s directors added him to the script after seeing his viral videos. When Eric isn’t creating his comedic content, he is exploring the opportunities he once dreamed of, including acting, producing, writing and directing. Today we learn how he came to grips with his Generalized Anxiety Disorder, how he uses his platform to benefit the conversation on mental health awareness, and how he chose Comedy, Acting and being a Creator as his career, enjoy!

***CORONA VIRUS EDITION***

In this episode Peter & Eric discuss:

1:04-  Intro & welcome Eric D’Alessandro!  

2:22-  How and why did you start doing stand-up?

3:30-  What was school like for you and did your Comedy help you? 

5:00-  A lot of Comedians have discussed being neurodiverse; did you ever look back and question your choice of Comedy?

6:25-  On Robin Williams, Drugs, and live performing

7:30-  How do you feel after performing? 

12:30-  What’s the goal/your career goal within the Arts and Comedy?

13:43-  Mental Health has seen a little more of the spotlight in the last few years; especially due to folks in the Arts speaking up and sharing. Given your platform, do you now feel even more responsible to talk about stuff?  Ref:  Feels CBD Oil video on Anxiety

17:05-  What would you tell someone who realizes that they may be neurodiverse; but does not have the same, or even a similar support group and background to yours?

Ref:  Gary Gulman’s “The Great Depresh” special on HBO

19:00-  Thanks so much Eric! This has been great! How can people find you, and where can we catch your act? @ericdalessandro on INSTA  Twitter  YouTube  Cameo  FB and via his website:  https://www.ericdalessandro.com  

19:55-  Thank you Eric for joining us today! And thank YOU for subscribing, reviewing and listening. Your reviews are working! Even if you’ve reviewed us before, would you please write even a short one for this episode? Each review that you post helps to ensure that word will continue to spread, and that we will all be able to reach & help more people! You can always reach me via [email protected] or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterThanNormal on all of the socials.

We have a new sister video cast called 20MinutesInLockdown! A video podcast devoted to learning fascinating lessons from interesting humans all around the world, all in 20 minutes or less!  20 Minutes in Lockdown was born in early April of 2020, when we were in fact, in lockdown, and couldn’t do much of anything. Realizing that more than ever, people could benefit from learning from people outside of their comfort zone – people with interesting stories to tell, people with good advice, people with useful ideas that could help improve lives, we started hosting short Facebook video interviews, and we grew from there. (Plus, you can actually see my hair colors change before your very eyes!) Check it out:  www.20MinutesInLockdown.com

STAY HEALTHY – STAY SAFE – STAY HOME.. until next time!

20:20-  Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits

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