Woodbridge comedian fights for fame

Yorkregion.com
August 15, 2018
Simone Joseph

Alex Pavone’s mission in life is to rise in comedy.

But after leaving Canada for New York in 2014, he found he had sunk to a real low point.

He was living and working in the U.S., but couldn’t sign leases yet and had to share a room and bed for eight months with another man.

Pavone now describes, with a mock disgusted tone: “Waking up beside another man touching his foot in the night.”

He remembers thinking: Jesus Christ this is terrible.

He and his roommate moved around a lot and once lived in Harlem.

“No one cared about us,” he said.

His pathos may be part of his bit, his comedy routine, but his description of the biggest challenge he’s faced -- moving from Canada to the U.S. -- seems genuine.

Going to New York City was “starting at zero,” he said of heading into a bigger market.

“You lose faith in yourself. Am I still funny here? Does the humour translate?”

You have to discover how to get into clubs, you forget your life since parents and friends aren’t around. “You don’t have the basic routine you’ve known your whole life.”

The line between his honest answer to questions and the emergence of funny bits you may hear in a comedy club are blurred.

It’s tough finding friends as an adult, he says. “You can’t go ‘hi, how are you doing?’ They’d say ‘get away from me’.” And then: “You can’t try making friends in an Uber.”

Pavone has been featured on CBC, Much Music and SiriusXM radio.

The 32-year-old Woodbridge native is a semifinalist in the Sirius XM Top Comic competition -- the ninth annual search for Canada’s best comedian. Pavone is vying for a shot at the grand prize, which includes $25,000, a guaranteed spot in JFL (Just for Laughs) Sydney, Australia in 2019 and spots in three of Canada’s biggest comedy festivals.

Standup is his passion, he says. Moving south was a career no-brainer.

“I love Canada”, he says. But in Canadian comedy, he noticed the same opportunities over and over again. “I was doing standup, wanted to get better but there’s not enough shows.”

Pavone realized comedy was the path for him back at about age 18.

In his group of friends, he was always the story teller. “Any time we are reminiscing about something or we were at a party or get together they would always call me and be like ‘Yo tell that story about the time we went to ...’ That was my role in my group of friends. I just have a good memory and remember small details.”

But, he was terrible in school and in trades, Pavone said.

His father and uncle had an excavation company and Pavone worked for a month in construction. His father’s reaction was: “Holy s---, this kid’s useless”.

Pavone describes one job when he was in charge of holding the sign that on one side says “slow” and on the other says “stop.” He says he took a break that involved sitting down in a chair, rubbing coconut oil on himself and passing out for a few hours. “Some guy beeped, woke me up. He said ‘get out of the way.’ This guy did my job, said ‘move.’”

If any show goes badly, Pavone tries to take a positive approach. Some jokes may be too long but even if he is failing, he knows the experience will make his joke refined or sharper. ”I look at every show as a win even if it is a ten second win” he said. ”Every time I get offstage, I try to look at it positively, look at what I can learn.”

When Pavone first moved to New York, he returned to Canada every two months. Today, he only returns twice a year.

He slowly began to meet people in New York, performing on stage, meeting other comics with whom he has become good friends. He now lives with comics.

It took a year to get on a good comedy show because he didn’t know a lot of people, he said. Last year, he opened for Bill Burr, who he thinks is one of the best comedians out there.

Pavone’s longtime friend, Michael Loconte, is not surprised by his success.

“He wants this so bad, he’ll do anything to get there,” Loconte said.

In fact, Loconte says he is living vicariously through his friend.

“What he’s doing, I wanted to. I just don’t have the balls for it ... he’s living my dream”.

Up until Aug. 17, Canadians can vote online for their favourite comedian in the Sirius XM Top Comic competition. Go to https://topcomic.siriusxm.ca/comic/alex-pavone/ to watch Pavone’s comedy or watch other comedians and vote for your favourite. Or, you can check out one of Pavone’s podcasts: Suite Buddies or Friends and Sports with Canadian comedian, Graham Kay.