The small stage at the Gaslamp Restaurant & Bar in Long Beach lights up, and on cue Joe Eurell rolls out in his wheelchair.
The small audience tenses up as his motor-chair gets stuck on the red curtain for a few seconds. He takes the microphone from the announcer, greets the crowd and beams out, “you know, I was thinking about something very important earlier,” Eurell said. “Do orphans feel sad when they hear your mama jokes?”
By day, Eurell is a 26-year-old senior political science major at Cal State Long Beach, but he spends his nights and weekends working on his comedy.