By Ryan Massad, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – Shrewsbury resident Andrew (“AC”) Cosenza has been writing comedy skits for as long as he can remember. He would put on costumes, prepare scripts and entertain family – or anyone else willing to watch. In 1999, Cosenza finally took his passion to the next level, and managed to secure a slot on Shrewsbury public access channel for his own television show.
The show was originally called “The AC and Tully Show,” featuring Andrew and childhood friend Sean O”Toole. The two would do comedy sketches around Shrewsbury, inspired by the once-popular work of MTV's Tom Green.
As high school came to an end, O”Toole decided to leave the show for college, leaving Cosenza with a decision regarding his future.
“I wanted to do it for a career,” AC said. “That's when I really started taking it seriously.”
And so “The AC Show” was born.
Cosenza would eventually sign a deal with Charter, allowing his new show to be played in not only Shrewsbury, but Worcester and surrounding towns as well. Although the show immediately developed a cult-like local following, there were still plenty of people it had yet to appeal to. Cosenza found that featuring celebrities as guest stars was a quick way to catch the attention of new viewers.
The first celebrity featured on the show was former Boston Bruin, and WAAF morning show co-host, Lyndon Byers, whose weatherman character has since become recurring on the show. Other celebrities to appear include the rest of the WAAF morning show crew, Gary Busey and Jason Mewes, as well as rappers Afroman, Tech Nine and Saigon.
There are also several non-famous guest stars featured on the show, including Shrewsbury High alumni Joey Tonelli, Dom DiGiovanni, Robert Therrien, Anthony Elworthy and Andrew's younger brother Justin. All contribute to different skits, including “Fuler's Christmas,” “Power Wheel Drive-Thru,” and “AC on the Streetz.”
“I couldn's do the show without my friends,” Cosenza said. “They have full-time jobs, yet they still take time out of their days to help me out.”
Recently, Cosenza and friends have started to film hidden-camera skits, where a hidden camera placed on ties and glasses, catch the awkwardly hilarious conversations between AC and locals. So, if you find yourself having an odd conversation with a man in Buddy Holly-type frames, be sure to smile.
Lately, AC has been focused on his show's YouTube page. Nearly every skit from the show's 10-year history is posted, as well as some unreleased work. This has brought in a whole new wave of viewers, most of whom had never seen the show before.
“I first knew the show was getting a lot of fans when I met one particular fan,” AC said. “He told me how much he loved the show, so much so that he's even get a tattoo of my show's logo.”? The tattoo session was featured on the show.
As for the future, AC has started his own production company, Ace Productions, which he uses to self-produce the AC Show. He's also developing a pilot to pitch to larger networks in the upcoming year. If and when this young funny-man finally hits it big, he surely will not leave Shrewsbury behind.