LAWRENCE: Comedian, Rider grad is serious about his craft

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Comedian Tom Papa grew up in a household of storytellers who often imitated the people around them — from the butcher to residents of the neighborhood — for comedic effect.
   So it was natural, then, for young Tom to do the same thing — starting in the second grade, when he went onstage at school with a banana peel and performed as Ryan Stone Banana, a takeoff on the popular song “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
   Tom’s family moved from his hometown in Bergen County to the next town over when he was in 3rd grade. He made some new friends who were funny, and they formed a troupe known as the “Odd Squad” that put on skits.
   But it wasn’t until the then-6th-grader listened to record albums made by comedians such as George Carlin that it dawned on him: “Hey, grownups do the same thing I’m doing, and they get paid for it. I realized that was a job I could do.”
   ”I had no idea I could be a comedian,” Mr. Papa told a group of Rider University students last week. The stand-up comedian was the keynote speaker at Rider’s annual Film and Media Studies Symposium, whose focus was “Just for Laughs — A Mini-course on Film and Television Comedy.”
   Mr. Papa, who is a 1990 graduate of Rider, has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Conan,” and “The Late Show with David Letterman.” He also starred opposite Matt Damon in “The Informant.” He hosts the Sirius/XM show “Come to Papa,” which has featured interviews with comedians Mel Brooks, Ray Romano, Carl Reiner and Jerry Seinfeld.
   Mr. Papa told the students that he was asked to return to Rider for a talk about comedy. He thought about it — “comedy week?” No, all it gets is two days. “That’s all the respect it gets,” he said, as the students laughed.
   But what exactly is comedy?
   No one really seems to have a handle on it, Mr. Papa said. Although he has interviewed some of the greatest comedians on his radio show, nobody has a grip on it or what makes it work, he said.
   ”It’s hard. You can’t really talk that much about it. It’s illusive, but I made a career out of it,” Mr. Papa said.
   Growing up, it wasn’t all jokes in high school, he said. He played football and while he was elected to be the captain of the team, he was also voted to be the class clown. He also began writing jokes as a high school student.
   During his tour of colleges as a high school senior, Mr. Papa said, he visited Rider University and loved the school. One plus was that it did not have a football team, he joked, so his father would not be able to make him play football.
   Mr. Papa majored in communication at Rider, and was quickly drawn to the theater. He said he “practically lived in the theater.” He moved off-campus and began “living an actor’s life.” He assembled a group of friends, whom he fondly described as “a band of misfits.”
   Life after graduation was a challenge. He said he sat in a cubicle with an interviewer when he applied for a job, and said it was a “horrible” experience. He moved to New York City, aiming to embark on a career as a comedian.
   ”You enter this weird world in New York City. I was hooked. I started writing and performing every night. I was doing stand-up comedy, and I was around funny people. I wasn’t (working in the clubs) to get paid. I was there to get good,” Mr. Papa said.
   Mr. Papa began moving through the ranks. He met Jerry Seinfeld, which turned out to be his biggest break. Mr. Seinfeld had the same sense of humor that he has, Mr. Papa said, adding that after Mr. Seinfeld watched him perform a few times, he told him, “You’re really funny.”
   Being a comedian isn’t all fun and games — especially when you write your own material, Mr. Papa said. Writing jokes requires discipline. He said he writes jokes for a couple of hours every day because “if you leave your art for one day, it will leave you for two days.”
   A writer made the observation that writing is a little bit like being a shopkeeper, Mr. Papa said. The shopkeeper has to open the store every day, whether or not he feels like doing it. Some days, no one comes into the store and on other days, it’s busy.
   ”It’s my job to open the shop every day. I sit with my notebook. I write for about an hour or so. I have to write everything down. I have to see it on a piece of paper. (But) you can’t test it (on paper). You have to go up on stage and perform it,” he said.
   Mr. Papa said it took about eight years for him to find his comedic voice. In the beginning, he imitated other comedians, until he became confident in his own voice. Comedians often date their career from that date – in his own case, it was June 12, 1993.
   ”(Being a) stand-up comedian is dangerous,” he said. “There is an energy — a give-and-take (between the comedian and the audience). You go into a room and you know this is going to be work. There is no energy. You’ve got to find the spot. You know when it’s just not hitting.”
   Asked by an audience member about his parents’ reaction to his vocation, Mr. Papa said they were “cool with my career choice.” They could see the writing on the wall — this was what he wanted to do. He said he did not leave his “day job” until he was certain that he would be able to support himself.
   ”My parents were supportive. They didn’t understand, and I didn’t understand, how I was going to make a career (of being a comedian). They never once said, ‘Are you sure about show business,’” he said.
   Nevertheless, Mr. Papa said, he owes much of his success to Rider University.
   ”I can’t tell you how important this place was for me. You could be a freak and be accepted. I learned a lot,” Mr. Papa said.