The Fine Points of Comedy
By Sarah Mason 

“Ha ha, Check!” proclaims a patron at the Border’s Bookstore Café as he makes his move. Engaged in a game of chess, the two players are completely unaware of the comedy show being performed around them. One by one comics come and go. The game continues despite several comedians’ efforts to penetrate the lure of the chessboard by making fun of their oblivious state.

This makes me uncomfortable. So I laugh louder. The comics are funny. That’s not the problem. But they all seem very affected by the crowd’s lagging interest so most of them whip through their act spitting sarcasms and shaking their heads. After all, it is just Border’s Bookstore Café, right?

Not for Bruce Fine, whose tangy and crafty wit is always on. Bruce steps up and adjusts the mike stand down a few notches. He quickly pokes fun at himself as he addresses his 5 foot 1 stature with several strategic jabs. He comes on with a fire and tenacity the others don’t have. He doesn’t care where he is. He’s on stage and that’s enough for him. It’s that combination of humbleness, professionalism and pure talent that has put Bruce Fine at the top of his game – a game he started playing early.

“I was the class clown. I loved pranks, loved making girls laugh, that’s how I got attention. You gotta know your category. I wasn’t the jock, really, except for wrestling, I wasn’t the stud, I was the funny guy. So I went with the funny.”

Going with the funny has done him well. His impressive credits include, MY WIFE AND KIDS, THE WAYANS BROTHERS SHOW, MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, to name a few. But this successful, comedian, writer and actor didn’t make it to the show overnight. His road to comedy was anything but direct.

The 36-year-old comic was born and raised in Framingham, Massachusetts. He studied Business Finance at BU’s School of Management (SMG). His art was strictly a side gig, “Finance was to please my parents, and myself to an extent. I loved business and felt that it was important to have a good plan for myself. And BU had a good program.”

BU was a family affair for Bruce. Both brother’s Randy and Matthew followed him to SMG. They too graduated with Business Finance degrees and are currently working with Bruce’s father in the Insurance business.

Bruce juggled many extracurricular activities at BU including wrestling which absorbed much of his attentions. He also did work waiting tables at local restaurants, and worked as an extra on several Boston television shows like SPENSER FOR HIRE.  During his Junior year at BU he received his first big break in comedy. “I was at the BU Student Union watching some local comedian and I started heckling him and requesting songs. The crowd thought I was funny. And this comedian said if I came up on stage with him he’d sing WE ARE THE WORLD with me. The next thing I knew I was up on stage doing impressions of Michael Jackson and Bruce Springstein.”

Bruce got a standing ovation for his heckler act and the attention of Boston comedy promoter and booking agent, Barry Katz who happened to be in the audience. Katz took notice of Bruce and asked him to come out and do his heckler routine at the club he managed, Play it Again Sam’s. “I was the set-up guy. They’d plant me in the audience and I’d heckle the comedian and do my thing. I learned the truth about how show business works real fast.”

Bruce went on to perform in several other comedy clubs in Boston including Stitches and Nick’s Comedy Stop. He continued doing extra work on TV shows. He won countless lip-syncing contests (the 80s version of Karaoke), performing a choreographed rendition of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” with partner, BU alum, Patty Kerkos.

Hot off his successes in Boston clubs, Bruce wasted no time chasing after his dream. He moved to LA immediately following graduation from BU in June of 1988. A family friend let him sleep on the couch. He got a car and cashed in on his waiting experience and got work in local restaurants. Bruce started hitting the local comedy clubs and coffee houses in the Valley where he developed his stand-up routine.

“I didn’t have any formal training in comedy, and I didn’t go to “Comedy College”, like the Groundlings. I learned by getting up and doing it. You don’t know if your stuff is funny and working unless you get up there.”

In 1991 things started to break for Bruce. He won a contest at comedy club in the Valley, “The funniest person in the Valley.” And then went on to win the $10,000 first prize on AMERICA’S FUNNIEST PEOPLE doing a spin on Andrew Dice Clay. He called, “Andrew Nice Clay--Nice Man.” He started getting booked at comedy clubs and he landed a Bud Dry commercial.  As things started to come together for Bruce, he was able to kiss his restaurant job goodbye. And he never went back. He’s been making a living in the business ever since.

“I was doing great, on cloud nine. I was getting booked, doing commercials, TV shows, I was hosting aerobics championships across the country. I’d go on the road without a thought then when the gig was done, stand-up kept me sane cause you could always go out and do it. But after awhile, I needed a steady gig. I wasn’t’ this single guy living on a couch anymore.”

In 1994 Bruce got a gig at an Insurance conference in Phoenix that his father, an Insurance executive, was attending. It was there that he met and fell in love with his wife Shelby whose father was also attending the conference. “We met by the pool. It was fate. And after that I started thinking about wanting something steady.”

Shelby, who is also from the east coast, works with special needs children. “She has a lot of patience. She’s very supportive of my career. She keeps me in line. She’s a wise ass from Jersey.” The couple hopes to start a family this year.

Bruce’s success in the industry continued. Although as he points out, making a living in the industry doesn’t mean it’s time to “sleep easy”.

“I had a lot of close calls. It was between me and another guy for GRACE UNDER FIRE. I got booked on SEINFELD then got cut the night before I went to work. It was always me and another guy for this or that. Even Jack Lemon was quoted as saying he was always worrying about his next job. If someone like Lemon is saying that, you realize there’s no control until you land a regular series.”

Which he did. Bruce’s guest appearances on the WAYANS BROTHERS SHOW and the KEENAN IVORY WAYANS SHOW lead him to a gig as a staff writer for MY WIFE AND KIDS, starring Damon Wayans. He spent two and a half seasons writing for the successful ABC sitcom. Then in March of 2002, Wayans fired the entire writing staff and started over from scratch.

“Comedian stars tend to be on the bi-polar side, they have their swings. And we don’t get any credit for making it a hit. But it was a great experience. And that’s the nature of business. I look at it as it’s not the end of the world, just the end of that run.”

And that’s one of the great things about Bruce Fine – his attitude. He’s tenacious yet impervious to the inequities of the business. He looks at it matter of factly, and keeps moving forward. “It’s an unfair business, in most businesses you work hard, move up and have results. In this business you can work hard and do everything you’re supposed to do and still not get ahead. It took me 10 years in the business to get to that first real big break. But I'm still here.”

Yes he is still here. Bruce is currently working on several projects he’s pitching for television and continues to do stand-up. He’s currently headlining at the Improv at Harrah’s in Las Vegas and is about to kick off a Vegas/California tour opening for Julio Iglesias at Paris, Las Vegas.

Bruce is also actively promoting a new comedy album he produced in the spirit of the Jerky boys stemming from the financial woes of friend and fellow comedian, Mike. The CD is called, MIKE THE DEADBEAT.

“Over the summer I walked into the Improv for a Tonight Show showcase and I bumped into Mike who I worked with before and knew from stand-up. I hadn’t seen him for a couple years. And he starts telling me what a disaster his life has been. He was fired for having back problems. So he was out of work and the phone calls started coming in on his credit cards. He got calls from collection agencies that were just crazy and he started to tape them. And I heard the tapes and said, this is a comedy album.”

It’s an incredibly funny comedy album. The CD is available online at their website, www.mikethedeadbeat.com, What makes it all the funnier is that it's real. Mike’s responses to his credit card reps are hilarious. Telling one customer service representative, “Didn’t you guys know I was a deadbeat when you gave me the card?”

Bruce is very passionate about this project and believes that it will be a big hit. “The irony of this is that the comedy of the tragedy could actually help him get his life together. The only way out of the hole he’s in, is the hole”.

What’s so wonderful about Bruce is that he’s never lost his sense of roots or humility. Yes, he’s still a Red Sox fan and often visits home to see family and catch a game or two. He still reminisces fondly about his days at BU and keeps up with college friends. And he still works his routine like he’s just starting out - finding time to get up at those coffee houses and develop his craft. No matter what the venue, you’re guaranteed to get a great performance out of him.

Watching Bruce do his routine, I was transported from Border’s Bookstore to the Improv. I think I even heard a full audience’s laughter and applause. Is he that good? Well, yeah he is. But more crucially, he’s that on.

I asked Bruce what if any his days at BU did to help him prepare for his career in Comedy. He replied sentimentally, “I was a jock living on West campus. It was great. I had a fraternity that way. Being on a sports team at BU gives you more of a community. And I think that definitely helped shape me and give me confidence. I still keep in touch with people from BU. It was great experience.”

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Bruce offers this advice for people just graduating from BU wanting to get into comedy. Here’s what he has to say about the Fine Points of comedy:

Q: New York vs. Los Angeles?

A: If someone asked me that wanted to do stand-up whether to go to NY over LA, I’d say NY for stand-up. I came out in the midst of a writer’s strike. I wanted to go into acting, but there was nothing else to do so I got into stand-up. And I’m grateful cause I love it. But if your goal first and foremost is to be a stand-up comic, I’d say definitely New York.

Q: How do Boston clubs compare to LA clubs?

A: The talent pool is different. The best local comic in Boston is average compared to LA’s best. But there is a lot of talent that nobody’s heard of in Boston. And then there are Lots of actors in LA who are looking for their five minutes of showcase. But they’re not very original or funny.

Q: Would you say you’re an actor or comedian?

A: Comedian first, that’s the purist, that’s where everything came from. My acting, writing all segued from comedy. When they see you write jokes, you come in and pitch ideas, then you’re a writer. It’s a natural progression, if you can write jokes you can write bits, if you can write stories, you can write scripts.

Q: What are the best clubs in LA to get into?

A: The best stand-ups are at the Comedy Store, Improv, Laugh Factory. When you’re ready, try to break into one of the clubs. And whichever one gives you a little bit of love, that’s where you go. For me it was the Improv.

Q: How difficult is it to get in?

A: It’s hard to break into stand-up right now especially in terms of getting into the clubs. The industry’s changed so much – managers became comedy club owners, comedy club owners became managers. Everyone wants to put their guys’ up. What normally would be a conflict of interest in other industries is not in comedy.

Q: So how does someone break in?

A: Go where you can get up. The one constant from when I started to now is the coffee houses, comedy at the bookstores. LA Weekly lists them. And there’s always people who are doing well in the business going up and testing out their material. You need stage time. How do you build muscles - go to the gym work out, six months later you got some muscles. But it doesn’t happen over night. You gotta work at it.

Q: What about Open Mike nights at clubs?

A: Open mike is tough. You only get about three minutes and the audience is full of other comics. It’s not a place to build your material. Don’t do it too early, when people see you not funny, they always remember that. You gotta work in the little trenches till people in the business, professionally jaded people, say you’re funny. Then and only then, can you go to the clubs.

Q: What other advice can you give to people wanting to get into comedy?

A: Don’t expect to make a living in the business right away. Have a plan. Don’t just get a part-time job, get a good part-time or secondary job. When it’s time to work on your craft, you’ll figure it out. Don’t get yourself in a financial hole.

Q: Do you encourage people who want to come out to LA and get into the business?

A: I’m not gonna be the one to tell people not to chase their dreams. But you gotta realize you gotta turn a dream into a plan. Everyone has dreams. Your dreams are not gonna become reality unless there’s a plan of action. There’s nothing magical. Magic happens when the hard work and the breaks come together.

The hard work and the breaks are definitely coming together for Bruce Fine.

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Bruce is currently headlining at the Improv at Harrah’s, Las Vegas and starting January 9th at Paris, Las Vegas, Bruce will kick off a tour as the opening act for the Julio Iglesias, January 9-18th, Paris, January 9-12th. 

For more information about MIKE THE DEADBEAT, visit, www.mikethedeadbeat.com

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