Eat at Kitty's Restaurant at 123 Main Street in North Reading, Mass. and enjoy a sensational Chicken Parmesan Sandwich, or plate while enjoying a fabulous comedy show.Published December 2009
Giggles Comedy Club packed a room full for the Pre-Thanksgiving Special.
Host Johnny Pizzi started the evening talking about kids asking a number of families how many kids they have. One family said six, Pizzi was startled and said, “We remember things about the first one we don’t remember about the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.” He said the first child is the one we most remember about when they’re born because they are the first, and when you take them out of the hospital you wrap them up good and keep everyone clear from your newborn because you don’t want any germs near him.
Brad Mastrangelo then took things over at Giggles telling everyone he grew up in Chelsea, and moved out of the city as fast as he could because he could speak English.
“I love Spanish people,” said Mastrangelo asking if there were any Spanish people in the audience. “None? I hate those…I’m just kidding.”
Talking about the holidays, Mastrangelo laughed, “I went to Wakefield High School. We played Melrose one year and I got so…faced I ended up at the Woburn/Winchester game. Don’t laugh at me, the guy next to me was rooting for Brockton.”
Paul D’Angelo took the stage talking about how women love the fall season.
“I remember when my father would talk about my mother would look out the back window in front of the kitchen and say, ‘Jack, its foliage, take me and the kids on a trip. We want to see foliage,”’ said D’Angelo. “My father would be in the back with a rake, ‘I got 12 bags full with… foliage. Why don’t you and the kids take a trip to the gutter.”
The man with multiple impersonations, Al Ducharme had the room in stitches saying, “I live with this absolutely gorgeous woman, she is stunning, and I’ll be honest, she is totally out of my league. She just moved in upstairs, I live downstairs with my wife.”
Pharmacist/Comedian Artie Januario said, “Halloween just passed, that’s one of my favorites because that’s an easy holiday, you don’t have to do any cooking and arguing. If I buy candy I like, no body shows up. If they do, here’s some Dum Dums and Smarties and…get out of here kid.”
Tony V laughed up a storm talking about ham.
“Maybe they will open more ham stores, like a 24 hour a day drive through Ham Emporium. The Hamarama, you don’t even need money, you just get like a speed pass from the ham line, and they drive through, and they chuck a ham in the back of your car.”
V ended his ham jokes telling the audience that if you hear a thud it means the ham is in.
Graig Murphy then took the mike talking about Dunkin Donuts and how they should change their slogan to, “Dunkin Donuts, supplying your car with napkins for over 35 years.”
Concluding the evening, Pizzi read a list of shows, and movies Lenny Clarke has been in when Clarke said, “I’ve got more failed pilots then an Iraqui Air Force.”
Talking about gambling at a casino, Clarke said, “I went to pick up my beer and I got a midget. I screamed, he screamed, I rubbed his head, rolled the dice,” explaining that he won getting an 11.
For schedule information about Giggles Comedy Club, go to their Web site at: www.princepizzeria.com/Giggles-Comedy.cfm. For more information about Shawn Hansen’s Comedy Corner, go to: www.shawnhansenscomedycorner.blogspot.com.
Published December 2009
Comics Come Home brought nearly 6,000 people to the Agganis Arena in their 15th year. Saturday, Nov. 7, the night featured 10 comics as it sponsored the Cam Neely Foundation.
Talking to Cam about the foundation, he said, “Basically we raise money for cancer patients and their families through various programs,” explaining that it started with The Neely House, and helped over 5,000 families.
Walking into the arena, two huge televisions were set up hanging over the stage. Just before the actual comedy show began, John Stewart had a message for Comics Come Home.
Stewart said, “When Denis Leary told me that he was going to be doing a cancer benefit, I figured he’s just covering his basis, you know what I’m saying? I have never seen anyone smoke four cigarettes from all holes. Really, I’m not sure how he does it. He’s done so much to promote cancer, I think he should at least do a little bit to fight it.”
Talking to Leary backstage before the show about Rescue Me, he said, “I can’t say much about it without giving something away. I can say this, as evidence by past seasons on Rescue Me if you die, sometimes your part gets bigger because you come back as a ghost.”
Leary said there is going be two more seasons of Rescue Me, and next years episodes will kick off in May.
Starting the show, Leary went off in a tangent about the Yankees wishing Mariano Rivera’s arms would fall off, and Kate Hudson would throw A-Rod’s engagement ring to his feet.
Rifling off bits about baseball, Leary said, “The last guy from America to play on the Red Sox was Carlton Fisk, and he was from New Hampshire. A guy from Japan won the World Series… We had to get Godzilla to hit home runs for the Yankees…”
Ranting about The Biggest Loser, Leary said the only reason these people are losing weight is because they are either passing gas, or picking their nose.
“People say it’s not fair Denis because you’re so…skinny. We’re going to keep making fun of you because you, you want to know why? Because, you can’t catch us, that’s why.”
Following Leary was Tony V telling the audience to forgive him for his appearance because that is what he looks like.
Bringing up a conversation about pirates invading people in 2009, V said pirates are not easily recognizable and, “You got something in your head that a pirate looks like. Yeah, Johnny Depp.”
He ended that bit saying he believes Captain Morgan is a pirate because he has hijacked him more then once.
Kenny Rogerson took the mike from V next and brought up the fact that Christmas is coming.
“I never know what to get for Christmas. My grandparents, one of them is 96, the other ones 98, and I don’t know what to get them. I figured the calendars coming out.”
Jimmy Fallon took the stage singing, “Car wash for peace, there’s trouble in the Middle East. Put down those guns, pick up the sponge, car wash for peace.”
After the song, Fallon thanked everyone saying Boston is awesome, and if he knew you could make a video like all the other talk show hosts, he might have made one himself. He said filming Fever Pitch in 2004 was the greatest experience of his life, and backstage, he told me, “It was a phenomenal thing, it will never happen again. It’s just one of those things where it’s like unless you were at a Cubs movie and shoot it every year until they win then it will never happen again.”
Closing his act, Fallon impersonated Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Chris Rock, Richard Lewis, Robin Williams, Lora Domai, Mitch Hedberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Larry The Cable Guy, Stephen Wright, Adam Sandler, and tried imitate Eddie Murphy.
The audience was in hysterics when he said, “Black people do not like hockey,” impersonating Rock.
Whitney Cummings laughed up a storm joking about strip clubs saying everyone that most of her friends are getting married, therefore she has been going to a lot of these clubs.
“The funniest thing to me about male strippers is they are always in police uniforms, firemen uniforms, because they say women like men in uniform, right? We don't like men in uniform, we like men with jobs,” joked Cummings.
Right before Cummings left the stage, she talked about how girlfriends nowadays send their boyfriends pictures to their cell phones showing them what’s waiting at home.
“If I was going to take a here’s what’s happening photo shoot, I would take some pictures of the…dishes, or the bills,” said Cummings.
Lenny Clarke then took the mike telling the audience that Curt and Shonda Schilling were in the crowd celebrating their 17th anniversary of marriage.
“I myself have been happily married for 35 years, five different women, but I’m no…quitter,” said Clarke.
After Clarke, Adam Ferrara came to the stage saying he recently just came back from Jamaica flying Air Jamaica.
“Air Jamaica is a Bob Marley tour bus in the sky. The captain gets on the Air Jamaica intercom saying, ‘This is your captain speaking,’ breaking out in laughter saying, ‘Don’t look at me, I can’t do it now, I’ll call you back,” said Ferrara impersonating a Jamaican pilot. Seconds after the captain hangs up the phone, Ferrara says, “This is your captain again. I apologize for that drop in altitude (while laughing) saying, ‘I saw a cloud and thought it was a Chicken Salad Sandwich.”’
Back stage, Ferrara told me that he has been doing Comics Come Home for at least 10 years, and, “I’ve been a standup comic since July 13, 1988. That’s probably one of the pertinent facts I can remember.”
Bringing up the topic of Michael Vick playing football again, comedian Patrice Oneal is perfectly okay with that. Oneal said Vick did his time in jail and should be able to do whatever he wants now that he is out, and not have to apologize for anything. Oneal went on saying the reason he keeps doing it is because he is good at it.
After Oneal’s “time” on stage, host Leary introduced the next comedian Jeffrey Ross.
“He went to school here at B.U. before they had the really good…like this place. You remember when B.U. kind of… Now its like, I’d rather skate here then at the…Garden. They have a movie theater in the back where the players can come off the ice in their skates and watch highlights from the first period. What the… Popcorn and… I have to stop hitting him, I have to hit him.”
With a wonderful introduction, Ross took over saying, “Denis, man, great job hosting tonight. Never realized Wilem Dafoe and Anne Heche had a baby.”
Working out to stay physically fit for the ladies, Ross said, “I work out at the jungle gym right in front of McDonalds,” explaining that his trainer is 4.5 but is built like a nine year old. “We do like 20 reps on the slide, a couple hours in the sandbox, then we…in our pants and our moms come pick us up.”
Talking to Ross before Comics Come Home kicked of their 15th year, Ferrara said, “Believe half of what he says.”
In his second year at Comics Come Home, Ross said B.U. was his alma mater.
“B.U. is finally getting recognized, I’m just kidding. B.U. has always been a great conglomerate, always taking over Boston, and now it’s unreal,” said Ross who recently came out with a book titled “I Only Roast the Ones I love.
“It’s a how to for making fun of people without upsetting them,” said Ross.
Lastly, Bill Burr closed the night blowing the audience away with his lunch joke. Before he closed the night however, he told me he was in a movie called Date Night this past summer, and has been in four Comics Come Home shows.
Burr said when Leary called him the first year he appeared in the lineup he was star struck.
He left a message saying, “Hey, Billy, this is Denis. You’re really…funny, thank you for coming on, something like that,” said Burr.
“I went to order a turkey sandwich the other day,” said Burr explaining that he wanted lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise on Rye. “They go, ‘turkey sandwich, lettuce tomato on Rye.’” At this time, Burr agrees with them telling them he also wants mayonnaise.
“The guy goes, ‘Oh, the mayonnaise, its right over there,”’ said Burr. “Really, then why don’t you…go over there, and put it on my sandwich. I’m on this side of the register. Guy who orders the sandwich, guy who makes the… sandwich.”
Burr then told the sandwich maker that he paid full price for everything and he refuses to do work he should be doing.
“This isn’t like a relay race. You make half the sandwich, you… hand it off to me, I run over and pick a line full speed over to my mom, she puts a tooth pick in it.”
After Burr’s performance, Leary sang the A-Hole song. Listen to the A-Hole song by going to www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzoPTtTfcrA. For more about the Cam Neely Foundation, go to www.camneelyfoundation.com. For more information about Shawn Hansen’s Comedy Corner, go to: www.shawnhansenscomedycorner.blogspot.com.
New England Picture covers the entire United States shipping out framed products to their customers, so if anyone is interested in New England Picture call 1-603-625-8901, or go to either www.newenglandpicture.com.
Comedian Rick Cormier of Chelmsford is the guy you should see if you want to spend the night laughing.
“I started about five years ago. My wife and I were talking about divorce and I needed some other diversion I guess,” said Cormier.
At the early stages of his comedic career debuting at Lou’s Place in Tewksbury, Cormier said, “Lou’s Place…that reminds me of an ancient Chinese proverb. Man who not pay mortgage lose place.”
Developing his parodies he started submitting them to amiright.com followed by soundclick.com and has roughly 30 parodies to this day.
“To much acclaim, a lot of them got a lot of favorable reviews and then I started recording those,” said Cormier.
Cormier said his first parody was written for a friend who was getting married for the second time. He explained that his wife’s name was Maureen as everyone called her Mo.
“What I did was a parody to Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ and called it ‘Mo’s Way.”’ Cormier said it was a big hit singing the song at his friends wedding so he figured he would perform parodies live. “Please Mr. Postman to She’s Lindsey Lohan” and “I left my heart in San Francisco to I wrecked my heart with spam and Crisco” are other parodies Cormier put together.
In Cormier’s career as a comedian he has appeared at a comedy studio in Boston, Giggles Comedy Club, Elks Halls, VFWs and Knights of Columbus’ and the Lowell Brewery. He has worked with comics such as Dave Russo, Larry Lee Lewis, Steve Sweeney, Ira Proctor, Paul Nardizzi, Mike Donavan, Artie Januario, and Johnny Joyce.
“I just wrote a theme song for the Johnny Joyce Roast,” said Cormier. His song fit perfectly because of the letters in his name. “You know its M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. Well his name is J-O-H-N-N-Y J-O-Y-C-E, Johnny Joyce.”
Looking at other comics, Cormier said he always has been a fan of Rodney Dangerfield, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Rich Little, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Jonathan Winters, and Monty Python.
Cormier likes Frank Sinatra and The Beatles, and does “A day in the exodus.” He said this is the story of Moses set to a day in the life of The Beatles and has a lot of sound bites in it that he got off the Internet.
“I put Cheech and Chong in there. I did both Cheech and Chong and I have Charlton Heston in there from the 10 Commandments,” said Cormier.
Sometimes Cormier does his own soundtracks and will work with mini-tracks isolating each instrument individually making the sound better and more realistic.
Aside parodies, Cormier also impersonates Stewie Griffin and Arnold Schwarzenegger and would like to incorporate more voices into his acts. Some of the jokes he does includes: “I've got a friend who is a mime... he's not talking to me.” “My ex-wife is a housekeeper...she got to keep my car too.” And “There are lots of new Blackberrys out there but, my favorite is still Halle.”
In life, Cormier is looking for a full time job while he sticks with comedy part time. He would like to become a recording engineer and has the qualifications to do so.
“I already know how to do it. I know the software, and can work with audio files. I know how to mix and edit. I know all of that stuff,” said Cormier.
Also, appearing at Giggles Comedy Club Nov. 6, Nov. 25, Nov. 27, and Nov. 28 will be one of Boston’s favorite comedians, Lenny Clarke. Clarke’s upcoming shows noting Friday, Nov. 6 will be the show to see, Steve Castraberti, owner of Giggles Comedy Club said, “That will be an interesting show because he’s going to do “Comics Come Home” to benefit the Cam Neeley Foundation Saturday night.”
Castraberti said a number of comedians will show up that night to keep their routine sharp and prepare for “Comics Come Home” the following night at the Agganis Arena at Boston University.
“Adam Ferrera from Rescue Me and perhaps a few other guys that are going to be doing the Saturday night show will be here,” said Castraberti explaining that comedian Bill Burr may be there as well.
Castraberti said Clarke does his traditional night before Thanksgiving show which usually includes a dozen comics because everyone wants to say they worked with Lenny Clarke. For the night before Thanksgiving show, Paul D’Angelo, Al Ducharme, Tony V, Artie Januario, and Brad Mastrangelo, Kevin Knox, Johnny Pizzi are scheduled to appear with Clarke as more comics could appear at the show.
“We’ve been doing standup here for 20 years. Myself, and my partner Mike Clarke, who happens to be Lenny’s brother, which gives us access to Lenny,” said Castraberti explaining that Lenny doesn’t do comedy anywhere else.
Comedy shows at Giggles are on Friday and Saturday nights with the exception of an occasional holiday night and fundraising night. For fundraising, Giggles Comedy Club is offered to charitable events, sports organizations, or schools for the night for a flat rate and will be given unlimited pizza for a 75-minute show.
While enjoying a night out filled with laughter from different comedians, you can also order a bite to eat at the restaurant side of Giggles whose been in business since 1961.
If you are interested in going to a comedy show at Giggles, call 1-781-233-9950, or visit their Web site at www.princepizzeria.com/giggles-comedy.cfm. They are located at 517 Broadway in Saugus, Mass. 01906. Most shows are $20 per person, excluding special events. For Rick Cormier
Journalist Shawn Hansen’s joke of the month: “Yeah, so the other day I covered Town Meeting. At the meeting, people were talking about Article 15, Article 29, Article 8, and Article 26… I said, rookies… I have written 62 articles in my career.”
If anyone would like to have a joke published in my monthly column, send jokes to smjokes@aol.com. In the email, include your first and last name, and where you’re from. Each month I will pick one or two jokes to run in my column. Thank you in advance for your joke(s), and keep it clean.
TEWKSBURY - At Salvatore’s in Lawrence, Tewksbury Comedian David Russo’s comedy had a room full of fans in stitches during a performance in September.
Taking the microphone from a Salvatore’s employee named David, Russo started the night thanking the man saying, “Your name’s David, too? How do you spell it?”
When Russo told a fan in the audience he looked tough because he had his arms crossed, he then made his face look like actor Robert DeNiro, while pointing and shaking his finger. He told the crowd that’s all they would get because he unfortunately cannot impersonate DeNiro.
“For years now, people said that my appearance is a younger version of Robert DeNiro,” said Russo explaining that he throws the face on for entertainment purposes.
“It’s usually when someone’s trying to poke fun at me, or tease me, or when someone gives me a weird little face, I’ll say, ‘Oh my God, you looked just like Robert DeNiro,’ and then I’ll do the impression of that person.”
Mixing it up
Russo said he likes to mix things up a little in his performances.
“There are different styles of comedy, there’s spoken word comedy, and there’s physical comedy,” said Russo.
In his act, Russo said his sister taught him how to fight. He then starts defending himself, in slow motion, by frantically waving his arms at his supposed attacker.
“It’s a physical piece of comedy. The audience really seems to enjoy it,” said Russo.
The fans speak
With a room packed with roughly 120 people at Salvatore’s in Lawrence, Russo’s fans spoke about the night.
“I thought it was great,” said Jim Blaisdell of Lawrence. “I haven’t been to a comedy show in a long time. The place is beautiful and the seats are comfortable.” Blaisdell said he would be interested in seeing Russo perform again.
“We enjoyed the entire show,” said Wink Farrow of Connecticut, who was there with his sister Amy. “It was worth the trip.”
“I thought it was a great show. Dave Russo’s comedy killed,” said Joe McDonough of Burlington. “The funniest parts where when he talked about his family.”
For more, go to www.daverusso.net.
TEWKSBURY - Comedian and Tewksbury resident Dave Russo works anywhere between three to five shows a week. In 1999, he started making faces like actor Robert DeNiro. Russo doesn’t say anything; he just does the face.
“A lot of people recognize me for that,” he said. “They don’t know my name, they say, ‘the guy that does DeNiro.’”
Growing up in Malden with a brother, and sister, Russo started entertaining people at age 5. He attended Malden school systems, and made a name for himself in high school.
“I was Malden’s first ever state wrestling champion. I was voted MVP in the state of Massachusetts my senior year,” said Russo.
After high school, Russo divvied up his college career going to Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and the University of New Haven in Connecticut.
When he was younger, Johnny Carson was an inspiration to Russo.
“My family always liked watching Johnny Carson,” he said. “We especially liked comedy night when they had comedian’s on Johnny Carson. Some people are born to be professional baseball players. Some people are born to be scientists. I was born to be an entertainer.”
Russo said his parents grew up in the 1950s. They followed Elvis, and the Rat Pack. Between dance competitions, participating in theater, or singing in church, Russo always had a knack for entertainment.
“Singing, and dancing has always been a part of my life,” he said.
Over the years, he has paired up with comedians Dave Chappelle, Lenny Clarke, Steve Sweeney, Don Gavin, Mitch Hedberg, and Chris Rock. He has appeared in shows outside the United States.
“I did a TV show in Amsterdam. It was like the David Letterman of America. I forget the name of the show, but it was back in 2001.”
He out-laughed — and outlasted — 5,000 entertainers to be a part of a 10-episode TV series “The Entertainer.” He won the very first “Best New Comic” award in Boston’s Comedy Festival, and appeared on NESN’s Comedy All-Stars. He also said he spent a month in Mexico, entertaining south of the border.
For Russo’s advertisement campaign, he sold a few hundred copies of a DVD he put together called “My Road to Vegas.” His first CD, “Gonaherpacyphalitus” came out in 2006.
“As of right now, I’m putting together some promo packs. Aug. 13, I’m taping the Phantom Gourmet. It’s going to be appearing on TV in September.” Russo is not sure what day it will appear, but will post video footage on his Web site at www.daverusso.net. On his Web site, Russo has a video from NESN’s “Comedy All Stars,” and will post more in the near future.
A joke that Russo is laughing about right now is his latest, “I have never had a surprise party. Well I’ve had one surprise party. Some people like to call it an intervention.”
Aside from comedy, Russo helps his friend out with landscaping; he helps produce shows, and is part of the fundraiser circuit around New England. He will perform at Patriot’s Place in September down at Gillette Stadium. It’s a fundraiser for the police around the state. Russo raised money for Make A Wish Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, along with the town of Malden to get new bulletproof vests. Joking around, Russo chuckles, “I give a lot to Charity, she’s a dancer in Vegas.”
Out of four Comedy Softball League teams, Russo’s team is in first at 7-1 as of Thursday, Aug. 7. He is on a men’s hockey team, and likes to golf.
