Sports Comedy
Geno Bisconte www.genobisconte.com @genobisconte
December 7th, 2014
Geno Bisconte www.genobisconte.com @genobisconte
December 7th, 2014
Any given Sunday, there's that guy in a bar screaming at the television about another sloppy pick-six. That guy at the sports book in Caesars racing through online stats and bottles of Hi-Life. That guy perched on a couch at home with hands flashing between key strokes and Buffalo wings to capture the play-by-play fever in an online community.
Roll all of those guys up into a spicy Italian sausage and you have Geno Bisconte who continues to move the chains of sports comedy with stand-up, radio, and his long-running original web series, Geno's Picks.
Roll all of those guys up into a spicy Italian sausage and you have Geno Bisconte who continues to move the chains of sports comedy with stand-up, radio, and his long-running original web series, Geno's Picks.
BHM: How did you become involved in comedy?
Geno: As a child growing up I've always been outgoing and talkative, and I suppose that eventually evolved into being funny. Let's face it, it's a lot easier to say funny things than intelligent things, at least in my case- so as I got older I did that A LOT.
Eventually, in the mid 90's, a girlfriend of mine at the time signed me up for an open mic night at a local comedy club. I guess I have her to "thank"- and don't worry they'll never find her body. And by comedy club I mean the only comedy club in Wilmington Delaware at the time. So of course, I went up and killed it. Not necessarily because I was funny. I wasn't.
The “of course” was because, when you have a hundred people in the crowd there laughing at anything you say, that's not being funny, that's being a guy who has a lot of supportive friends. Friends who will laugh at any garbage that comes out of your mouth because you actually had the balls to get on stage.
Soon after, I had a very different experience where my overconfident self got it's cocky ass handed to it a second time I went up, at the Comedy Works in Philly. There I died a thousand deaths in front of only six friends and a hundred complete strangers.
In hindsight, that second “bombing” set was what made me want to become a comedian. Eventually, I realized much, much, much... much later, that if it had been as easy as I thought then anyone could do it without much effort. When, in fact, it takes a lot of efforts, a ton of hard work, dedication, and just a desire to make people happy. And, I honestly believe that is the key to combining your passion with your job- to make people happy by being happy yourself. I'm fortunate that I can slash selfish enough to feed off of others peoples' joy.
Sometimes I think that's why the greatest comedians are so dark offstage; they need to feed off of other people's joyful energy. Perhaps, it's because we have so much trouble generating joy on our own.
Geno: As a child growing up I've always been outgoing and talkative, and I suppose that eventually evolved into being funny. Let's face it, it's a lot easier to say funny things than intelligent things, at least in my case- so as I got older I did that A LOT.
Eventually, in the mid 90's, a girlfriend of mine at the time signed me up for an open mic night at a local comedy club. I guess I have her to "thank"- and don't worry they'll never find her body. And by comedy club I mean the only comedy club in Wilmington Delaware at the time. So of course, I went up and killed it. Not necessarily because I was funny. I wasn't.
The “of course” was because, when you have a hundred people in the crowd there laughing at anything you say, that's not being funny, that's being a guy who has a lot of supportive friends. Friends who will laugh at any garbage that comes out of your mouth because you actually had the balls to get on stage.
Soon after, I had a very different experience where my overconfident self got it's cocky ass handed to it a second time I went up, at the Comedy Works in Philly. There I died a thousand deaths in front of only six friends and a hundred complete strangers.
In hindsight, that second “bombing” set was what made me want to become a comedian. Eventually, I realized much, much, much... much later, that if it had been as easy as I thought then anyone could do it without much effort. When, in fact, it takes a lot of efforts, a ton of hard work, dedication, and just a desire to make people happy. And, I honestly believe that is the key to combining your passion with your job- to make people happy by being happy yourself. I'm fortunate that I can slash selfish enough to feed off of others peoples' joy.
Sometimes I think that's why the greatest comedians are so dark offstage; they need to feed off of other people's joyful energy. Perhaps, it's because we have so much trouble generating joy on our own.
BHM: What are the biggest challenges of doing stand-up and radio?
Geno: The challenges of my gig compared to anyone else’s job are exactly the same... and completely different.
They're obviously completely different because I have to make people laugh as opposed to doing their taxes or diagnosing some malady or covering myself in glitter and sliding down a pole. The latter of which isn't entirely off the table yet and all, in my mind, are equally necessary callings. But, I do believe it's the same as anything else. If you love doing something, you will do it more and inevitably the more you do anything, the better you get at it. If you just show up because you feel like you are obliged to be there it becomes a hollow experience where you simply sigh through the motions and stagnate.
I've been there. Imagine a little Geno trying to learn piano at age eight or trying to become a banker at age twenty-six.
But, like any other job, there are similar challenges in having to remind yourself frequently that this is what you love and to press through it. Even on the hard days when you'd rather feel like a normal person with a normal life. Or, you would rather be home in bed at a reasonable time like most people. Or, when that girl leaves you saying "you're never going to stop doing this- are you?"- because, if you did, you'd be such a miserable person that she wouldn't want to be with anyway.
It's important to remember that this is what you love and who you are, and everything else will follow if you keep some faith. The alternative is a nightmare: you abandon it and live the rest of your life hating yourself for giving up what you were meant to be doing so you can fit the world's expectations. There is an ancient Japanese proverb that both inspires and scares the shit out of me: Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.
My success with radio on The Kidd Chris Show ten years ago in Philly and since then, The Artie Lange Show, began when a latent talent just clicked in one day. I’ll never forget when I first did radio in 1998 with a DJ named Paul Schmidt at a small station in Wilmington Delaware called WXDR. Paul had known me as the local comedian and appreciated my easy humor during conversations. But, once I got to the studio, I was stiff, and said something that just flipped the switch, loosen me up, and helped me be the guy I am on air today. He simply said, “Gene… stop trying to be on the radio and just talk to me while you’re on the radio.” CLICK!
It’s amazing how people can tell you a thousand different ways to do the same thing and then once that perfect way hits your ears- it turns the switch on for good. I recently had a part in an indie film where they needed me for one scene to be a douche-baggy literary agent. I sat there the first few takes trying to remember lines rather than talking to the other actor. The director said, “Gene, we didn’t want you for this because you can act. We took you because you can be such a douche. So, just talk to him like that.” CLICK!
I can’t wait to see that scene… guy said it came out great.
BHM: How do you promote yourself?
I always just put my gigs on Twitter and Facebook and my website- genobisconte.com hashtag shameless plug- but I honestly think in this day and age that these things are such BS. It's like I always say to my brother and close friends when I bring up something I put on social media, and they don't get it. Of course, they don't. They are grown men with jobs, goals, beautiful wives, and children. Too busy living real lives to become invested in this fake idea of being connected to people online. Audiences on Twitter and Facebook are mostly just that- people constantly ON Facebook and ON Twitter.
When you need them to come out to a show, they can't because they will still be constantly ON Facebook and ON Twitter.
There was a dude who thought he was a comedian because he would put jokes on Twitter. At night, he would hang out at bars telling people about his Twitter comedy rather than risking a live audience and getting his hands dirty hanging at the clubs. There's a Comedy Central show @Midnight which brilliantly caters to this idea by letting everyman feel like a comedian that is using Twitter as a cyber-stage. But, I doubt you'll ever see a stand-up comedian on Late Night TV saying they got their start from some funny tweets. These social media platforms will never replace the rush of getting on stage and riding the energy of real live people laughing.
BHM: How did your show, Geno's Picks, begin and what inspires the contentA buddy of mine back in 2002 had a startup called Statbeast. It was a typical crowd funding project where you have an idea, get a ton of money, and then hope you can come up with the project. They offered to pay me and my buddy Dan to make weekly sports videos with short fun skits and a segment called Geno’s Picks, where I first began making picks.
I would write the skits on the way down from New York, which a full seven years later I think are still pretty damn good. You can see a whole bunch online still. Some of my favorites include The Writers Strike, Halloween, and Dan and Geno Reunite.
A year later I hooked up with my buddy and fellow comedian Joe Fernandez, who had a studio in North Jersey, making my commute much easier. Then the videos began to flourish.
Hot button issues in sports change from day to day, which is why I’ve always thought that Geno’s Picks could be a year-round thing. The point I've been pitching to TV people, but they refuse to get that sports stars- especially with Twitter now- are as much pop culture stars as anyone and that crazy material fuels my writing.
A recent example was with the five Rams players that made the hands-up-don't-shoot gesture in protest of the Ferguson ruling during a game. Depending on your point of view you could see that as supporting a bully. Sports stars who constantly run their mouths off and delve into politics are prime targets for my show.
BHM: How are you evolving your unique brand of sports comedy?
Geno: After a show once, a woman simply said to me, “everything has a vibration and crude attracts crude as much as good attracts good”. So, I always try to focus on the good that I am trying to get across in my act. Even when I say something like: "I'm not saying Ray rice's wife is hot, but, she is a real knockout.”
I'm excited about the next step in the evolution of Geno’s Picks. We are changing to a subscription service for the weekly videos- only $3.79 a month!. There will still be some content on YouTube for free such as a teaser of the opening minute. But, after nearly seven years of creating brilliant (he said modestly) content along with my incredible producer Joe Fernandes we had enough. No more sharing bandwidth alongside sports videos of a guy in a tee shirt in his kitchen on a cell phone mumbling, "I like Pittsburgh."
So, we collaborated with my buddy Andy Dean on his new project, a site called Connect Pal. You can set a price for your videos and keep all the coin less the 79 cents they tack on for processing.
The reason I love this is that in an era of crowd funding, where people ask for MONEY for something they say they are GOING to do (but often don't complete), this is smart solution. Joe and I and people like Andy are saying- hey, we're sorry, but we'd rather receive consistent revenue support to constantly improve content for thousands or even hundreds of people instead of having to limit content for free.
I'm confident that the evolution of Geno’s Picks will beat 99% of the stuff you see on cookie cutter TV. All 28 of my subscribers will agree I bet… okay we have a few more than that, but I am hoping people will come over and shell out the meager 95 cents a week for what has been an ever-evolving seven-year passionate labor of love.
Geno: After a show once, a woman simply said to me, “everything has a vibration and crude attracts crude as much as good attracts good”. So, I always try to focus on the good that I am trying to get across in my act. Even when I say something like: "I'm not saying Ray rice's wife is hot, but, she is a real knockout.”
I'm excited about the next step in the evolution of Geno’s Picks. We are changing to a subscription service for the weekly videos- only $3.79 a month!. There will still be some content on YouTube for free such as a teaser of the opening minute. But, after nearly seven years of creating brilliant (he said modestly) content along with my incredible producer Joe Fernandes we had enough. No more sharing bandwidth alongside sports videos of a guy in a tee shirt in his kitchen on a cell phone mumbling, "I like Pittsburgh."
So, we collaborated with my buddy Andy Dean on his new project, a site called Connect Pal. You can set a price for your videos and keep all the coin less the 79 cents they tack on for processing.
The reason I love this is that in an era of crowd funding, where people ask for MONEY for something they say they are GOING to do (but often don't complete), this is smart solution. Joe and I and people like Andy are saying- hey, we're sorry, but we'd rather receive consistent revenue support to constantly improve content for thousands or even hundreds of people instead of having to limit content for free.
I'm confident that the evolution of Geno’s Picks will beat 99% of the stuff you see on cookie cutter TV. All 28 of my subscribers will agree I bet… okay we have a few more than that, but I am hoping people will come over and shell out the meager 95 cents a week for what has been an ever-evolving seven-year passionate labor of love.