Published: Friday, November 11, 2011, 6:10 AM

By Michele Angermiller/For The Times

A common joke about police officers is that when they aren’t writing tickets, they are clogging up the drive-through lines at Dunkin’ Donuts.

Jokes like that hurt the feelings of Officer Eric Potts.

“Sometimes we go to Starbucks,” he says.
Potts, a Plainsboro police officer, finds the humor in everything, including the day-to-day details of his day job.

His night job is one of comedian, and he will share his official observations 7 p.m. tomorrow at Sarcasm Comedy Club, located upstairs at Tavern on the Lake, Hightstown. Potts will open for Uncle Floyd.

Police officer Eric Potts, right, opens for Uncle Floyd Vivino tomorrow night at Tavern on the Lake in Hightstown

“Being in this profession, you develop a sense of humor,” says Potts, an officer for 29 years, with a background in the United States Army Military Police.

“It’s a great job. You get to observe life and every aspect.”
Potts said that his humor doesn’t necessarily focus on day-to-day police follies, like traffic tickets.

“I don’t spend a lot of time talking about my police life,” he says. “I use more self deprecating humor, and talk about my wife, kids and life in general.”

Potts began his comedy career in February after graduating from Catch a Rising Star’s Comedy School, taught by comics Steve Trevelise and Jimmy “Roundboy” Graham.

In just nine months, Potts has played the role of emcee at several clubs, including Graham’s “LOL Comedy Club.” He even won a comedy competition at Trevelise’s “Sarcasm” comedy club in South Jersey, and opened for Uncle Floyd.

“It progressed pretty quickly,” says Potts, a former radio announcer and current voiceover artist.

He says his foray into comedy was one of those “bucket list things,” but he hopes to begin a second career in the art form after he retires “at the ripe old age of 30.”

Eric Potts
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow
Where: Tavern on the Lake, 101 Main St., Hightstown
Admission: $20; (609) 426-9345.

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So I spent the better part of the month of July kissing Penny and then I was sent to Texas-My Mom decided I should go visit my sister who was currently stationed in Texas with her husband who was in the Army. Talking about slamming the brakes!!! Any chance I had to finally figure out French kissing or even French Canadian Kissing (not sure what that is but I bet it involves a moose head.) came to a screeching halt! While Texas was nice it was FREAKING HOT in August MOM! Thanks a lot! So this is where apparently I grew, something in the water in Texas because I got tall and walked into 9th grade taller but Penniless. Yeah I don’t know what happened between Penny and I, I got a few letters from her when I was in Texas, but she must have found some guy that knew how to French kiss and off she went.

High School…GULP! 9th grade was sort of terrifying…I was really awkward not having yet mastered walking in the huge feet I acquired over the summer, in fact, I distinctly recall falling FLAT on my face as I got off the bus at school the very first day…uggghhh.

Now I would describe myself as neutral, I wasn’t a “Burnout” (the kids that smoked and dressed in ACDC and Led Zeppelin shirts with a flannel shirt over it) and I wasn’t a “Preppy” (No Izod shirts for me). I was a blue jean wearing button down shirt kind of guy. I had friends on both sides of the fence. But I wasn’t partaking in the burnout lifestyle, yet I seemed to attract a Burnout girl. In particular Ann Marie..she was in one of my classes, I think it was Social Studies.

You know how that whole thing works, “Hey man, Ann Marie likes you she thinks you’re cute.” “She does?” “Yeah, do you like her?” “Well, what did she say exactly?” “Dude, she said she likes you!” “Really? Well Yeah I guess I like her.” Let me be honest here, I didn’t really care that much for Ann Marie (Ann if you’re reading this SORRY) but I’m 15 years old-HORMONES-they are screaming at me to get some female companionship YESTERDAY.

I had no clue what I was getting into and neither did poor old Ann Marie. Remember the extent of my experience in girls was kissing Penny at the playground, French Kissing hadn’t yet entered my vocabulary, or if it had I had no clue how to or when to…Damn! There is way too much confusion in this growing up stuff.

I asked Ann Marie on a date.

So our first date was at the Roller Skating Rink, where I was establishing myself as Pottsie’s brother-allow me to elaborate-My Brother Jimmie was two years ahead of me and was Mr. Popular and had a lot of girls digging his scene if you know what I mean. So I had some residual success because of my brother, who happened to work at the skating rink as a floor guard. Thanks Jimmie! I remember showing up at the skating rink with Ann Marie (who I forgot to mention had failed the 9th grade the year before so she was older than me-that’s right an older woman!) My brother questioned my choice of girls-now Ann Marie wasn’t ugly she just wasn’t overly attractive, she was tall and razor thin, long brown hair, too much make-up, black ACDC T-shirt and a snaggle tooth-Like a Jewel snaggle tooth, not a wicked witch of the West snaggle tooth.

So we skated, held hands, had a snack, drank some soda, skated some more blah blah blah…Suddenly I’m on the far side of the skating rink, Ann Marie is no where to be found and the lights dim, “Ladies Choice”-I think Gino Vanelli was playing (Holy Crap the memory I have). Suddenly from behind I’m pulled towards the benches in the darkest corner of the skating rink, amongst the discarded coats and jackets that were all over the place, I fall back on the bench, my back bangs hard against the wall. Holy Crap I’m getting mugged, I only have $5.00, please don’t hit me in the face…MOMMY I’m too young to die…HELP HELP HELP!!!! OH-Ann Marie, hey what’s up? I knew it was her the whole time! Suddenly Ann Marie is sitting on my lap…. Now I’m looking into her eyes, briefly and I flash back to Penny on the Monkey Bars. Oh Hey, I’m supposed to kiss her here, my eyes close as I move in. Lips puckered for one of my famous lip lock kisses, what the..??? Is that her tongue? Is she pushing it against my lips? What the hell is she doing-Damn her tongue is strong, some how it is forcing my lips apart, the next thing I know tongues are darting all over the place. Suddenly my tongue had a mind of its own I explored that snaggle tooth.

This lasted for about a month-noooo not the kiss Ann Marie and I, I think it was mutual, I wasn’t experienced enough for her. Ann Marie liked fast cars and faster men (or something like that) and I wasn’t into the whole cigarette smoking burnout lifestyle. My children weren’t gonna have a burnout for a mom. (Unless we consider Cheri a Burnout?) So it ended awkwardly- we didn’t talk, and Ann Marie slowly faded away-like Penny POOOF she was gone. In fact I don’t remember seeing Ann Marie after the 9th grade, for all I know she failed again and is still in 9th grade.

So that’s my experience on French Kissing-Everyone has their first and that was mine-is French Kissing over rated? My tongue doesn’t think so. Now you see that little ‘Comment” link down below??? Share your First Kiss memories RIGHT THERE for all the world to see…wishful thinking I know but I like to pretend the whole world reads my blog.

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Conversation I recently had with my 12 Year Old Daughter…

Her (lying on couch flipping through on demand movies) Of course she didn’t say anything because God forbid she initiate a conversation with me.

Me: Hey what’s up?

Her: (Grunt)

Me: HELLO-what’s up?

Her: I’m bored! There is nothing on TV.

Me: WHAT? We have every pay channel known to man, we have at LEAST 500 channels (including HD) and you can’t find ANYTHING to watch?

Her: NO TV stinks.

Me: Go clean your room.

Seriously, now I know what my Dad meant when he said all those things that I thought were so stupid back in the day, because I must have sounded as pathetic. Although let’s be honest with each other, while we did have “basic” cable, I don’t remember spending too much time in front of the TV-I remember being outside actually interacting with the real world. Not growing a farm on Farmville and decking out my pad in Yoville.

I furnished my room with plastic milk crates…I know…I know… but some how a 14 year old kid in 1978 thought having a desk and shelves built out of milk crates was cool…but at least I was doing it in real life.

My oldest son spends a lot of time playing Call of Duty…killing imaginary friends online. I guess it’s the same thing we were doing back in the day. Using sticks to play war, if you were shot you had to count to 10 before you could get back up. But we were OUTSIDE my Sniper rifle was the long straight stick I found in the woods, not some weapon I found lying next to the dead avatar of some kid in the Baltics, who I’m sure in his language has told his parents an equal amount of time of how bored he is.

The status of one of my children was recently changed to “sooooooooo bbbbbbbooooooorrrrrrreeeeeeeddddddd” this posting was exactly 10 minutes after he had posted “I’m bored” For craps sake, we have Playstation, Xbox and Wii in my house, computers, as mentioned before cable TV, countless board games (which they say are BORED games), every toy they’ve asked for a Christmas, iPods, Blu Ray, Netflix…my God it is a smorgasbord of entertainment in my house. I’m almost ashamed to admit I have all this stuff…Look I like the modern comforts to, but trust me I am NEVER bored in my house.

Bored and unable to talk is how these kids will remember their childhood? Why do I mention that? My daughter was sitting right next to her cousin and instead of talking to each other they texted each other, What? No one talks any more.

I try to be a cool Dad, but man oh man I have trouble getting this generation…forget hoping I die before I get old, I just want to figure out my kids before I go senile.

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First let me say this is a story of complete luck, it’s almost like a lottery story only I was 15 and couldn’t play the lottery. I would gladly trade this bit of dumb luck for the lottery today but I fear this used up my “PLEASE GOD” moment-total waste in hindsight but in the moment I think you’ll understand.

If you’ve read my blog you know all about the summer between 9th and 10th grade…if you haven’t, well you’ll have to go back and read now won’t you?

I had recently got contact lenses. Back in the 80s contacts were not cheap and they were not disposable. They were expensive and I had been warned countless times to “BE CAREFUL” and I had “BETTER NOT LOSE THEM”. Had I lost my contacts I would have faced the wrath of my father, something that no one in their right mind would ever want to do. My Dad tended to over react sometimes, ok all the time, (ask me sometime about the Moped incident) but truly, lose my contacts I was a dead man.

So it’s summer and I’m hanging with my girlfriend and some other people. We all decide it is hot enough to go to the park and go swimming. ME being the diligent, smart kid I was, get my contact lens case because when I get to the park and the stream I’m going to take my lenses out because back in the 80s according to the doctors if you swam with your contact lenses in you’d die instantly.

We arrive, I remove my contact lenses and swim with no issues…weeeeeee !!!! Oh boy we are having some fun. What? Time to go? Oh Ok, let me pop my contact lenses back in so I can see. Right lense pops in NO PROBLEM….just as I’m lifting the left lens to my eye…POOF a little tiny gust of wind, mind you the ONLY gust of wind on a completely hot sunny humid day in July. The F-You wind comes by and blows the contact lens off my finger into oblivion-or so I thought.

“Gosh Golly”! I yell, ok I made that up, I yelled some pretty foul things. My lens blew off my finger and straight into the stream. Yes the stream that is MOVING at a pretty good clip into the Metedaconk River which I’m sure in turn leads directly to the Atlantic Ocean. Panic strikes me, I bolt off the bridge I am standing on and RUN down stream and enter the waist deep water. I made every deal with God I could think off, which is why I am convinced I will never win the lottery. I used up all my “Please God” moments with this one. I know, you’re saying “NO WAY”, I’m saying “YES”-I started to scoop up bubbles as they passed me, what else was I going to do. I scooped up countless bubbles, when I was just about to give up, when I scooped up one last set of bubbles and there LOW AND BEHOLD was my contact lens, right there in my hand. The lens landed upright and appeared like a bubble on the water-what are the odds of that?

I NEVER told my father that story, even into my 40s before he passed away I never shared that story with him, I was afraid he’d still kick my ass LOL…silly what we think of over a cold Sam Adams. I raise my glass to stupid luck and the fact that I know I will never ever win the lottery.

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Looking for that “signature” sound? Look no further than Sounds Exciting Studios!

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The Secrets series is a character-driven mainstream commercial fiction layered with conspiracy, action, lust and romance, carefully blended with more than a dash of power and politics… Post 9/11, a secretive bloodline manipulates everyone including world leaders to control the world. Think ‘The Godfather’ meets ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and what it would be like to be around these people without knowing the truth, all the while those in the bloodline hide in plain sight . . . among us.

“I’m very excited to be a part of this series and look forward to voicing the part of O’Connor and any other characters that the producers and director feel I’m right for” Potts said. “It’s always exciting to be part of a new project, but a project as big and as good as the Secret Series has me even more excited than usual”. “I look forward to bringing O’Connor to life for the listeners.”

No release date is set for the Series as it remains in the pre-production stage.

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Listen To It Here!

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