When during his mid-20s Patrick DeGuire was diagnosed with optic neuritis, a condition that left him partially blind, he had two choices: Either get depressed and let his new reality truncate his life, or never give up on his dreams of becoming a comedian and continue on with his life.

“I always had a sense of humor,” DeGuire said. “I used that talent to my benefit.

Soon after I started losing my vision, comedy became a sort of therapy for me. I discovered laughter to be self-therapeutic and started to turn something negative into something positive.”

Since then, he’s been declared legally blind, but he still has enough vision to not need a cane or an assistant dog.

Although he’s limited to the point where he can’t drive or do other daily activities, DeGuire hasn’t allowed those limitations put a limit on his comedy careers. He’s found success as a stand-up comedian who has appeared on national television numerous times, including Comedy Central, “Que locos!” on Galavision, and “Loco Comedy Jam” on Telemundo.

He’s also toured or performed with such comedians as Dave Attell, David Alan Grier, George Lopez, and Paul Rodriguez.
Being a San Diego-native, DeGuire is returning home for an evening of good comedy at the Mad House Comedy Club, at Horton Plaza, on June 8 and 9.

DeGuire’s material includes the advantages and disadvantages of living in a world with limited vision and the challenges that arise from it, but he is quick to point out that that’s not all he jokes about.

“It’s not my entire routine,” he said. “It is part of my life, it is part of whom I am, but my blindness doesn’t define me. It is an aspect, but not all. I’m also a father, I’m a husband.”

One of the jokes he usually tells making fun of his condition is that he now thinks twice about disciplining his children when they misbehave. The reason?

“They are the ones who help me cross the street!” he said.

Born and raised in National City to a Mexican father, and a French-Canadian mother, DeGuire attended Sweetwater High School. “I was the class clown. I always had a sense of humor,” he remembers. “I loved making people laugh. Now I’m using that talent to my benefit.”

He now lives with his wife and four children in Chula Vista. He said that being based in San Diego hasn’t limited his comedy career. In fact, it is relatively easy to work out of San Diego.

“I travel all the time, all over the country,” he said.

Part of his career has been devoted to performing for the U.S. troops overseas in Bahrain, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Guam, Iraq, Japan and Korea.

“When you’re at a comedy club in the U.S., the audience wants to laugh. When you go overseas to perform for our military, they need to laugh. Doing this for them is so fulfilling in so many levels. I’m doing my part to thank these men and women for doing a job that very few people would ever want to do.”

Regarding his visual condition, DeGuire said that “there’s nothing I can do but move forward for my four children. There are a lot of other people who have it much, much worse than I do. I’m grateful that for 25 years of my life I had vision. That’s much more than what other people have ever had.

“I don’t have time to feel sorry myself. Comedy is therapeutic for me. When I’m up on-stage, even if I can’t clearly see the audience in front of me, I can hear them laughing out loud. That’s good energy for me.”

Patrick DeGuire will be performing June 8 and 9 at the Mad House Comedy Club at Horton Plaza. There are two shows each night, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. For ticket information, call (619) 702-6666 or visit madhousecomedyclub.com.

To learn more about Patrick DeGuire, visit patricdeguire.com.