Like Martin and Lewis, duo does comedy old-school

By John Benson

Ohio audiences relate to the comedian-pianist act.

Nearly 50 years after Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis first crossed paths in Atlantic City, lightning struck again near The Boardwalk when comedian John Joseph teamed up with piano player John Barillaro (aka Johnny B).

The result was a unique comedy-meets-musical-improvisation act that has found an audience with its old-school humor. The duo celebrates its 15th year together with a return to Cleveland for a New Year’s Eve week run, Monday through Jan. 4 at the Hilarities 4th Street Theatre.

“I was doing stand-up alone for about 10 years, doing all of the comedy shows on TV, and New Year’s Eve 1993 I was working at the Tropicana in Atlantic City,” said Joseph, calling from his native New York City. “Johnny [Barillaro] was playing at a piano bar at Caesars in Atlantic City, and after my show a waitress said, ‘Let’s go to Caesars; a friend of mine plays beautiful piano.’ So we went down there and a few people were in the lounge drunk and Johnny was playing with a drummer.

“I walked over and said, ‘Do you know any Joe Cocker?’ And he said, ‘Do I know Joe Cocker.’ So he started playing and I started imitating Joe Cocker and people in the lounge started laughing. I said to him, ‘There’s a keyboard at the theater at the Tropicana where I’m doing my show tomorrow. Why don’t you sit in?’ He said, ‘What am I doing to do? I don’t know anything about comedy.’ I said, ‘That’s perfect.’ So the next night he came and sat in at the keyboards and I said, ‘Follow me.’ Those two words basically started the act.”

From his start in the early ’80s, Joseph’s comedy fit naturally alongside music. While he was a supporting act for the likes of Huey Lewis and the News, Kenny Rogers, Rodney Dangerfield, the Doobie Brothers and the Righteous Brothers, Joseph earned a steady paycheck for a decade as international superstar Julio Iglesias’ opener. Not only did Joseph spend that time honing his skills, but the experience provided material that still lasts today.

“When I toured with Julio, we’d get really bored on the road, so I used to make fun of him and he got a really big kick out of it,” Joseph said. “I kind [of] brought that into my regular stand-up, making fun of the accent and how he speaks. From there I kind of brought Antonio Banderas into it. For a guy like me, just a regular schmuck from the streets, when Antonio was doing the movie ‘[The Mask of] Zorro,’ it kept sounding like he was saying ‘Zero.’

“He would go, ‘Do you know who I am? I am Zero.’ Basically my whole act is based on that one line, ‘I am Zero.’ So by the end of the show, men are talking to their wives and saying, ‘Do you know who I am?’ And women are going, ‘Yeah, you’re Zero.’ That’s the common denominator in the show.”

It’s this battle of the sexes and something musical, fun and different that Joseph says has earned the duo such a popular following in Northeast Ohio.

“The people get it,” Joseph said. “They’re just hard-working, middle-class, suburban people, and our act is basically about two guys who wanted to be rock stars and along the way got married, had kids, had bills. And I think everybody relates to that.

“Also, you won’t be seeing anybody from Comedy Central. That means you won’t be seeing 25-year-old kids talking about body parts. It’s going to be much closer to Martin and Lewis than Comedy Central.”