The Arts / Performance

He's from Jersey
Joe Piscopo may jumpfrom ‘SNL' fame into politics

By David Burke | Thursday, November 16, 2006 | () comments

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Joe Piscopo performs two shows Saturday night at Penguins Comedy Club, Bettendorf.

Joe Piscopo says his rare performances in comedy clubs are kind of like spring training.

“This is where you stay sharp,” the former “Saturday Night Live” regular said. “This is like a ballplayer going to the ballfield and working it all out. This is where anything can happen.”

Piscopo says he only performs three or four times a year in comedy clubs, and that includes dates at Penguins Comedy Clubs in Cedar Rapids on Friday, and Bettendorf on Saturday.

The rest of the time, he has a full stage show, complete with a big band and video clips. That show is fully half music and half comedy, he said.

But at the comedy club, Piscopo says, he returns to his roots.

“The people are right there, right up on stage,” he said. “The greatest joy I get is talking to the audience, because you can’t make this stuff up.”

On stage, the 55-year-old talks about fatherhood — he has four kids, the youngest three from ages 7 to 2. He and his second wife are going through a divorce, and he is juggling his two youngest in a phone interview from his home in New Jersey.

He’ll also do some of the dozens of impressions that were his calling card on “SNL,” including Frank Sinatra, David Letterman and Sylvester Stallone.

“I’m easy,” he said. “Somebody yells something out, yeah, I’ll do it.”

It’s all to prepare himself for an extended date at the Las Vegas Hilton, in a cabaret next to Barry Manilow’s expanded theater.

“This totally, totally gives me the ability to go on stage with the confidence to know what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s essential to do go out and do these clubs.”

Piscopo was part of the “SNL” cast from 1980 to ’84, alongside friend and fellow comedian Eddie Murphy.

“It was just a golden time, particularly with the brilliance of Eddie Murphy. My god, it was so much fun working with him,” Piscopo said.

He also kept an eye out for his friend. Piscopo said it was his job to find Murphy before each show — “He would be so cavalier in his approach to the show, which was part of his brilliance — and to keep him in line to end a sketch on time for a commercial break.

“It was my job to corral Eddie in that regard,” he said. “I didn’t know if Eddie even knew that.”

Being cast in the show was an anamoly, he said.

“I’m proud of what I did,” Piscopo said. “But I still look at it in amazement that I even got there. The fact I was there, I’m always grateful.”

Post-“SNL,” his Sinatra impression grew into his musical stage act.

“I don’t know how I got here, but it’s a cross between jazz and comedy,” he said. “I accidentally reinvented myself. I wish I could tell you there was a plan.”

When he’s not working on weekends, Piscopo watches the current “SNL,” and marvels at its master impressionist, Darrell Hammond.

“When he nailed Al Gore, that was that,” he said. “I mean, how can you do Al freakin’ Gore?”

Piscopo has dabbled with becoming a political figure himself in his home state. A registered Democrat — who campaigned for Republican Tom Kean Jr.’s unsuccessful bid for Senate — he was approached in 2004 to run for governor of the Garden State.

He said he was surprised with polls that showed his electability factor.

“I said, jeez, if the people want me to go, I would have gone,” he said.

But he loves the people of his home state, loves living there and is even further contemplating running for governor.

“If something happens that happened last time, I’d be really tempted to go in,” he said.

He said he can relate to his fellow New Jersians.

“I’m in the blue collar of show business — I’m an entertainer, not a $20 million movie guy,” he said. “I’m a workhorse.”

And there’s not much difference between the political stage and showbiz stage, he said. That’s another reason he wants to get on the road.

“You cannot create it. You cannot rehearse it,” he said. “The only way to do it is get your butt on a plane and get out to Iowa and step on that stage.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

Who: Joe Piscopo, with Jimmy Rice

When: 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18

Where: Penguins Comedy Club, Isle of Capri Conference Center, Bettendorf

How much: $25 advance, $27 at door

Information: (563) 324-5233