COMEDY : Ron Pearson Tries to Juggle Fresh Ideas in His Stand-Up Mix

Ron Pearson learned how to hook ‘em on the streets of San Diego, where the rule of existence for a comic juggler was simple: Catch their eye, catch their fancy, catch their coins . . . or catch the next bus back to Seattle.

By his own yardstick, and that of the University of Washington school of business and finance, he did pretty well. On his way to a career as a stockbroker, Pearson, appearing at the Brea Improv through Sunday, decided to drop out and hone his juggling and comedy skills in Balboa Park on weekends, where, he said, he would routinely haul in about $500 for two days’ work.

“That wasn’t bad,” he said. “My parents weren’t really happy that I’d left college, but the average income for a graduate right out of the business and finance school at the University of Washington was $18,000 a year, and I was bringing in something like $24,000 working on the street. I figured if that was the worst it was going to get, I was in good shape.”

It got better.

Ten years ago, at age 19, Pearson gave up working the street for a job performing his act at Sea World. Soon after, he was picked up by an agency in Los Angeles, where he launched an acting career.

His first thespian job, however, (apart from a single performance on “The Mike Douglas Show” when he was 14 and a protege of a Seattle juggler) came as a result of his familiar gig, comic juggling. The director of the musical/drama series “Fame” saw him working at a party “where I’d been having a little fun with him during the act” and offered him a part in an episode.

Since then, he has been improving his acting, tightening his stand-up, doing commercials and working on his act.

After moving from San Diego to Los Angeles, he began performing at the Improv, the Ice House, the Magic Castle and other clubs as well as performing in guest roles on television series, two films (“Lena’s Holiday” and “Midnight Cabaret”) and in Las Vegas.

“L.A.’s an interesting place to work through the ranks,” Pearson said. “People see you where they saw you originally and they get your act kind of stuck in their head, kind of pigeonhole you.”

To counter that tendency, Pearson has tried to keep the act fresh, topical and, most of all, involving.

“The first half of my act is all stand-up,” he said. “Then it kicks into the juggling later. I believe a show has to build. And I believe strongly that I’m an entertainer above everything. My act has a lot of high energy and fun. A lot of comedians get onstage and say they’re going to make a political statement. But I’ve never seen anyone cure cancer from the stage. I think people come to enjoy and forget. I want them to have a party and have fun.”

Pearson’s humor always has a bright side. On stage, he advocates putting taggers through “Hooked on Phonics” courses and lining all city walls with Etch-A-Sketch pads “so that next time an earthquake hits, we’ll have a whole new city to look at.”

His juggling, he said, maximizes relating to the audience.

“I try to get them to react as a group and not as individuals. Sounds like the Communist Party, doesn’t it? At the end of the act, I get up on a six-foot unicycle and juggle with a big ladder balanced on my face, and somebody always yells something like, ‘Hey, why don’t we back up a Volkswagen and put it on the juggler’s head?’ ”

* Who: Comedian/juggler Ron Pearson.

* When: 8:30 p.m. today, 8:30 and 10:30 Friday, 8 and 10:30 Saturday, and 8:30 Sunday.

* Where: The Brea Improv, 945 E. Birch St.

* Whereabouts: Exit the Orange (57) Freeway at Imperial Highway and head west to State College Boulevard. Take a right to Birch Street then go left. The Improv is on the right in the Brea Marketplace.

* Wherewithal: $8 Thursday and Sunday. $10 Friday and Saturday.

* Where to call: (714) 529-7878.