Friday, May 16, 2003 | 8:39 a.m.
Lisa Ferguson's Laugh Lines column appears Fridays. Her Sun Lite Column appears Mondays. Reach her at [email protected].
It's ironic that during the late 1980s John Joseph warmed up audiences for comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield.
These days, instead of Dangerfield ranting about how he "can't get no respect," it's Joseph who has the ax to grind, especially when it comes to garnering attention for his own act.
"A One Man Show Wit Two Guys" stars Joseph, a comic/guitarist, and John Barillaro (aka Johnny B), a comic/keyboard player. The two have performed the act -- a blend of jokes, music and storytelling -- since 1993. They've set up shop through Sunday at The Comedy Stop at the Trop.
The act is sort of an exaggerated take on the one-time, real-life dreams of both men.
"It's about two guys who wanted to be rock stars," Joseph explained in a recent call from his Long Island, N.Y., home. "Somewhere along the way they got married, they had kids, they had bills and they couldn't live the dream they thought they were supposed to live.
"Meanwhile their whole lives, that's what they lived. They were onstage anyway, just in a different version ... telling jokes and making people laugh and cry."
The story doesn't stray too far from the truth: Joseph, 50, has worked in entertainment most of his life. He played guitar and wrote songs, and was an actor before becoming a comic 17 years ago. Since then he's served as the opening act for Julio Iglesias, the Beach Boys, Chicago and LeAnn Rimes, among others.
Barillaro, 44, played in piano bars during his pre-comedy days. When they're not performing together, he and Joseph maintain solo stand-up acts.
"A One Man Show" starts with music from Barillaro accompanied by a monologue, delivered from backstage by Joseph, that sets up the men's tales. Then Joseph -- a father of two who's been married 26 years -- takes the stage with his stand-up comedy, covering such evergreen topics as relationships, marriage, sex and children.
Barillaro joins Joseph (and his six-string guitar) onstage for the remainder of the show, which features original songs penned by the guys, including a tune with an expletive for its name that's improvised using material culled from audience members.
"The people don't know it's coming but they catch on to it after we start singing about them, and it kind of throws people for a loop," Joseph says. Other songs, such as "Daddy's Little Girl," cause some to break out the Kleenex.
The show wraps with the two portraying 80-year-old men. "I'm telling the story ... of how we missed our whole lives because they came and went so quick," Joseph said.
Clearly, it's not your standard comedy-club jokefest. And that's exactly how the comics want to keep it.
"Me and Johnny come from a world of George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin ... They could laugh, they could sing, they could dance, they could tell jokes, spray you with seltzer, but the audience got entertained. This is what we're trying to do.
"We're just guys who like to tell jokes, like to make people laugh, cry, like to make people angry, like to make fools of ourselves, like to be serious all at the same time ... and audiences love it. It's just the industry who hates us."
By "industry," Joseph is referring to television. The comics have been hard-pressed to get any network- or cable-TV suits to give them a good look. And that's been tough for Joseph to stomach, especially since he worked his way up the comedy ranks in clubs alongside such comics-turned-TV-celebs as Ray Romano and Rosie O'Donnell.
In recent years Joseph has guested on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" and "The View" talk shows, performing his solo act. "They won't let me bring Johnny," he says of show execs. "They don't want the music. They want me to go on there and do stand-up like every other comic."
He has no doubt that one day a TV bigwig will take notice and want to fashion a sitcom based "A One Man Show Wit Two Guys." But that's not a priority for the comics.
"Whatever we do is really making the audiences happy, and that's all we really give a (expletive) about," Joseph says. "If somewhere along the way somebody says, 'Do you want to put this on TV?' of course, but we're not gonna go looking for it."
What the show really needs, Joseph contends, is a permanent Las Vegas-showroom home. He and Barillaro have spent the better part of 10 years trying to find it one.
"Sooner or later, somebody will want to take a chance ... and when we find a producer who wants to do that, this show will be in one of the hotels," he assures.
In the meantime Joseph is content to count his comedy blessings.
"It's a strange business," he says. "But knock on wood, after all the pessimism is said and done, we're lucky to be doing this at all."
Out for laughs
Hearing voices? Undoubtedly, if you're in the audience at The Improv at Harrah's this weekend, where Charles Fleischer, voice of the title animated hare in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," headlines through Sunday. Besides the rabbit, Fleisher's list of big- and small-screen credits is lengthy: "Back to the Future Part II"; "A Nightmare on Elm Street"; "Dick Tracy"; "Laverne & Shirley"; "Barney Miller"; "Welcome Back, Kotter"; and "Hill Street Blues" among them.
Older fans of Saturday-morning cartoons may not immediately recognize Greg Morton's face, but they likely know his work. The comic once animated "The Scooby & Scrappy Doo Show." He also recorded character voices for the '80s cartoon series, "RoboCop" and "Police Academy," and "Hammerman," an early-'90s animated series based on rapper M.C. Hammer. Morton, who most recently strutted his stand-up stuff on Comedy Central's "Premium Blend," takes the stage Monday through May 25 at The Comedy Stop at the Trop.
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