A little bit country

Whether he's in the classroom or singing in a local nightclub, Mark Romano is known for unleashing his quick wit.

The Glendale resident and political science professor at Glendale Community College said his own experience as a student taught him what not to do as a teacher. So he livens it up for his students.

"It's 55 minutes of stand-up comedy with facts," he said of his teaching style.

He must be doing something right, because he gets high marks from his students on www.ratemyprofessors.com.

Romano's comedic talent also shines in clubs throughout Burbank, Glendale and Hollywood.

He plays with four bands in a variety of music — Celtic, country and rock.

His band, the Ploughboys, pack the bar every Friday night at the Tam O'Shanter Inn in Glendale, where they sing and play traditional Irish ballads mixed with pirate songs. Romano comes appropriately dressed in a kilt.

The Ploughboys are performing for the Tam O'Shanter St. Patrick's celebration tonight.

"The place is off the hook on St. Patrick's Day," he said. "There is always a line to get in and it's quite festive. It's one of the most crazed, glorious zoos you can imagine."

To accommodate the expected crowd, the restaurant's management decided to put up a tent in the parking lot for the band's performance, General Manager Brian Lytle said.

"The restaurant bursts at the seams when St. Patrick's Day is on a weekday, but add St. Patrick's Day to a weekend, and it amplifies," Lytle said. "The band takes you on a true Celtic ride. They interact with the crowd. The audience brings maracas and tambourines and plays along with them."

Romano takes the spotlight during the band's rendition of "Bonnie Heelan' Laddie."

"It's a game where people think of the most outrageous names of places and call them out and I rhyme it on the fly," Romano said.

The closest he's come to being stumped, he said, was when a little girl shouted out Ouagadougou, which is the capital of Burkina Faso.

"I think I came up with something," he said trying to remember. "But, I don't get foxed very often."

For the 13 years he's played the Tam on and off, he's seen a cast of characters come, go and come back, he said.

"While we were performing last Friday, a woman called from Florida so we could sing her favorite song over the phone," he said.