Comedy Salad with Buddah #18 Jimmy Pardo

Once upon a winter night four scores and a few years ago, Buddah and fellow comedian Rich Mansfield ventured off to Peora, IL to participate in the weekly proam because standup comedy is all about stage time, right? Not on this night. It was all about Jimmy Pardo when he is within a 100 mile radius of two of his bigger fans. That's right, Jimmy Pardo is my guest on this week's Comedy Salad. Rich and I did go to the Jukebox Comedy Club on that particular Thursday night to catch one of our comedy hero's do his thing, and I can say this comic was in awe of what he saw, which was 20 minutes of crowd work up front before he rattled off a written joke. We were impressed to say the least. Jimmy Pardo is a comedian every up and coming comic should watch if given the chance to see him live. You will say to yourself, this is the way I should be doing standup, even though you may never reach his level. These days Jimmy spends a lot of his time as the warm up comic on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and recently spent time right along side of Conan as the co-host. He has appeared on "The Tonight Show w/Jay Leno", The Late, Late Show w/Craig Ferguson" and a one time appearance on the sitcom "That 70's Show". Jimmy can also be heard regularly on "The Bob and Tom Show". He also has a new comedy CD due out any day. Jimmy is married to fellow comedian Danielle Koenig, daughter of Walter Koenig of Star Trek fame, known for his role as Pavel Chekov. I will go out on a limb and even say that Jimmy Pardo probably has one of the largest collections of cardigan sweaters known to mankind. As usual, I hammered out six questions to my guest and asked Jimmy to fire one back to me, and I was astonished by his question so much I wanted to call him and ask him if had read my diary. Here we go...



BUDDAH: Do you remember the first joke you ever wrote and what was it?



JIMMY: Yes...I had this happen to me today...I ran out of toilet paper, you know how awful that is when you are sitting there and realize you are out of it...so now you gotta walk around looking for it with your pants around your ankles. Man, I gotta tell ya by the time I got to (insert local drug store) my legs were really cramped. (Not a bad joke for a beginner, but as I look back now, I cringe).



BUDDAH: What shows have you written for past and present?



JIMMY: The only show I ever "wrote" for was for a game show called "Hype". Other than that, it's all been in the moment hosting or remote type things.



BUDDAH: How has working as the the warm up comic for Conan O'Brien changed your standup career?



JIMMY: It has made me travel FAR less than I had been doing. I perform every day in font of a terrific audience. That seems to fill the stand-up performing void.



BUDDAH: What advice do you like to give to up and coming comedians?



JIMMY: Stay true to who you are. Don't try to follow trends. It may take longer to succeed (and one may never succeed)...but at least you are succeeding or failing on your own terms.



BUDDAH: If you could bring back one comedian that has passed to do one final show, who would it be?



JIMMY: I would love to see Johnny Carson host the Tonight Show one more time.



BUDDAH: You just inherited your very own radio station. What are the first three song you will play on the airwaves?



JIMMY: Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin

             Band on the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings

             Beginnings - Chicago        


And now we turn over the interview to Mr. Pardo to ask Buddah one burning question.....I'm trying to figure out if it was a regional thing...so...where did you grow up and did you collect beer cans for a hobby as a kid?



BUDDAH: I grew up in a small town called Riverton in good ol' politically corrupt Illinois, just 5 miles away from the state capitol, Springfield. I collected baseball cards and beer cans, like a kid with a hard core beer drinking family (about 220 cans the last time I counted). The most unique item I have is a sealed 7 UP tin can (not that aluminum shit) with about 2-3 drops of soda still in it that I have owned since 1974. Ironically, my beer can collection sits on a closet shelf about six feet from where I typed this.



WOW! How the hell did Jimmy know I collected beer cans? One would think Jimmy is too busy in television to do many road gigs but here is what dug up for you, so be on the lookout for him soon: Skyline Comedy club in Appleton, WI Sep. 20th, The Strand Theater in Shlebyville, IN Sep. 21st, Wise Guys comedy club in Salt Lake City Oct. 11th & 12th, Zanies comedy clubs Nov. 1st in Chicago and Rosemont, IL Nov. 2nd, both near his hometown. Jimmy also has a widely popular podcast called "Never Not Funny" and if this is not enough he has a weekly web series interviewing celebrities on "The Pardo Patrol". You can also visit his website at JimmyPardo.com. SIDE NOTE: He is no relation to TV announcer Don Pardo, so don't ask!

The signature Pardo sweater look.

Laid back Jimmy.