CARLSBAD — Patrick Combs grew up in a trailer park in Oregon, where the adults around him were grocery store clerks, mechanics and nurses, not artists. When he saw his first street musicians as a young adult in San Francisco, he knew he wanted to create art, but he didn’t know how.
Now, Combs has performed off-Broadway in London and Ireland, toured a one-man show for 10 years, and is an artist through and through.
The Carlsbad resident will debut his second one-man show, “Trying to Break a Leg,” from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 at the City Heights Performing Annex.
In 1988, Combs unwittingly made his public “debut” after helping deliver a baby on a sidewalk in San Francisco. Combs, then just 22, made national headlines and even made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. According to Combs, it’s the first story he shared with the world.
Finding his voice as an author and motivational speaker, Combs’ career pivoted to playwright and actor after living through another bizarre series of events he couldn’t keep to himself.
His first show, entitled “Man 1, Bank 0,” tells the story of when Combs got a junk mail check marked “non-negotiable” and decided to deposit it, endorsed with a smiley face, as a friendly joke. Little did he know the check was mistakenly valid and worth over $95,000.
Combs ended up giving the money back to the bank, but the story and play that arose from it were worth it.
“Somewhere along the way, I made more than $95,000 doing it,” Combs says in the closing moments of the show.
Combs, 57, is ready to peel back the curtain on the creative process with his new solo performance, “Trying to Break a Leg.”
In the autobiographical piece, audiences will follow Combs’ journey developing “Man 1, Bank 0” from the initial spark of an idea to the grueling process of rehearsing and failing forward.
“I think this is the best story I have to tell in my entire life,” Combs told The Coast News. “I’m really grateful that I’m getting around to telling it.”
In his home office, the walls are riddled with inspiring quotes and the living furniture is strewn about nonsensically. For a month, in preparation for the show, Combs decided to transform his living room into a rehearsal space.
On a whiteboard, he reminds himself of his past performances in Ireland: 23 sold-out shows in 28 days. Now, he wants to perform “Trying to Break a Leg” on his walls just as frequently this month.
“The natural process of working on a show is stressful,” Combs said. “I find that more times than I think you would believe in the last two months, I wake up and I think, ‘What have I done?’”
Combs said he hopes the show will inspire audiences to pursue their dreams despite doubts and difficulties.
He also wants to give audiences, especially young people, a realistic look at the sacrifices and struggles required for artistic success outside of social media.
“I think that’s what’s so honest and worthwhile about the show: it says that for anybody to make anything that they think is meaningful, creative and bold, it’s going to be hard,” Combs said. “It’s going to push every insecurity you have to the surface; you’re going to hit walls, but in the end, it’s all going to be worth it.”
