Dave Russo
written by Ken Carlson
“In New York” says comedian Dave Russo, “if you’re a Boston comic, they know you have some type of skills. Without Larry Bird or Julius Erving, there’s no LeBron James. Look at some of the people who have come out of Boston; Paula Poundstone, Denis Leary, Bobcat Goldthwait. The training you get in Boston is second to none. You do your time. If they say do five minutes, you do five minutes. When somebody’s heckling you – Chance Langton gave me this one – if someone hollers something, repeat it because everyone may not have heard it and it gives you time to come up with a comeback. The training I got from some of those guys, like Mike McDonald, Lenny Clarke, Vinny Favorito, is the difference between being a professional and an amateur. I’ve been told by comics from New York or Jersey, ‘Wow, you Boston guys really stick together!’”
In sports terms, Dave Russo can best described as scrappy. He hustles to achieve whatever he can in this competitive business and plays on his strengths as a good natured wise guy with a deep-rooted affinity for New England and its people. In his younger days he excelled at football and wrestling despite being shorter than Dustin Pedroia and today he brings that same energy to his act here in the Northeast.
“I was a small kid,” says Russo from his seat in the bar upstairs at the Brew Ha Ha comedy room in Hartford, CT. “As a freshman in high school, I was 4’11” and 79 lbs. But, I could always dance. In fact, I was break dancer. Once, my older sister took me a to a school dance. My mother said she had to bring me if she wanted to go. I was nine at the time. Rappers Delight had just come out. It was the first album I ever bought. So, at the dance, I did this dance like Michael Jackson. Next thing I knew, there was circle of people around me cheering me on.”
Las Vegas. Bright lights and high rollers. Sharp suits, not jeans and a t-shirt. You think Wayne Newton, not some average guy from Malden, Massachusetts. But sometimes events have a way of bringing those elements together.
“I moved back from Vegas,” says Russo, “about a year and a half ago. I had a four and a month long contract through The Entertainer, a program on E! Network with Wayne Newton. The week the Red Sox won the World Series, I auditioned. I was hand-selected out of about a thousand people. I was high on life. I mean, the Red Sox had just won the World Series! It was my dad’s greatest gift.”
“It was a reality show,” Russo continues, “I don’t watch reality shows. So I went in for the audition not caring. I was just doing my thing. The audition was at 11 in the morning in front of three people. I went to bed the night before about a half hour before I got up. They loved me and brought me back to perform for seven people. Wayne was watching from a television monitor. I ended up coming in second place for the million dollar prize. The singer won because they wanted to compete with American Idol, even though I got fifty percent of the online vote. When I won one of the episodes, I won a trip in Wayne’s helicopter. They followed me in every episode, but gave it to someone else. So, I lost out on 250 grand, but Wayne Newton gave me a contract. I turned that four and a half months into two years. Then, it started drying up. Vegas is nice. I did Vegas. But now I’m back.”
Aside from the stage time, mass market exposure and a healthy paycheck, Russo took from his adventure elements of the business which he uses every day. He learned how advertising and marketing and PR works and is a tireless promoter. He books himself rather than pay someone else, even designs his own website and had a hand in producing his first CD, recorded live at the Portland Comedy Connection in Maine. He sells them after shows and after a year is into his second batch of a thousand.
“When I was in Vegas,” says Russo, “I was doing twelve shows a week and ran with it. I paid off every bill I ever had. But, the comedy industry really isn’t in Vegas. Now I understand the business better, going through TV 101 with The Entertainer being on ten weeks straight as a competition. It was on five times a week. Reality shows go by how they’re edited. I learned that early on, so I kind of directed how they went. There’s an episode where a guy wanted to cheat, but my persona was, ‘What would The Fonz do?’ The Fonz inspired me as a kid.”
“Based on the crowd’s reaction,” says Anthony Sousa, manager of Brew Ha Ha at the City Steam Brewery after Dave’s recent appearance, “this weekend, it is safe to say that Dave has earned his spot to perform here in Hartford indefinitely. It was a pleasure having him back since his move to the West Coast.”
“Dave,” says Sousa “is a comedian who really thrives off of the crowd’s perception of him. He was humbled by the audience’s acceptance of him and even after his solid early show performance, he sincerely asked me ‘How did I do?’”
“Because I have TV credits,” says Russo, “I can work for everybody. I’m not backstabbing anyone. When I came back, I went to Mottley’s and told Timmy (McIntire) I wanted to do a show. I brought in ten to fifteen people and had them pay. I want Mottley’s to be successful. There were a lot of people there and everyone had a good time. Business is business. If they succeed, I succeed. I love competition. If it’s a good club, it’s really good for us.”
“Dave has the magic ability,” says comedian Al Ducharme, “to make funny out of thin air. He can take a simple concept and turn it upside down and twist it inside out to create a solid comedy piece.”
“I always watched Johnny Carson growing up,” says Russo. “My family loved the comedians. I remember seeing Steven Wright, thinking he was great. He looked different to me. There were lot of guys in jackets and ties, but I was a jean and t-shirt guy. Then after college, I saw Richard Jeni perform and thought he was the funniest guy ever. And he was a kind of like me, a wiseguy – you know, how ya doin’? My mom’s a wiseguy. My dad’s a wiseguy. You give a joke and can take a joke.”
Russo was assistant director of admissions at Hesser College in Manchester, NH before he turned pro. He was there four and a half years when in April of 2000, he won the inaugural Boston Comedy Festival. Then he came in third at the San Francisco Comedy Festival.As a result, Ray Romano’s manager put him on New Joke City with Robert Klein. From there he got into college gigs, doing up to 75 of those shows a year, an experience he admits, much like Vegas, burned him out.
“First show I ever did was at Remington’s,” says Russo. “I was working on my five minute set and had my wrestling coach tape it for me. He thought it was good, but told me, that just as I became a state wrestling champ I had to work at it. Two and a half years in, I won the festival in Boston. It was kind of controversial at the time. I only had a really good ten minutes. But, you only need five minutes to win. How many headliners are used to doing just five minutes?”
“I’m seasoned now so I get it,” says Russo. “To have an introduction, like “Winner of the Boston Comedy Festival” or “opened for Lenny Clarke” it adds legitimacy and built a resume. But, it hurt me a little bit. I wasn’t the best comic in Boston at the time. I have a mirror and know what I look like and what the deal is. Festivals are important to keep comedy on the map. If they’re done properly, they get people out to see live comedy. I’ve worked with Lewis Black and have seen him many times. Every time, I see him, I think that’s why I got into comedy. Don Gavin, Lenny Clarke, Louis CK, that’s why people come out to see it. It’s the magic of the audience.”
At the time of our interview, Russo was in negotiations to be a spokesman for Narragansett Beer, the famous New England brew [‘Gansett’s Brewed for Drinkin’, see their classic ads at 
narragansettbeer.com including animated spots featuring the voices of Nichols and May from 1966]. He’s following the advice given to him when he met Matt Damon. “He was in this movie,” says Russo, “and that movie, but it wasn’t until he created his own destiny that the industry noticed him. Narragansett wants to compete in New England. They don’t care about national attention. They have a show on NESN, twenty six shows a year and I’m hoping to get thirty seconds in every episode from a part I’m writing for myself.”
“When I was younger I wanted to do the New York thing, the LA thing,” says Russo. “If I had, I’d be in a different place then I am now. I’ve learned to be honest with myself. How much longer do I have on this earth? Maybe another forty years, and only thirty comfortably because the last ten suck. I’ve got a day gig working as a courier with a buddy I play hockey with. It gets me up every day at nine and makes a few bucks. My goal is to make a name in New England and maybe the folks from LA will come to me. Casting agents in Boston don’t know about me. I did everything in my power to make my fifteen minutes last. Instead of being a little bitch, a little diva, I didn’t let it get me down. I loved every minute of it. You can either be positive or ask why this guy is ahead of me. I treat it like a job and I pay my taxes. It’s a job I’m lucky to have. I took the day job to discipline myself and help a guy out. It keeps me from staying out all night. It keeps me in a good diet and living like a normal person. Entertainers don’t take care of themselves. They have crappy diets and don’t live long. They drink all the time. I go to work, play hockey with my friends go out for a beer and call it a day. You have to be disciplined in this business. I had to leave Vegas. It never closes. I knew when it was time to get the hell out. It’s not realistic. It’s like living in Disneyworld. When you go to Vegas, you’re supposed to go to a circus, a five-star restaurant, whatever sex, drugs and rock n’roll you’re into, every night.”
And how has Dave kept his feet on the ground while reaching for the stars? How has he avoided the pitfalls? “It has to do with family. My parents were married forty-five years. I get along awesome with my sister and my brother. Upbringing has a lot to do with it. I’m at ease with my family and inner circle. I play poker and hockey with my buddies. I go to work, then off to poker. Off to hockey. Off to do comedy. You can talk negative about this business, but it allows me not to do what my Dad did, get up at 5 am to shovel ice or worry about layoffs. I have a game plan now. I didn’t know what to expect beforehand.”
For more on Dave and to purchase his CD,
visit DaveRusso.net.