It was 1964. I was 5. Dressed like a cowboy--hat, gun, holster, boots. I follow my mom into Tom's Pork Store in Newark, New Jersey. I kicked the sawdust on the floor as I rushed over to the gumball machine in the corner. I put in a penny, turned the knob and out slid a gumball. I popped it in my mouth and turned.
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| Kenny Savoy, Tom Giannazzo and me Listen to one of our "Camp Waterlogg" specials here! |
"You cowboy?" another 5 year old near the counter asked me.
"Yup," I proudly replied.
"No. You cry-baby," the kid answered.
That was my first encounter with Tom Giannazzo, the son of the pork store owner, and my oldest friend and a founding member of Liquid Comedy.
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| More about Tom here. |
As Tom put it on Facebook recently:
"Weren't we in the womb together? Seems like it goes back that far. I'm sure my knuckle-prints were all over the yard sticks Mrs. Coughlin (our third grade Catholic school teacher) used on you. Or was it one of the crazy penguins? Mrs. Mango? Maybe it was at the Home for Sons Abused by Italian Fathers (The SAIF House)?"
That is Tom's style of humor. If Jim Folly is Chico and Kenny Savoy is Harpo... then Tom Giannazzo is Groucho! (I guess that makes me Zeppo. Hmm.)
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| Master Sergeant Tom Giannazzo's 23 Years of Service |
Little did we know at the time that Tom would go on to have a successful 23 year career in the United States Airforce. He traveled the world, ran a TV station on Guam, and was a military advisor to a number a major motion pictures and TV series, including Stargate SG-1, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Sum of All Fears, and The Perfect Storm.
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| Tom was interviewed for Stargate SG-1: Bonus Disc 3 |
Tom knew movies even back in college. In 1978 we spoof Star Wars in our stage show. Ours was Star Wars Tonight, a merging of the blockbuster hit with the then popular TV show Fernwood Tonight, which starred Martin Mull as Barth Gimble and Fred Willard as Jerry Hubbard, the show itself a spoof of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
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| Liquid Comedy, circa 1979. Listen to us on XM Radio! |
In our version, Tom was Barth Vadar and I was C3PO Hubbard. Tom wore a Darth Vadar mask. I wore a plastic mop pale on my head with a face drawn on it in magic marker. Our R2D2 was a dented metal garbage can with flashing lights attached. Our guest, Baby Irene (played by Kathy Higgins) tap-danced with three legs (the third was stuffed and sowed onto to Kathy's dress and she flipped it back and forth as she proclaimed "tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap".
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| Listen to another of our "Camp Waterlogg" specials here! |
Tom Giannazzo is now semi-retired and living in Florida with his wife and son. I say semi because I keep dragging him back to work! I'm just now planning new weekly broadcasts of The Comedy-O-Rama Hour: "Camp Waterlogg" to premiere Spring 2012.
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| Tom Giannazzo's Film & TV credits. |
You can be sure there will be juicy parts for Tom Giannazzo (the only man I know who can clap with one hand).
Tom may be may earliest friend by not my earliest memory. THAT is a Christmas story--the year I saved Macy's. But you'll have to wait until you tune in next time...
Best to you all,
Joe Bev.
Joe Bevilacqua is a veteran award-winning actor, writer, author and
producer. His audio is available at Amazon, iTunes, and Audible for
Kindle, Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPod or iPad download, or CD
purchase or rental. Find out more!
