Irrera Part II

On Saturday June 14th 2008 Dom Irrera kept his promise and swooped in on The Turning Stone Resort and Casino to perform his rapid fire stand up act.

Irrera did not waste a second getting into his performance. From the moment he hit the stage it was one joke after another. His loaded delivery was reminiscent of greats like Rodney Dangerfield.

During one ten minute stretch he averaged an amazing ten jokes per minute, he crammed about one hundred jokes into ten minutes. People, including me,COO Ray Halbritter and everyone else were dizzy from laughter.

His subject matter was like a stream of consciousness, one subject leading into another all arriving at the same hilarious conclusion- a gut busting laugh.

Everyone was fair game. No race was off limits no age , no sexual orientation. He distributed his absurd and often practical observations equally across all demographic spectrums.

Irrera is the epitome of stand-up veteran the prototypical comic. His nuanced delivery kills everwhere he goes. If he does not like the response, if he isn't satisfied, he shifts gears falling back on his lounge comic act to get his propers.

Irrera is beyond bombing he can mess a joke up and still get laughs. He always starts with family, his Philadelphia roots serve as a foundation for his multi themed act. The cast of character include a homophobic cousin with homoerotic tendencies, a grandmother with a mouth that would make a sailor blush and many more.

The funniest is the overweight uncle who thinks every woman wants him and when he gets rejected...they're gay.

After the show I met him backstage the first thing he did was thank me for telling him there was no alcohol. "I had the limo driver stop to get these" he held up an ice cold La Batts.

Unfortunately it was the last beer.

Thanks Dom.

"You're the guy with the kid... from Ithaca right"? he asked. Dom was reffering to my son, Barry Max, who impressed Dom with his persistence taking every opportunity to intterupt me during my first telephone interview with him.

"That kid won't let up...is he alright"?

"He's doing an imitation of Curly on The Three Stooges" I replied.

After the initial niceties we were treated to a tour of The Turning Stone Resort and Casino. Brigitte Calisti, talent co-ordinator for the Turning Stone would be our guide.

During the tour around the casino Irrera's off the cuff observations trumped many of the jokes he told on stage.

"How big is this place"? I asked "I don't know... ask Dr. Moe or Dr. Larry" he was reffering to two approaching food inspectors required to wear white lab coats...one of them was cross eyed.

Flanked by security and Brigitte we made our way around the horseshoe shaped casino eventually arriving at our final destination, Lava The Danceclub at Turning Stone.

Lava's oppulent, plush , red confines conjur images mirth and merriment. The twenty two thousand square foot club is well suited for the young, hip crowd that it attracts.

Our early arrival made it easy to take advantage of the available drinks for the members at the members only club we instantly joined.

Our conversation shifted to his craft " I like a quick paced show. I keep the jokes comin ...thats my style" he explained.

He also talked about his love of the lifestyle. "I love this , flying first class, the best wines, foods, five star hotels...actually Dave come to think of it maybe I can just freelance, I'd rather do what you do".

Dom enjoyed himself he enjoyed the trip. One of the revelers at Lava admitted Irrera is the only comic he likes other than George Carlin. "Jeez thats great ..you just compared me to God" he said.
"I had a light crowd but that guy Ray asked me back" he said. "That was the COO" I informed. "The crowd was not light at all...in fact, it was full of heavyweights".