This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Dick Capri.
Veteran comedian Dick Capri, along with Steve Solomon, performs in “The Battle of the Broadway Comedians” in the Troesh Studio Theater at the Smith Center, April 26- 30.
In a career that has spanned two continents he has played every major entertainment medium including nightclubs, resorts, arenas, and theaters. Capri has even piled his trade on the Broadway stage and on national television. He has worked with such major stars as Tom Jones, Liza Minnelli, and Frank Sinatra.
He broke into international prominence in 1973 when he toured with Englebert Humperdinck. Capri honed his comedy craft performing at such venues as Radio City Music Hall and the Minskoff Theater in New York, as well as in major resorts in Las Vegas and the Palladium in London. While in England he also performed on a television special broadcast over the BBC
Capri made his Broadway debut in 1991 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, co-starring in the critically acclaimed Catskills On Broadway. The show played to sold-out houses for 14 months and later toured nationally, leaving audiences roaring with laughter night after night.
He had made several appearances on national television, including being part of Comedy Central’s highest-rated special, the comedically acclaimed New York Friars Club Roast of Drew Cary. Capri also has performed for Presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush.
Capri writes most of his own material, much of it based on his own experiences from his travels. His unique style features a measured and deliberate delivery.
Born Richard Crupi in Reading, Pennsylvania, Capri started his show business career as a clerk in his father’s grocery store-doing comedy mimes of the customers. When he ran out of characters there, he left the store to become a full-fledged impressionist and developed the unique comedic style that has become his trademark.