43
The jokes keep coming for Tim Cavanagh
By John Benson
A veteran of the comedy club circuit for decades, comedian Tim Cavanagh is still writing good jokes. In fact, they often can be heard weekday mornings when he contributes to “The Bob & Tom Show,” heard locally on 93.3 WNCD-FM.
“‘Tim Cavanagh’s Celebrity Birthday’ is one of the shticks I’ve been doing on ‘Bob & Tom’ for the last three or four years,’” said Cavanagh, calling from his Chicago home. “I go in every chance I get. It’s really an excuse for me to write jokes about celebrities.”
When asked for one of his favorite birthday jokes, Cavanagh said, “NBC meteorologist Al Roker is 57 at the airport, 57 downtown and 57 in the outlying areas.”
When Cavanagh isn’t making fun of celebrity birthdays he can be found singing goofy songs that have created quite an audience over the years. Early on, Cavanagh’s funny tunes such as “I Wanna Kiss Her (But She Won’t Let Me),” “99 Dead Baboons,” “Get Drunk with Dignity” and “Really Safe Sex” attracted the attention of the “Dr. Demento Radio Show.”
This led Cavanagh to a writing gig with “The Danny Bonaduce Show,” which was heard in various large markets across the country. It was that radio experience that opened the door for him to join “Bob & Tom.”
He’s also remained on the road playing his tunes and doing stand-up nationwide. In fact, Cavanagh makes his return to the Mahoning Valley for shows Friday and Saturday at the Funny Farm’s room at Crest Lanes in Warren.
People attending one of his upcoming shows can expect to hear jokes about his family (“In all of the years we’ve ever been married I’ve never heard my wife complain from bed. Of course, it’s kind of hard to hear from the top bunk”), as well as his classic tunes. Also in the mix are unreleased tracks (“My Girlfriend Spontaneously Combusted”) that will appear on his new CD due out in 2015.
“I’m really excited about it,” Cavanagh said. “This will be my fourth CD. The first was ‘Sounds Like Fun,’ which was all songs produced in studio. I received such a great media response and radio response, including from satellite radio, that we decided let’s do another CD like that. We have 20 really nicely produced comedy songs.”
As for his live show, Cavanagh said in today’s comedy climate his performances stand out due to a lack of expletives.
“It’s a pretty clean show by comedy standards,” Cavanagh said. “And it’s material that doesn’t make you want to feel like I hate life or think, ‘That guy was really messed up.’ There are a lot of comics that are so neurotic and they go on stage and kind of rant and rave. When it’s over it’s like, ‘Wow, that was a weird experience.’ My goal is simply to entertain and have fun.”
Just to confirm, no f-bombs?
“There will be two, that’s the most I allow myself,” Cavanagh said.
During a previous phone interview with the funnyman years ago, he said there was only one expletive in his set. Now there are two. Hmm, what gives?
Cavanagh laughed, “Well, I wrote another good joke.”