• I’m not short enough to be cute, not tall enough to be an actual man … Women don’t find me adorable, but I still can’t reach things. (From his stand-up routine.)
• My grandfather and father had a family business, and they didn’t get along. So my father took his family and moved us to Boca. They eventually talked, and we moved back to Ohio (six years later). Then it blew up again, and we moved back to Boca. Family dysfunction basically is the reason for me coming to Florida.
• My father wanted me to go to law school, which is pretty funny because we weren’t allowed to argue anything in our house. We were told to shut up and do what we were told, which doesn’t make for a good lawyer.
• I bombed for a good three years. I thought, I’ll never do comedy for a living, but maybe it’ll help me with public speaking. Finally, I started getting laughs. I had friends move to New York, and they were like, “What are you clinging to [in Philadelphia]?” I was alone; I had no family there. So I moved. Worst-case scenario, I’d be alone in the best city.
• I did “The Tonight Show” in 2010 with Jay Leno. We’re doing the walk-through before the show, and he says, “Do you want to call your parents?” I gave him the number and Leno dials it. My father picks up, and he talked to him for like 10 minutes. That’s what a sweet guy Leno is. … It was such a highlight for my father [who died in 2016].
• They do a festival for fans of [the band] Insane Clown Posse called the [“Gathering of the Juggalos.”] This one was two hours outside of Chicago, in the woods. They had a tent for comedy. It was a disaster. People just yelled at me after each joke. I saw them gripping their [beer] bottles and pacing. Toward the end, I said, “Right now, I’d like to talk about my dreams.” And a guy in the back goes, “[Expletive] your dreams!”

 

The Vecchione File

• Stand-up comic has appeared on “Conan,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Inside Amy Schumer”
• Won the People’s Choice Award at the New York Comedy Festival in 2010
• Born in Youngstown, Ohio; lived in Boca Raton from 1981-87, and again from 1989-91
• Taught special education in Philadelphia before pursuing a full-time stand-up career