This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Dom Irrera.
Dom Irrera is headlining at the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana Las Vegas, April 9th through the 12th. Showtimes are 8:30 and 10:30. For ticket information, go to troplv.com and for everything about Dom Irrera, go to domirrera.com
Irrera’s stand-up material was honed in a multi-generational Italian household in South Philadelphia with his mother, sister, grandmother, uncles and cousins all under one very big roof. A great-grandmother even lived across the street. Together, there were three floors and four generations of family.
His first big break was his performance on Rodney Dangerfield’s “Nothing Goes Right” comedy specials for HBO. In 1989 Irrera’s own HBO “One Night Stand” earned him his first CableACE award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Special.
In 1995 Irrera won a second CableACE for the Showtime stand-up series he hosted, “Full Frontal Comedy.” That same year he received a second CableACE nomination in the writing category for his work on Comedy Central’s animated series, “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist.” He also starred in a solo stand-up special for HBO in ’92, titled “Command Performance.”
Irrera has performed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,””Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The View,” and made several appearances on “Oprah.”
In addition, he voiced the character Ernie, the demolitions expert, on Nickelodeon’s “Hey Arnold.” Other notable animation work includes multiple seasons voicing Duke The Dog in “Barnyard.”
Irrera’s film work includes a featured role in Robert Townsend’s “Hollywood Shuffle,” a cameo in the Coen Bros. Film, “The Big Lebowski,” “The Fourth Tenor,” starring old pal Rodney Dangerfield, and he played himself in the Rodney Dangerfield / Dom De Luise film, “The Godson.”
