South Philly’s big cheese: Dom Irrera “steaks” his claim in Tampa Bay

For over two decades, Dom Irrera has been an unmistakable presence on the stand-up circuit and on television screens. The six-time American Comedy Award nominee has brought his natural, realistic brand of humor to The Tonight Show, The Late Show, The Daily Show, The View and Oprah.

Irrera has also put his acting chops to work. He made a memorable appearance as prop comic Ronnie Kaye on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld. He voiced tough-talking demolition man Ernie Potts on the Nickelodeon series Hey Arnold! (1996). Irrera even snagged a cameo in the Coen Brothers’ cult classic, The Big Lebowski. Real-life anecdotes and observations color Irrera’s stand-up routine. He has made a career out of finding humor in the everyday.

Irrera will be making a stop at The Club at Treasure Island on Friday, June 10 as part of the Gotham Comedy Series.

In a CL Q&A, Irrera talks Florida, nuns, Tosh and an underrated animated series.

So, you’re coming to Tampa in June. Do you ever miss Florida? (Irrera attended Barry University and St. Thomas University in Miami.)

Yeah, I do. California has better weather, but I have a lot more friends down in Florida.

It’s becoming oppressively hot. Be prepared.

Yeah, I heard it’s brutal. We don’t even need the air conditioner here. So, I’m prepared to stay in the hotel. Maybe stick my head out the window so I can get a little tan.

So, you’ve toured the entire country. Have you noticed any differences in what makes people laugh in certain areas? I’m sure a Florida audience is different than a Philadelphia audience.

It all depends on where you go in Florida. When you’re in Tampa, it’s more Midwestern. The East Coast of Florida is more like New York or Philly. When you go to Destin, it’s more like Alabama and Mississippi. It is such a big state, but people gravitate to certain areas. I have a good following in Tampa. I’ve been very lucky with that. I don’t really change my material that much. People generally laugh at the same stuff.

And what about outside of the United States?

That’s what’s interesting about traveling around the world. You’re in Adelaide, Australia doing a joke about South Philadelphia, and they get it. We have a real advantage in the United States, because other countries see our media. If a comic from New Zealand comes to Tampa, people aren’t gonna get it. But, I could easily go to New Zealand and talk about Seinfeld or The Sopranos.

You grew up in a big, close Italian family. Did that unleash your humor?

I’m sure it did. My family was really funny. My cousin Johnny was really funny.

Did they let you know you were funny?

That happened more at school. When I was in first grade, the nun said to me, ‘So, you think you’re funny? Let’s see how funny you are in front of the eighth-graders.’ She tried to intimidate me by taking me upstairs to the eighth-graders. I was so small that the desks were over my head. But, I stood in front of the class and did stand-up, and I got a lot of laughs. So, it backfired on her.

After watching Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist (animated Comedy Central series airing from 1995 to 1999), I can’t even look at a nun without thinking about calling her “my man.” So funny.

I forgot about that joke. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

You were on every season, right?

I was on it more than any guest star, but I didn’t want to give away my act on the show anymore. So, I started to improvise, and it was so much better.

As an art form, comedy has two sides: the writing process and the actual performance. Do you find one more fulfilling than the other?

Writing is so much harder. The performance is easy for me. I’m at the point now where I could perform in a hammock. Put a hammock on stage, and I’ll turn on my side and do standup. The writing is tedious. I have to write two shows in the next couple of months. I have to write seven minutes for the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and 10 minutes for the Montreal Comedy Festival. That kind of stuff is hard. I like free-wheeling stuff, like the Dr. Katz thing. The actual writing is the hard part, by far.

Has it gotten easier?

No. It gets harder. When your material gets better, it gets harder to break the starting lineup.

Did you love doing the voice-over stuff?

It’s so much fun, because you can go in there in a wetsuit and it doesn’t matter. You’re reading and getting directed, and you can keep doing it over and over. People think because they can do a couple of voices at a party, they should be doing voiceovers. But, it’s not that simple. The acting is more important than anything.

Your comedy is very observational. You draw a lot from your everyday life. Has that allowed you to have a different perspective about your experiences because you can find the funny in them?

One of the cool things about being a comedian is that you have immediate gratification in the sense that you know something is funny immediately when the audience laughs. And when you experience something, you can go on stage that night and talk about it. You can’t do that if you’re in a play. I try not to structure my act too much so I can be free to improvise.

So, as your life changes, does your material have to change with it?

Yeah. Especially when something traumatic happens. I got a DUI, and because of that, I got a lot of material. Even when I was getting arrested, as much as I hated it and it was horrible, I knew there was going to be funny stuff coming out of it. There had to be. The cop actually said to me, as he’s lowering my head into a cop car, ‘I gotta tell you, I’m a really big fan of yours.’ Apparently not big enough.

You’ve made guest appearances on Seinfeld, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond and Yes, Dear. Are there any sitcoms you watch now that you’d like to work on?

30Rock. I think it’s really funny. And Family Guy is funny.

I had no idea when I did Seinfeld how special it was. Jerry [Seinfeld] was my friend, but Larry [David] really got me on the show. He had this vision of me playing a prop comic, because I was up against Carrot Top for the Comedian of the Year. Our styles are so different, so he thought it was funny.

Rodney Dangerfield took you under his wing and gave you your big-break, right?

That was the biggest break by far. Bigger than The Tonight Show, because [Nothin’ Goes Right] was the hottest show on HBO [in 1987].

Are there any newer comedians that you really like?

One of my best friends is Daniel Tosh. He used to open for me all the time. We’re very close. He’s very good. Hilarious.

You’ll be touring a lot this summer. Any plans for another DVD?

I haven’t planned on it, but I might. I’m doing some TV stuff. I’ve been doing The Supreme Court of Comedy for the last three years on Direct TV, and it might get picked up. I read for a movie with [Robert] De Niro that Sean Penn is directing. You never know about those things. It could become a black musical-revival and have the whole script changed, or it could be shot next year. You never know.

This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2011.