Comedian and actor Rob Bartlett. Submitted photo.

By Frank O’Donnell, WPRO Comedy Contributor

Rob Bartlett has been performing as a comedian for about 40 years now. He’s Don Imus’ radio sidekick, he’s appeared on Broadway, he’s been in movies and on TV shows, and on Saturday, he takes the stage at Catch A Rising Star Comedy Club inside Twin River Casino in Lincoln. He took some time recently to tackle 11 quick questions.

Frank O’Donnell: What came first – the knowledge that you could do impressions or the knowledge that you could be funny?

Rob Bartlett: I was the cliché class clown in school, but being able to do an impression of my next door neighbor, who was a drunken buffoon, got me some attention in the neighborhood.  Once I realized I could make people laugh, it was my ticket to acceptance, which is the tragic personality flaw that all comedians share: a desperate need for approval.  I didn’t matter that I couldn’t throw a football as well as the middle school quarterback, who was a bully. I could do a dead-on impression of him, making fun of his speech impediment.  Which, aside from that resulting in my getting my ass kicked on a regular basis, did leave an impression on people?

FO: Tell me about your very first show – the first time you got up in front of a paying crowd.

RB: It was at a wine n’ cheese’ café called the Cork n’ Board in Hempstead.  Those joints were pretty popular for a while in the late seventies.  It was owned by a friend of a guy who I used to work with.  There was a folk duo, Lee and Lynn.  And I got up in between their interminably long and hideously awful Neil Young covers.  I really didn’t have any material, just a sense of what I thought I was going to do, and thought I could be a wise ass for 15 minutes and that would get me by, which, surprisingly enough, actually did.  It was a small crowd, but they were somewhat drunk by the time I got on, and the fact that it was a break from the tedium of ‘Lee and Lynn’, I actually did ok.  After my set, I had half a bottle of Lombroso, and two beers – both of which I had to pay for – and then I was informed that I was expected to go up to do my second set.  For which, I was less prepared for than my first. It didn’t go quite as well, degenerating pretty quickly, as I recall, winding up with me doing my impressions of how various celebrities sounded when they farted.  (I was way before my time.)

FO: What topics do your stand-up cover these days?

RB: Although on the radio, the bits are current event driven, in my stand up act, I don’t always rely on headlines to be subjects for material…I will sometimes use them as jumping off points to get me in or out of bits that I have done in the past. I try to find things that I find amusing, observations about life that strike me as funny, and go with those.  The crowd usually dictates which way I will go.  You always have to know where they’re at in order to know what to do to make them laugh.

FO: How often are you getting out and performing at clubs?

RB: I try to get out once or twice a month to do stand up shows.  Sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends on the opportunities.  I’m always trying to explore newer outlets, different venues, but also try to return to places where I know there’s a built-in audience. 

FO: How rigorous is your Imus schedule?

RB: It’s not so much rigorous as it is early.  We are on the air five days a week, four hours every morning, and I’m responsible for two comedy bits per day.  I get up at 4 a.m., leave the house by 5 a.m. so I can be in makeup and costume (for the Fox Business Simulcast) and on-set by 5:55 a.m.  When I’m not out on set, I’m in the Green Room with Tony Powell, and we work on writing the daily ‘Behind the Scenes’ blog for Imus.com. 

When I’m doing a Broadway show, the schedule becomes somewhat grueling, as I usually don’t get home from the theater much before midnight.  One summer, back when we were simulcast on MSNBC, which was broadcast out of Secaucus, New Jersey, I had to be in the makeup chair by 5 a.m. because, at the time, they were doing full-on prosthetic makeup for the character, (bald cap for Dr. Phil, etc.) which meant I had to leave my house on Long Island by 3:45 a.m.  After the show I would go into Manhattan where I was rehearsing “The Odd Couple” with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick until around 5 or so and then I would go to my dressing room at the theater where I was doing “Sweet Charity” with Christina Applegate eight shows a week. If that schedule didn’t kill me, NOTHING will.

FO: Pros and cons of your radio celebrity?

RB: Obviously, being associated with a broadcasting icon, on one of the most popular programs in radio history, has been a huge pro.  The exposure I’ve received has helped greatly to move my career forward. I’ve been afforded many opportunities as a direct result of my association with the Imus Program.  It allows me to promote my stand up gigs, but I’ve also been able to parlay the “celebrity” into opportunities in theater and television.  Back before we were simulcast on TV, it was anonymous celebrity, which was fun, because I could listen to people talk about me without them knowing it WAS me.  Which was good, of course, when they liked me… because then I could introduce myself and get the accolades. But when they thought I sucked… thankfully, I could slip away relatively unnoticed.

FO: What do you point to as your proudest moment as an entertainer?

RB: This interview.

FO: Lowest moment as an entertainer?

RB: I once did a gig on a bus that went from Baltimore to Cherry Hill New Jersey. It was a corporate thing. They were on their way to their Christmas Party, and I got picked up at a rest stop as a “surprise.”  I didn’t know they wanted me to perform for THE ENTIRE trip. I was expected to entertain for 109 miles… and we hit traffic.

FO: Who are the comics who’ve gone before you that you’d call mentors and/or influences?

RB: Anybody who is working as a comic today who doesn’t say Carlin, Pryor and Cosby is lying.  But I was also influenced very early on by Pat Cooper, who is amazing.  Eighty something years old and still brings it.  He has a relentless delivery and a work ethic beyond belief.  Steve Martin and Robin Williams were the ones to nudge me into trying to do this. They were the big breakouts that I believe started the comedy boom of the eighties. But it’s always been Jonathan Winters and Peter Sellers. Their ability to do multiple characters was what I emulated and wanted to be.  I wanted to be able to be spontaneously funny like Winters, pick up a stick and get 20 minutes worth of laughs out of it.  He was about as much of a comedic genius as there has ever been.

FO: Who (if anyone) are you watching in the comedy world these days?

RB: There are a few people I would actually pay to go see. Absolutely Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, both of whom I think are brilliant.  I also find Dave Attell to be particularly hilarious, as well as Jay Mohr and Colin Quinn.  I think Amy Schumer is pretty fearless, and dispels the rumor that “women aren’t funny.”  I can’t believe what she gets away with on her show on Comedy Central.  She is completely unafraid to “go there” to get a laugh…and then look at you and give you that “What?” look.

FO: If a new guy comes to you to ask your advice about becoming a comedian, do you offer advice? If so, what would that be?

Don’t do it.  There are too many comedians out there already.  And not many good ones, but even so, we don’t need any more competition.  Get a real job.  Now get out. 

Rob Bartlett appears at Catch A Rising Star Comedy Club inside Twin River Casino in Lincoln on Saturday, July 20. Two shows, at 8 and 10PM. Visit Catch’s website, or www.twinriver.com for all the details.