Tom Papa’s debut as a comedian was at a small New York club.
There were 10 people in the 5 p.m. audience. Five were his friends.
He told a few jokes he’d written. The tiny crowd laughed.
Papa was filled with intensity and excitement. He said to himself, “I belong here!”
Recently, he sold out the historic Beacon Theater.
“It was not lost on me that it took 30 years to go 5 blocks, from that first set to the Beacon,” he says.
Next month, Papa — who toured with Jerry Seinfeld, been a frequent guest of Jay Leno and David Letterman, performed on “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” hosts a Sirius XM radio show, and does dozens of live shows a year — brings his prodigious comedic talent to Fairfield University’s Quick Center.
The New Jersey native headlines “Stand Up for Homes with Hope.” The October 17 event — an annual fundraiser for the Westport non-profit that battles homelessness and food insecurity — is always a highlight of the fall calendar.
Tom Papa
More than a decade ago, Papa was one of the first comedians at a “Stand Up for Homes with Hope” show. He’s traveled far since then — metaphorically and literally.
Yesterday, he spoke with “06880” about his career, and next month’s gig. The night before, he’d done a private corporate show. In a couple of hours, he would be in a theater.
“You never know what you’re walking into,” Papa notes. “Every group has its own culture.” Fortunately, he says, “last night the lumber salesmen were great.”
Papa’s route to the stage began in 7th grade. He heard Steve Martin and George Carlin in the same week.
“Wow!” he thought. “Making people laugh can be a grown-up job. You can make money at it!”
From then on, he was “funny with a purpose.” In the cafeteria, he made his friends laugh. In the classroom … well, he learned that being funny sometimes “helped charm me out of situations.”
Of course, being funny takes work. “You have to write a lot, perform a lot, and fail a lot,” Papa says. “There’s a certain repetition in standing up in front of people who say, ‘Make me laugh.'”
He honed his style, which he calls “observational humor. It’s rooted in family and humanity — everyday relationships, the annoyances of being a human being.”
He does not do a lot of political humor. But his routines “brush up against current events.”
(In our interview, he acknowledged the current “kerfuffle” over NPR funding. “The ‘Wait, Wait …’ audiences are such nice people. They wear Birkenstocks and carry tote bags. These people are dangerous?”
(And although being on Joe Rogan was “fun for a while, things got weird.” He no longer appears on the podcast.”)
Looking back on his eventful career — and ahead to the Homes with Hope fundraiser — Papa says, “there is something special about comedy. When you leave a show, you feel a little less alone.
“And when you can connect comedy with a cause, you leave laughing. And you feel like you’re a good person.”
“Stand Up for Homes with Hope — An Evening with Tom Papa” is Friday, October 17 (Quick Center). Tickets are $200 (includes cocktails and supper, 6:30 p.m.) and $50 (performance only). Click here for tickets, and more information.
Funny guy 🤣