AMERICAN CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE 10/02
JOHN CAPONERA
PLAYING THE CORPORATE MARKET
STORY BY W.C. KIRBY,JR.
If John Caponera looks familiar, that's because he is. In 1993 the head of Disney television, Jeffrey Katzenberg, saw his stand-up act and signed him to a development deal. This led to John starring role in the NBC sitcom, The Good Life. But you may also have seen him on The Tonight Show, The Drew Carey Show, For Richer or Poorer, Blossom, Tales From the Crypt, The Dennis Miller Show, L.A. Law, ER, or dozen of other guest appearances.
It is extremely apparent that John's twist on comedy comes from his life experiences. He grews up on Chicago's South Side and was one of those kids who thrived on making others laugh. One of six children, he took it upon himself to be the entertainment at family gatherings.
By the time he got to college at Lewis University in Lockport, Illinois, he became one of the school's most unusual students with his interest divided between baseball and thespian endeavors. He was cast in a number of plays including One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest.
"When I graduated from college in 1979, I wanted to be an actor but didn't have the money to move to New York or Los Angeles, so I started doing open mic nights at a local comedy club near Chicago. At first the most I got was gas money.Then after about a year, the older veterans would take me on the road and let me open for them. My comedy career kind of snowballed from there. I started out with a skit that I wrote in college. For my final exam in public speaking, all the students were required to do a comedy monologue. Mine was a pretty big hit in class and one of the other students told me about a contest they were having at a local bar and encouraged me to sign up. I ended up winning $500. That's when I started going to comedy clubs."
After headlling clubs for several years all through the Midwest, John finally make the move to Los Angeles in 1986. I got signed to star in a NBC series in 1994 (The Good Life). Drew Carey was my best friend on the show and that is how he got noticed." That show was followed by a sitcom with Dolly Parton that never got aired.
"That show had a six show commitment at CBS and the first three were so awful that they scrapped them. They brought me in for the last three after re-tooling the show. I was suppose to be a restaurnant owner that was her love interest. The last three episodes turned out really nice, but by that time it was a sinking ship.
"I also did a pilot for NBC called Ace In The Hole, which was rated pretty highly. Unfortunately, by this time they were looking to attract singles shows like The Single Guy and Friends. I had a kid on this show, so they passed on it. I've been to the plate many times in the sit-com world and have been part of some great projects, but my bread and butter has always been stand-up in clubs and the corporate world.
"There is a huge difference between these two venues too. In the clubs you can sort of let your hair down and let everything fly, but in the corporate setting you want to be sure you are doing a clean show. You don't want to ruffle any feathers. I have actually cut back on my club dates because I have been doing more corporate gigs. I just picked up a couple of dates for Mercedes Benz where I am going to do their golf outings. I perform at the dinner parties afterwards and have been doing them the last four years. I would much rather do a couple of corporate dates than a string of club show because I have three kids I don't want to be gone from my family that long.
"My sports material goes over well at these outings where there is a predomimantly male audience because thay can connect with the references. Corporate audiences make you work a little harder but you can be funny without having to be blue. They tell you what they want and you have to adjust. After September 11, 2001, corporate shows fell off. Obviously a lot of people chose not to fly and some companies cancelled their meetings. When those dates opened up, I was forced to fill them with club dates. That was a reality check. It really makes you appreciate the corporate market and any comedian who complains about having to do clean comedy doesn't have his or her head screwed on straight."
"But the corporate market is starting to come back. "I just got six more dates from Mercedes that they weren't planning to do this year. I'm a bargain compared to some of the prices that some major corporations are paying." And it is true, some corporations are looking for alternatives to the more pricey productions.
John admits that corporate gigs give him more time to further his career in other areas. "I am doing Damon Wayons' show (My Wife and Kids) next week. If I weren't doing corporate shows and still had to rely on clubs, I wouldn't have time to explore other possibilities."
If you watch John's show, it is uniquely different than most other stand-up routines, but the performers who influenced his life work are many of the same who have influenced other comedians who have made the corporate market their home. "Early on, the people who made me laugh were George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters and Robert Kline. I like how they would take a premise and just run with it. I like to do the same. I think my acting backround lends to my stand-up because I tend to act out my bits and I'm very physical and animated with alot of facial expression. I believe you have to sell your material using whatever talents you possess to convey it to the audience."
As far as where television is going now, John thinks that is much of a mystery. "Everything has already been done. Every subject matter has been done to death. I don't know where they can take sit-coms. I actually would like to do some drama too. I have already done ER and L.A. Law. I played a drug enforcement agent a few years ago in Drug Wars. I have learned the hard way that at any given time, only 20% of all actors work. That is whay the coporate market has access to so much good talent..
"I started my career during the comedy boom. I started in 1980, so I saw it thrive, become over exposed and decline. I am fortunate enough to be one of the survivors. There were a lot of people out there that were performing that never should have been working. It was just that there were so many clubs and Americans had such an appetied for comedy. Now that the comedy boom has peaked, the herd has been narrowed and what you have left are mostly very good comics.
"Alot of comedians can't do corporate dates. Even if you take all the curse words out of your performance, many comics are use being loose and uninhibited. In a corporate setting every time you do a joke, you really have to worry who it could possible offend. You have to be cautious. It doesn't mean you can't be yourself and it doesn't mean you can't put on a good show. You have to know something about your audience. When I do the Mercedes gigs, 90% of the audience is male. I know I can get away with alot of sports material. When the audience is mixed, I cut back on the sports and do more family and relationship material. I have learned that a buyer may or may not say something positive about a good show, but if they are unhappy, they will say something about a 'bad' show every time. It is my job to make sure that doesn't happen. If I haven't done a corporate show in a while and I have been doing clubs, I will sit in my hotel room and go over my act, knowing what I know about the client."
John continues to light up corporate audiences. His impressions of the late Howard Cosell and Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray are dead-on and hilarious.
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