By Georgina Brennan

How does an 11-year-old get into a nightclub for adult comedy shows? By telling jokes, of course! 

Meet Sean Smith, the sixth grader everyone in the New York tri-state area is talking about.

Sean, 11, who wisecracks about his Irish heritage, his interest in girls and his loving family, is a rising young star on the comedy scene.

He just broke up with his girlfriend and they went their separate ways. Actually, they just got different teachers, he says in one show. 

The 4-foot-10 sixth grader has been cracking jokes about mean nuns, older girls and the trials of growing up Irish and Catholic in New Jersey.

“I just love making people laugh, to have someone smile at me and think I’m funny,” Sean says.

He has his audiences peeling off their seats with laughter at his one-liners. “I’m Irish and my skin’s so fair, I get sunburned in a full moon,” he says. 

But Sean’s parents, who hail from Roscommon and Galway, are not surprised. “When he was very young he was always making jokes, but he was learning to talk at the time so they didn’t make sense!” says his mother Moira. “His goal was just to make people laugh.”

Sean, who hails from Washington Township, New Jersey, said he always knew he would one day be a star. “When I was six I was interviewed in Canada. I was asked what I wanted to be when I grow up. I answered, ‘I can’t decide between a hockey player or a comedian.’ The Canadians got a big kick out of that. Apparently Wayne Gretzky and other hockey players never had my career dilemma. 

“I’m 11 years old,” Sean adds. “Ever since I was little I knew two things. I would be a comedian and go to Notre Dame! I’m half way there. My first stand-up gig was in a talent show in kindergarten.” 

But Sean is not just talented in the hysterics department. He is also a second soprano for the Archdiocesan Boy Choir. Last summer Sean went to Fatima, Portugal with the choir and really enjoyed it.

But he is a little busy with his career right now to sing. “I’m currently on a nine month tour . . . of sixth grade! I’ve done television and radio, however, my favorite is performing live in front of a large audience! My favorite comedians are Joey Callahan, Jeff Foxworthy, Dave Chappelle, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy.” 

Some of Sean’s jokes are real crackers. “It’s easy to break up with a girl, you just play hide and seek with her but you don’t go after her,” he cackles.

But he says he has a girlfriend. “It’s kinda hard to have a girlfriend when you are not allowed to cross the street, but actually I do have a girlfriend. She’s 10 but she has the body of a 12-year old.”

His material isn’t just about girls. “I get no respect. I accused a kid of copying me and he said, ‘Why would I copy you, I can get my own F,’” says Sean.

Other comedians at Coffee Comedy in New Jersey say they have jokes older than the new kid in town. But his comedy belies his age, says Paul Lyons at the club. 

Sean says it’s all about respect, which he is eager to get — as soon as his mother allows him to stay up late!