Wall Street lawyer-turned-comedian gives audience members ‘Permission to Speak’ during Schaumburg show

Paul Mecurio believes everyone has a story, and he believes they’re willing to share.

In fact, the lawyer/investment banker turned actor/comedian is so certain that is true, he built a show around audience members voluntarily sharing their stories with strangers. The result is “Permission to Speak,” a partly improvised, partly interactive, off-Broadway hit that Mecurio will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, at the Al Larson Center for the Arts in Schaumburg.

“It’s a stand-up show. It’s a crowd-work show with a twist,” explained Mecurio, who came up with the idea for the show seven or eight years ago while doing stand-up and working on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

At the time, producers approached him and inquired whether the people he solicited stories from were planted in the audience. They weren’t.

“That’s when the idea started to take off,” said Mecurio, who started in show business after selling a joke to Jay Leno. “It was almost like it was meant to be.”

The show begins with a monologue during which he explains the premise. He then shares a personal story of his own and invites audience members onstage, where he interviews them about their own stories. Hilarity ensues.

“This is something I’m passionate about,” he said of the almost entirely improvised show. “I’m good at it and it resonates with people. When you do that, you can never go wrong.

“Truly, there is something in everybody’s life that is interesting. If you give them a chance, and they know you’re not going to be mean, they’ll give you the world. We have more in common than we think,” he said, adding that establishing connections helps reduce divisions between us.

Mecurio’s love of stand-up comedy dates back to a childhood spent watching comedians on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” But as a youngster, he had no desire to become a performer.

Setting his sights on a legal career, he graduated from Georgetown Law School, joined a Wall Street firm and became an investment banker with an international firm. But his inherent comedic ability asserted itself.

“I fought it for a while,” he said. “I figured out later in life it was always in me.”

He began writing jokes. At a firm function, he met Leno and offered him some. A couple of days later, Leno called offering to pay for the material.

“I thought it was a prank,” Mecurio said. “I said, ‘If you’re Jay Leno, you do a lousy Jay Leno.’”

After advising Mecurio to be less wordy and get to the punchline quicker, Leno included one of his jokes in a “Tonight Show” monologue. Mecurio began submitting more jokes to Leno, who suggested he try out his material at open mic nights.

At the time, Mecurio was working long hours at a prestigious law firm. During breaks, while other associates had dinner, he raced across town to perform at open mics. The experience fulfilled him in a way arranging million-dollar deals never did.

“I was living a secret double life,” he said. “I couldn’t let anyone at the firm know.”

Comedy sucked him in to the point he had to decide whether to pursue it full-time or quit. So he unraveled his life, left Wall Street, sold his apartment and lived in a rooming house while honing his act at bars and comedy clubs.

“The Daily Show” producers noticed and hired him as a writer during the Craig Kilborn era. He stuck around after Jon Stewart took over, writing and serving as a warm-up comedian and winning Emmy and Peabody Awards in the process. He eventually moved on to “The Colbert Report” and “Late Night With Stephen Colbert,” where he has a recurring role that allows him to travel with his show.

“We’re not really doing a show,” he says of “Permission to Speak.” “We’re hanging out, having drinks and telling stories.”

“We’re learning how other people live their lives,” he said. “That’s a good thing for society to see.”

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“Paul Mecurio’s Permission to Speak”

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23

Where: Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg

Tickets: $40; (847) 895-3600 or prairiecenter.org