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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.
