The year was 1982. My new wife and I attended East Side Comedy Club in Huntington, NY. It was considered the premiere comedy club on Long Island. I don’t remember who the headliner was because I was focused on the feature act, sometimes known in comedy as the middle. It was a guy named Bobby Collins. As I watched in hysterics, I recall turning to my wife and saying “I want to do that someday”. Little did I know that 30 years later, I would be the opening comedian for Bobby multiple times. I think every performer has that one person that inspires them to make the big move.
It took me 9 years after that 1982 show to actually take the plunge. However, it was not by choice, but rather a dare. I was out to lunch with my office co-workers at my accounting job at a place called The Juke Box Café in Hauppauge. A themed restaurant owned by WBAB DJ Bob Buchman. Meredith, from the office, pointed me to a poster on the wall and said, “Look at that!” It read: Talent Night. Singers, Comedians, Magicians, bring your talent every Wednesday. Win valuable prizes.
“You should sign up,” Meredith continued.
“Me? I can’t sing.”
“No! Comedian! You’re hilarious. You can do jokes about where we work”
(By the way, that never works). I didn’t say anything, but just stared at that poster.
I was always funny; I got it from my dad. I watched comedy for years. I think it started when, at around the age of nine, my mother sat me down in front of the TV. “Watch this - it’s funny.” It was Duck Soup featuring The Marx Brothers. I had no idea what I was watching, but I was immediately drawn to Harpo since he was the slapstick a kid of nine would understand. It took many years before I understood the genius of Groucho Marx, one of my comedy heroes, who I had the honor to portray many times over the last 10 years.
At 10, I discovered making the bullies laugh stopped them from picking on me and making the girls laugh was fun, though it never really got me anywhere. I am pretty sure it was the acne that kept them away. Throughout school I would listen to all the classic comedy albums like George Carlin Class Clown, Robert Klein, Bill Cosby, etc. and repeat them verbatim in school the next day. I wasn’t just a fan of comedy; I was a student.
By the time 1991 hit and Meredith showed me that poster, I was already a well-trained comedian, without setting foot on stage. So, I signed up for the talent show. They gave me 15-minute spot in between all musical acts. I was the sole comedian on the show. I didn’t know until years later that doing 15 minutes for the first time, in-between musical acts, equated to comedy suicide. As they say, you don’t know what you don’t know. I only had 6 days to prepare my 15-minute set. I wrote down every joke I ever heard from my dad and many observations I had thought about over the many years. I practiced over and over and I felt ready. I decided to use the moniker of “The World’s Funniest Accountant” since accountants are never thought of as funny. I threw on a bowtie and some suspenders and used an old nickname I had from the late 70’s. I was a punk rock fan and spent many nights at CBGB, the famous NYC club. I was there so often, one of my friends started calling me Stevie GB. I thought it had a nice ring to it. Hopefully easy to remember. Turns out, I was right.
The night came and I was sweating bullets. My entire office staff came to watch me. Not sure if they were rooting for me or hoping to watch me crash and burn. I was not scared; I was in a state of euphoria. Now, this is the part of the story where I’m supposed to say I bombed horrifically. I didn’t. I don’t really remember much of it. It was an out of body experience. I ended up taking 3rd place in the contest and my valuable prizes were a t-shirt and a Bonnie Raitt cassette. More importantly, on my ride home, I discovered what I was meant to be. A comedian. I thought to myself, this was it. I should be famous in a couple of months. I’ll be on Letterman by Christmas and be able to quit that stupid job. It didn’t work out that way. Oh, glorious delusion.
Over the last thirty years, I have been lied to, ignored, robbed, cheated, and insulted. I quit 3 times only to return because not doing it drove me crazy.
I have never had a sitcom. I never made it to Letterman or any late-night show for that matter. But I have had many small successes along the way. I have written and produced three One-Man-Shows. I portrayed Groucho Marx in a play with The Marx Brothers to rave reviews, including a cover story in Newsday, selling out 23 consecutive shows around Long Island. I have written 12 One Act Plays, a full-length play and a musical, many which have been staged in various NYC theaters and festivals. I have opened for my comedy hero Bobby Collins eight times, and performed at Westbury Music Fair opening for Dion & The Belmonts in the full round sold out show of 3,000 people. I have performed at the 1,500 seat Paramount Theater in Huntington 10 times, opening for comedy greats such as Norm Macdonald, Dennis Miller, Rob Schneider, Louie Anderson, Bob Nelson and more.
I have also performed at firehouses, libraries, churches, backyard parties, block parties, private homes (including living rooms), and of course comedy clubs. I spent 2 years travelling on the road to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio and I hated every minute of it. The road is not for me. I love Long Island and have very little trouble getting booked locally. It’s been an amazing journey filled with highs and lows and I’m not finished.
During my time as a comedian, I have also performed as a stage actor in many community theatre productions. Mostly Neil Simon plays, portraying Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, Mel Edison in Prisoner of 2ndAve, and many more.
I help out new comedians with joke structure, stage presence, and try to tell them about the pitfalls of the business, even though I am still trying to figure that part out myself.
As I approach my 30th year, I have no idea where the time went. When I get down on myself because I haven’t “made it”, I look back at what I have accomplished and I can stand tall and say, I am a comedian. It’s not about fame and fortune. It’s about constructing solid jokes and stories and bringing that creativity to the people. The energy of the stage and the sound of the laughter from something I created is like a warm hug.
Stevie GB
Award-winning comedian, actor and playwright.
Stevie GB is an award-winning comedian, actor, and playwright. Known as the world's funniest accountant, Stevie has performed at Westbury Music Fair opening for Dion, and at the Paramount in Huntington opening for comedy giants like Dennis Miller, Louie Anderson, Rob Schneider, Norm Macdonald and many more. He has written and performed three one-man shows, 12 One-Act plays and a full length musical that appeared Off-Broadway. He has also performed as Groucho Marx to critical acclaim in Newsday. Featured on Amazon Prime and on News 12.
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