Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 | 8:42 a.m.
Lisa Ferguson's Laugh Lines column appears Fridays. Her Sun Lite Column appears Mondays. Reach her at [email protected].
It's a good time to be Jimmy Pardo.
"I think it is," the comic-turned-game-show host says during a recent call from his Los Angeles home. It's tough to argue with the guy: He's clearly on a heck of a professional roll.
Pardo simply oozes enthusiasm over his gig hosting "National Lampoon's Funny Money," on which contestants compete for cash and prizes with help from a panel of stand-up comedians. The series, which owns the 7 p.m. nightly time slot on the Game Show Network (Cox cable channel 68), began airing in June.
Pardo is also set to begin his third season as co-host of "Movies at Our House," which airs at 8 p.m. Saturdays on AMC (Cox cable channel 52). Each week Pardo and his female counterpart, Rachel Quaintance, chat up a flick and gab with special guests on their living room-styled set.
If that weren't enough, Pardo, who started in comedy in the late '80s, still finds time to perform the occasional stand-up gig, as he's doing through Sunday at The Improv at Harrah's.
"I'm living my dream," he says. "I'm hosting a game show, which is something I've wanted to do since I was an infant, and the AMC thing is almost like hosting a talk show, which is the ultimate goal."
But life wasn't always a bowl of cherries for Pardo, who stands 5 feet 4 inches tall. He developed his sense of humor as a lad, hoping to beat bullies on his own terms.
"When I was a kid, I had to be like 4-foot-2, so to battle people knocking my height I was funny; to not get beat up, I was funny," he says.
The Chicago native began performing at open-mike nights in 1988. He landed his first paying gig the following year, and paid his comedy dues playing plenty of "hell gigs."
"I would drive eight hours to the gig, and it would basically be at Bob's Country Bunker," Pardo recalls of his early years. As soon his set was through, "The Jell-O shots came out. It was just comedy night, and I did a lot of those starting out."
Pardo was finally "discovered" in 1994 by his future agent after performing in a CBS-sponsored talent search. Said agent convinced the comic to move to Los Angeles the following year. The move was expedited when Pardo made a discovery of his own: his then-girlfriend's infidelity.
"So, I packed up the car and cried for 2,000 miles to L.A.," he says. To make matters worse, he soon learned the town could be "a tough city when you don't have anything going on" in your career.
For months, Pardo recalls, "I was just lost, completely lost." He was dealt another blow when his agent suffered a nervous breakdown and quit the business. "So I was basically left with nothing."
Then came a break in the form of a new agent who "slowly but surely started getting my name out there," Pardo says.
In 1998 the comic performed at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, and his career began building steam. The same year, he shed 30 pounds and met his future fiance, fellow comic and Vegas frequenter Danielle Koenig. The two are set to wed next spring.
Describing his sarcasm-laden comedy style as "almost this generation's Don Rickles," Pardo explains he prefers picking on audience members -- and himself -- during his live shows, rather than stick to his rehearsed set.
"I will literally get distracted by a guy putting his jacket on, and then I'll yell at that guy for 10 minutes," he says.
But with his TV career in high gear, opportunities for 37-year-old Pardo to stretch his stand-up legs are few and far between. Though he spent 12 weeks performing on the road last year, he can count on one hand the number of dates he's played so far in 2003.
It's just as well: Pardo prefers hosting "Funny Money" over telling jokes at comedy clubs. He's not sure why, as a child, he dreamed of one day hosting a game show. But one thing's certain: Somebody let little Jimmy watch too much "Family Feud."
"This is gonna sound weird, but there was something about Richard Dawson," Pardo says, laughing. "Not even the kissing thing -- I don't even want to go there, 'cause that wasn't it ... This guy does nothing and he's great at it, and that's what I wanted to do: get paid to do little more than nothing."
Pardo's greatest skill, he says, "is being able to talk to real people ... and make them feel comfortable even when I make fun of them."
Hence the reason "Movies at Our House" also suits him: Pardo and Quaintance improvise the entire show.
"I'm interviewing people and flying by the seat of my pants, and that's really what I'm best at," Pardo says.
Sounds like nice work if you can get it.
"I just love showing up every day," he says.
"You've caught me at the happiest I've ever been in my life. I'm getting married ... and I've got these two great shows." Still, Pardo jokes, "Catch me in six months, when both are canceled and I want to hang myself."
Out for laughs
Aspiring and established comics, listen up: The Laugh Across America contest, scheduled to stop in 15 cities throughout the nation, heads to Las Vegas on Oct. 15.
There is no fee to enter the contest, which is open to amateur and professional comedians in several categories: Youth (age 18 and younger); College (student ID required); Props, including magicians, ventriloquists and jugglers; Original Parody or Comedy Song; Mainstream Stand-Up; Latino; Comedy Club Pick (for pros with credentials); and a Specialty Category for professionally employed DJs.
The regional winners of the contest will perform for judges during the "Play Vegas" portion of the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, scheduled for Oct. 29 through Nov. 11. That's when they'll vie for the chance to be crowned comedy champion. To register for the contest, check out the Laugh Across America link on lasvegascomedyfestival.com.
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