Stand-up comic enjoys variety
By John Benson
John Pinette returned this fall to the stage as Edna Turnblad in ‘Hairspray.’
Over the last 15 years or so, fate has smiled kindly on veteran stand-up comedian John Pinette, who has remarkably appeared in many varied pop culture venues outside of the comedy club.
“It’s weird, I got to open for Frank Sinatra, and I did the ‘Seinfeld’ finale and ‘Hairspray’ on Broadway,” said Pinette, calling from Newark, N.J. “It’s like I’m Forrest Gump. I keep popping up in these weird places.”
He quickly added, “Of course, ‘Simon Sez’ is my finest work. That’s the movie I did with Dennis Rodman where I played the monk. I don’t think I’ll ever do anything better than that. How can you duplicate that performance?”
Born on the outskirts of Boston, Pinette emerged on the comedy club scene in the early ’90s. Though he’s ventured into acting, his first love is stand-up comedy, where he was named American Comedy Awards 1999 Stand-Up Comedian of the Year.
Currently working on material for the follow-up to his 2006 Comedy Central special and DVD “I’m Starvin’,” Pinette decided to return this fall to “Hairspray.” Once again he’s playing the role of Edna Turnblad, which was made famous by John Travolta in the 2007 feature film.
“I’ll tell you what the joke in my act is, John Travolta did the part in the movie, which is weird because we read for a lot of the same stuff,” Pinette said. “I remember the ‘Pulp Fiction’ auditions. He’s like ‘You’re going to get it,’ and I’m like, ‘No, you’re going to get it.’”
Regarding Edna Turnblad, the role must be something special for Pinette to keep coming back for more.
“When I finished ‘Hairspray,’ I did almost a year on the national tour, including six weeks at the Kennedy Center, and then I did nine months on Broadway, and that was enough,” Pinette said. “Now I’ve been on the road for two straight years, the show is doing great in New York, and it gave me the opportunity to get off the road for four or five months.
“It’s always good to take a step back from stand-up for a little while because you grow to miss it really fast and you realize how much you love it.”
It’s for this reason that Pinette said he’s returning to Cleveland for shows Thursday through Sunday at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre.
“Like Cleveland, some clubs in Orange County, California, and some places in Jersey and Florida are my favorite cities and my favorite places,” Pinette said. “I’ve been going there for years, and I love seeing the same people for years. So I want to play some of my favorite venues before I go back to Broadway.”
What is it about Northeast Ohio that keeps Pinette returning to Hilarities?
“It’s just the fact that people keep been coming back, and it obviously inspires me to keep writing,” Pinette said. “And it’s very much like just coming home. I feel very comfortable there. It feels like a home club.
“That and Little Italy. Oh, those rice balls at Angelo’s [Nido Italia Restaurant].