Once described as the bard of the urban underbelly, protean "downtown" performance artist Eric Bogosian established himself as one of the wittiest, most incisive chroniclers of the bloat and sleaze of the 1980s. In a series of highly acclaimed one-man shows, he combined black humor and an aggressive, confrontational energy with an underlying charm to make pointed social commentary about the environment, racism, sexism and human behavior in general. Bogosian had responded to an ad to learn the commodities racket in the late 70s, but a job answering phones at The Kitchen, an avant-garde dance
Acted in a series of high school plays written and directed by his schoolmates Fred Zollo (a producer) and Nick Paleologus (a Massachusetts congressman)
Returned to Woburn and worked at The Gap selling jeans after leaving the University of Chicago
1976
Moved to Manhattan; first job was as a gofer at the Chelsea Westside Theatre; then answered phones at the downtown arts center, The Kitchen, where he first appeared in others' performance pieces and later his own
1977
Off-off Broadway debut with one-man play, "Careful Moment"
1979
While running the dance program at The Kitchen, created the persona of Ricky Paul, a racist and sexist stand-up comedian, and appeared at Tier 3 and the Mudd Club
