Funny Man Bob Perlow’s New One-Man Show

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Monday, May 02, 2011

GoLocalProv Features Team

Bob Perlow has made a career out of being funny.

The Pawtucket native has spent 30 years on all sides of some of the biggest, best situation comedies in TV history, as writer and performer, but most of all, as the man who gets the studio audience in the mood to love the show. Comedian Bob Perlow is a consummate "warm-up man."

Having moved back to Narragansett, Perlow has rolled that cascade of humorous memory into a one-man show, "The Warm-Up Guy," which is running in limited engagement at the Comedy Connection and opening on May 5. Perlow wrote the show, a multimedia night that wraps his reminiscences around TV, with Steven Feinberg (better known as the executive director of the RI Film and Television Office).

Bringing a live TV show to Rhode Island

"We're bringing a live TV show to Rhode Island, so people can see what the experience of being in a studio audience is like," Perlow said, "the entertainment that goes on before and during the show, which is what I did for 30 years.

Perlow's associations read like the best-of in TV comedy since the 1980s. He was an actor/writer as well as warm-up guy for Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, Night Court, Newhart (the one with Larry, Daryll, and Daryll), Coach and Full House. He was the warm-up guy for Taxi, Cheers, Friends, Two and a Half Men, and Happy Days. And for 15 years, he warmed up audiences for Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. He also collaborated with Seinfeld star Jason Alexander in 1995 on a pilot for Nickelodeon called Let Bob Do It.

"It was reality TV before the big reality boom," he said.

Perlow has more stories than there are cable channels, and "The Warm-Up Guy" is just the place to listen to a hand-picked bunch. Don't miss this one.

The Warm Up Guy, May 5 & May 12, 8pm, The Comedy Connection, 39 Warren Ave, East Providence. Tickets $15. For reservations and more information, go to www.ricomedyconnection.com or call 438-8383.