Charlie Berens is currently on tour, selling out venues across the country from Las Vegas to New York. He has millions of followers across social media channels, has major deals with the most iconic brands in the state and is beloved as our favorite Midwesterner.
What if I told you that, if he hadn't hesitantly posted one video back in 2017 at age 30, none of this likely would have happened? Or that he spent nearly a decade working odd jobs, sleeping in his van and on friends' couches, picking up any gig he could before his first viral moment?
The story behind the successful comedian has a lot more grit than I initially thought.
Charlie grew up in Wauwatosa, working odd jobs such as being a flower picker, woodworker, bike mechanic and even rolling pretzels at Auntie Anne’s in Mayfair Mall, all while being very into music and running the school paper at Marquette University High School.
He attended UW-Madison to major in journalism. Notably, while covering the 2008 RNC in Minneapolis, he found himself amid a large protest where the police ended up spraying tear gas and arresting everyone, including journalists. He spent the night in the slammer, providing him with a warm welcome to journalism.
Undeterred by that experience, he still pursued journalism and entertainment after graduating. One of his first roles was as a production assistant (PA) on the movie "Cedar Rapids" (ironically filmed in Michigan), where he spent those three months crashing in his aunt and uncle's basement and generating a little bit of money.
After that, he landed another PA job in Los Angeles, driving his dad's old minivan from Michigan to the west coast and arriving with more money in his gas tank than his bank account. In L.A., he picked up additional jobs while sleeping on his friends' couches, in closets and even spending some nights in the van.
He then bounced around from South Carolina to D.C. and Dallas, taking on additional PA and anchor roles. However, his salary was eventually cut in half due to his network underperforming, prompting him to make another move back to L.A.
This time, in addition to working PA and anchoring gigs (which he was not passionate about but paid the bills), he was doing stand-up and writing scripts at night to keep his sanity.
This ultimately led to his breakthrough moment.
At this point, just to get five or ten minutes on stage, Charlie was working as the DJ playing the walk-up music at the Comedy Store. He also participated in "bringer shows," where you had to sell a certain amount of tickets to get on stage. Charlie didn't sell the tickets; he paid for them himself and tried to get his friends to show up for free, many of whom didn't make the drive across town to attend.
During these routines, he started doubling down on his Midwest accent – initially considered a detriment to his career in news – and developed a character that started revving a good response at these small shows. There was one show in particular that did really well, and Charlie asked if any of the 50 people in the audience were from the Midwest. One man raised his hand, "Manitowoc!"
Charlie went home happy that the show performed well but was also discouraged that only 50 people saw it, and he had to wait a week and a half to get back on stage.
This was his moment. He created his first video, the inaugural episode of "The Manitowoc Minute," and very hesitantly uploaded it. He didn't want to offend anyone but realized that if anyone had a problem, he was making fun of himself, so he uploaded it anyway.
What happened next he couldn't have predicted. The video took off and went viral instantly.
"I was floored," Berens said. "I almost didn't put it out initially ... but because I spent enough hours editing and editing videos that did not take off, I needed to do that. So, I knew the opportunity I had when this one did take off."
And take advantage of that opportunity he did. Charlie kept pushing the series week after week and has evolved his business into multiple podcasts, merch, a nationwide tour, brand deals and more.
It's a good lesson for anyone chasing a dream that failure is required; it's how you learn, adapt and adjust when trying to get to another level, and when something does hit, take full advantage of it.
After learning about Charlie's backstory, the rest of the episode is filled with humor where we answer several fan-submitted questions and have a round of WI Trivia.
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Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Story Mark Studios, sponsored by Central Standard Distillery, in Partnership with OnMilwaukee.
