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Take Charleen's comedy survey! Charleen Barbara (Spencer) Earley was born in Eloise, Michigan on November 22, 1963. A few months later, after she’d seen all there was to see in Michigan, she headed west to East Oakland by train with her mother and older (by 10 mos) sister. Her brother would join the party 2 years later. The gift of making people laugh began early in her ‘middle-child’ life. Her first stand-up performance was in the 5th grade when she got up in front of her class and mimicked the teacher while her teacher’s back was to the classroom. The laughter was worth the reprimand. By 6th grade she made the leading role in Allendale Elementary School’s “Wizard of Oz.” Years later, not quite seeking stage work, it sort of presented itself when a friend suggested she do stand-up. Destined for center stage, it wasn’t until 1997 when Charleen made her comedy debut under the stage name, “Charlie B. Earley” at a German restaurant in Concord in front of all of five people. After reading her jokes hand-written on 3 x 5 cards, comedian Albert Vallejo asked “so how long have you been doing stand-up?” It was her first time up and she had impressed a seasoned comic. She caught the funny-bug. But between 10 years old and 34 years old, she pursued her educational goals by earning an AA Degree in Liberal Arts, an AA in Journalism (both at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg), and a BA in English at California State University of Hayward. Her hope was to teach 3rd & 4th grade English, but got journalistically side-tracked along the way. Her love for writing went professional (meaning she got paid for her words) in 1999 when she first started writing humor columns for the Brentwood Press called, “Funny Side Up.” She later landed freelance writing jobs with the San Francisco Chronicle (sports features), Diable Magazine (profiled five Bay Area comedy greats (and personal friends): Johnny Steele, Mark Pitta, Brian Copeland, Tommy Drake, and Regina Stoops), Antioch Press, Tri Valley Herald, Oakland Tribune, Stockton Record (entertainment & human interest), and Good News (singles column called, “Single Side Up). Today, Charleen (age 41) does more writing than anything else, in addition to co-producing an annual comedy benefit show for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition in Danville called, “Comedy Night at the Village.” Charleen’s mantra in life is simple: “Life is too short to take most of it seriously.” |
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