Seven Mile’s Comedy Tradition is No Joke
I am now at a point in time where I have to explain who Ed McMahon was to younger readers. He was Johnny Carson’s longtime sidekick on “The Tonight Show.”
“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” was not the first late-night talk show. Steve Allen and Jack Parr own that distinction, but Carson perfected it. And the template that Johnny and Ed created is still in place today for Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert and crew.
And Ed McMahon? Ed performed the sidekick role so well by laughing at Johnny’s jokes and playing straight man during skits like “Carnac The Magnificent,” that most of today’s late-night hosts don’t even bother with a sidekick.
Not to mention that Ed is responsible for one of the more legendary moments in cinema history when a murderous Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” chops his way through a door and exclaims “Here’s Johnny!” That was Ed’s famous line when he would introduce Carson at the beginning of every show.
So why am I mentioning Ed at all? Well, Ed helped make Avalon famous because he owned a house at 19th Street and the beach beginning in the late ’60s, and Ed and Johnny would talk about Avalon frequently on their Monday show when they would chat about what they did over the weekend. And as a Jersey Shore-loving teenager, that just filled me up with pride. Avalon? Our Avalon?!
I mean, you couldn’t get much bigger than “The Tonight Show.” Particularly when it came to breaking comics, so I even took more special notice. So, since throughout the ’80s and up to a few summers ago I booked comedy nights at four clubs in Stone Harbor and Avalon, I thought I would remind you of some of the amazing standups who have graced the stages over the years on Seven Mile.
Please take notice that I am putting these comics in alphabetical order. I don’t want anybody thinking I favor one over the other. They are all amazing talents.
JAY BLACK: Jay has written a number of movies for the Hallmark Channel starring the likes of Paul Sorvino, Erika Christensen, Joe Piscopo, Scott Wolf, and many others. As a standup he has won the College Comic of the Year three times. Trust me, a stop as a standup on one of the late nights or a Golden Globe nomination (the Oscars disgracefully rarely nominate comedies) as a writer is in the works for Jay. You’ll remember you read it here.
JOE CONKLIN: The most brilliant impressionist ever. Period. Most folks, and rightfully so, are amazed how drop-dead perfect his voices are. But what’s not appreciated enough is how brilliant a writer he is. Week after week, month after month, year after year, Joe has to keep producing new songs and new bits. And don’t forget when a new player, coach, celebrity or politician (both his Trump and Obama were perfect) are in the news, he has to master that voice immediately. He’s uncanny.
TODD GLASS: Todd is a regular on Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien and Tosh.0, to name just a few TV programs, and was the first comic who went on before me where I said, “I’ll never follow that maniac again.” A complete lunatic on stage.
DOM IRRERA: Bada bing! One of the fun-niest cats ever, I just worked with him a month ago at the Tropicana, where he’s still packing them in, and that showroom seats 2,000! He’ll hate that I’m writing this, but he was already a legend when I began my career. He was one of the first comics I worked with where I said to myself, “What’s the point, I’ll never get that good.” A long line of credits including “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” “Seinfeld,” “The Big Lebowski” and the Showtime hit, “I’m Dying Up Here.” I opened up for him at the Rock ’n Chair because I knew he was coming from another show and possibly could be late. I ended up stretching my set to 50 killer minutes until I saw he was there. I mean, I smoked the room, and within 10 minutes the audience forgot I even existed! And he’s funnier than ever. I was standing next to Dom once when a stranger approached and asked Dom what kind of humor he did. And Dom replied, “The funny kind.”
ROSIE O’DONNELL: No need to rattle off credits when dealing with a household name. People forget that before Rosie became the icon she is today, she was one hell of a high-energy, take-no-prisoners standup. Stinkin’ hilarious. I wish she would perform in the area more.
MIKE SACCONE: Performed many times on the Seven Mile. Dig this tale: Mike and I once discovered that we both enjoyed counting money on Sunday mornings. You usually got paid on Saturday nights after a three-day or weekend engagement. And I was always selling “merch” to boot. Mike had reached the final round of “Star Search,” and if he beat a comic named Spanky, he would win $100,000 in a winner-take-all battle. The loser received nothing. Zero. Well, my phone rang one evening and when I picked it up, there was Mike saying “$99,567 … $99,568 …” He won! But here’s the controversial part of that story. Right before the show taped, Spanky approached Mike and said, “Hey, if I win, I’ll give you $10,000 if you give me the same 10 grand if you win.” Mike took the deal, went out and won, and then the two of them had to determine how much was owed since Uncle Sam took $45,000 of Mike’s $100,000. Would you have made that deal?
CRAIG SHOEMAKER: “The Lovemaster.” Craig was honored as Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic in the 1997 American Comedy Awards and has a slew of credits such as “Roseanne,” “Scream 2,” “Spin City” and “Parks and Recreation.” Many of the Seven Mile clubs that I booked were handed down to me after Craig had made the move to Hollywood. We worked together many times, including one night when he got pulled over in Avalon after the show for going 26mph in a 25mph zone. When his license was run, it turned out he owed more than $700 in unpaid fines. They hauled his butt off to jail and I spent the rest of the night raising the money. Ah, I miss such good times. And I just finished working with Craig a couple of weeks ago in New York. And no, he didn’t get thrown in the slammer. One other “Lovemaster” story. He and Rosie worked together at the Chair one night, and the following day over lunch they discovered they had both struck out with the same girl.
Comedy along the Seven Mile is not done by a long shot, and what’s cool about these names is that, other than Rosie and Mike, they all hail from the Philly and South Jersey area.
Keep ’em laughing!
