By Sally Deering

Inside photos by David Bayne

Award-winning actor Danny Aiello is the House Special — the “cherry on the Spumoni”– at Tutta Pasta Italian restaurant in Hoboken, where on any given day passers-by can catch a glimpse of Aiello holding court in the dining room, signing autographs for his fans and, in essence, spreading his special charm like finely seasoned olive oil on a hunk of crusty Italian bread.  

“People love Danny,” Tutta Pasta’s manager Vincent Borriello says. “They love to see him. He’s always happy and he makes other people happy.”

Cool in his wire-rimmed shades and hipper than most dudes his generation, the 76 year-old Aiello wants to leave ’em laughin’ in Hoboken – the town he “adopted” a few years back. So, more than two years ago, Tutta Pasta gave Aiello his own comedy venue, the second floor dining room where every Thursday night, he hosts “Danny’s Upstairs,” a comedy club for up-and-coming comics to do their thing.

“I love comedians,” Aiello says, on a recent Thursday night before show time. “I know what a difficult field (stand-up) is and I have connections. I can help the comics who perform here. That means something to me.” 

Aiello loves to laugh, he says, and with 85 movies under his belt – including an Academy Award nomination for his role as Sal, the pizzeria owner in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing,  — Aiello has cultivated connections and wants to use those connections to help others move up the show biz ladder. That’s why you’ll find Aiello sitting in the restaurant he grooves on, in the town he loves, watching, laughing and giving stand-up comics moral support and a place to shine in front of an audience. 

Showtime is 8:30 and the club seats about 50. The stage is small, with a mic and some spotlights lighting up the “Danny’s Upstairs” logo on the back wall. Waiters serve food and drinks and the place has the same look as other comedy clubs like the old Improv on 9^th and 44^th in Manhattan that closed a few years back (it’s a Chipotle eatery now.) It was in the early 1970s at the Improv, that Aiello entered the world of stand-up comedy – as a bouncer. While he watched the door, he also kept an eye on up-and-coming comics like David Brenner, Freddy Prinze, Rodney Dangerfield and Andy Kaufman. He observed their performances and the way they honed their jokes, dueled with hecklers and polished their acts to become headliners – which they all did.

From the Improv, Aiello hooked up with writer Louis Larusso, a Hoboken native who cast Aiello in several plays on Broadway including a production of Lamppost Reunion, a piece about Hoboken that Aiello says put him on the map. Aiello and Larusso became friends and ever since then, Hoboken cast its spell on Aiello and he fell in love with the town when it still had the look and feel of Budd Shulberg’s On the Waterfront, with its working class neighborhoods and old time charm.

Already a family man in 1977, (he has four children including Danny Aiello III who works as a professional stuntman, ) Aiello landed one of the lead roles in the Broadway hit Gemini, playing a warm-hearted dad who tries to help his son move beyond his working-class roots to finish Harvard.  Aiello brought pathos to the comedic role, something that he reveals time and again in the parts he plays. Whether it’s the gangster with a sympathetic heart in Woody Allen’s Radio Days, or the mama’s boy who lost Cher to Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck, Aiello gives his characters the heart of the working-class everyman who just wants to do the right thing – characters that are so old school, you can almost smell the Old Spice wafting from their shirt collars.

And now, Aiello shares that paternal instinct with the comics who perform on his stage every Thursday night. 

At a recent show, six comics performed – five guys and a gal in their 20, 30s and 40s — who told jokes about skydiving, being fat, their girlfriends – or lack of them – and shopping at Wal-Mart.  Some of them had TV credits like appearances on 30 Rock and many of them are doing the club circuit, traveling to other cities for one-night stands in rooms like “Danny’s.”

Willy Sacco, a nervous comic who jumped about the stage like a high-kicking Rip Taylor told this joke during his routine: “I love this stage. It’s the same size as my apartment.” And this one: “I was so broke I had to move back to my parents. They live in a nursing home.” He also did some shtick as John Travolta making meatballs and dancing ala Saturday Night Fever.

 Headliner for the evening, Mike Vecchione had a laid-back, low-key delivery and told jokes about his girlfriend, including this one: “Our fights are like an Iranian election. She always declares herself the winner.”

Vecchione then told a joke about ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder,) prompting a group of women at one of the tables to heckle and boo. Vecchione kept his cool and the ladies in check, keeping things light and breezy with a little flirtation. “I know what it is.  I feel the heat coming from this direction,” he said, talking directly at the giggling women. “I feel an attraction.”

All the comics kept the audience laughing throughout the 2-1/2 hour show and while they may not be big names like Artie Lange, Jackie Mason and Jerry Stiller who have performed at Danny’s, the comics are gaining experience and the opportunity to do their own material in a professional venue that takes them one step closer to their big break.

 “When I worked at the Improv, I watched David Brenner perform and after he went on, he would go over what worked and what didn’t,” Aiello says. “I try to stress to the comics that when you bomb, it teaches you to be better.”

 It’s that kind of enthusiasm and sage advice that makes Aiello hip and relevant. His zest for life is contagious and he continues to undertake projects that challenge and excite him and give him immense pleasure.  Aside from hosting his own comedy club and rehearsing a one-man show about Al Capone, Aiello just cut an album of songs, Live from Atlantic City, and his renditions of “Save the Last Dance,” and “Besame Mucho,” are now available at iTunes.

To his friends and fans, Aiello’s the Solid Gold Caddy of character actors who just keeps getting better with time. But take a closer look under the hood and you’re likely to find a guy with a big Italian heart, who acknowledges his lucky breaks and wants to share that luck with younger generations. Aiello was raised in New York, but he’s got a Jersey way about him, a stand-up guy with the heart of a working-class everyman who just wants to do the right thing.

You can almost smell the Old Spice wafting from his shirt collar.

 Danny’s Upstairs

Tutta Pasta Restaurant and Bar

200 Washington St

Hoboken

201-792-9603

www.dannysupstairs.com

By Sally Deering-

The post Danny Aiello, A Stand- Up Guy! first appeared on River View Observer.

Kenneth Del Vecchio Chairperson

Mayor Dave Roberts and the City of Hoboken

Presents

THE NATION’S HOTTEST…TRUE…FILM FESTIVAL
May 29, 2009 – June 4, 2009

Cloris Leachman, (Academy Award, 4-Time Golden Globe, 19-Time Emmy Winner & Nominee) will be the 2009 HIFF Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Emcee- Comedian Mike Marino

 

 

 

Award Presenter -                                                                                                            Donna Bostany

For video of  past FilmFestivals Hoboken International Film Festival

MISSION & OBJECTIVE

Hoboken International Film Festival (“HIFF”) is dedicated to showcasing and promoting fine non-studio films, TV pilots, and screenplays from filmmakers throughout the United States and internationally. The best submissions will be rewarded with cash prizes in nearly ten categories. As will be discussed in the next section, HIFF has quickly become one of the top ten best film festivals in the world.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

With a celebrity jury comprised of Academy Award and Emmy winners, and powerhouse partners this past year that include CBS, Anheuser-Busch and Stella Artois, TD Banknorth, 101.9 RXP, The DoubleTree Hotel, The Jersey Journal, The Melting Pot, Glaceau SmartWater, and hosted by Mayor David Roberts and the City of Hoboken, HIFF is a worldwide renowned film festival. Showcasing the edgiest domestic and international movies and their filmmakers, HIFF will kick off on May 29, 2009 with its opening night films–that will be viewed by nearly 1,000 fans and industry personnel at Pier A Park, located directly on the Hudson River and overlooking the majestic New York City skyline.

The 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award winner will be Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show; Young Frankenstein; The Women; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Dancing With the Stars). At this past year’s Gala Awards Ceremony, noted as one of the best in the country for its Oscar-like class and fanfare, Billy Dee Williams personally accepted the HIFF Lifetime Achievement Award. The 2007 HIFF Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Charles Durning (2-time Academy Award/8-time Golden Globe/12-time Emmy winner and nominee). The 2006 recipient was Frank Vincent.

In addition to nonstop screenings during the week of the festival, HIFF offers a slate of panel discussions held by top industry leaders. The 2007 group included an Academy Award winning producer, CBS news anchors, MTV casting director, CBS soap opera star, a studio executive and a star talent manager.

HIFF also offers unique, star-studded special events. Some past special events include: the “Keg Party Blowout & Screening” sponsored by Sheraton Suites on the Hudson, Harbor Bar and Brasserie, and Stella Artois–featuring the movie “Beer League” and a party with the movie’s filmmakers and stars including Artie Lange (The Howard Stern Show); a series of films from Academy Award nominated actor Danny Aiello, with a special Q&A held by Aiello and the filmmakers of his new film “The Shoemaker,” as well as a live concert by Aiello and his band; a series of Charles Durning films and special screenings and parties with Durning.

HIFF awards the winning filmmakers with cash prizes in the following categories: Best Feature Film; Best Director (Feature Film); Best Screenplay (Feature Film); Best Actor (Feature Film); Best Actress (Feature Film); Best Short Film; Best Documentary; Best TV Pilot; Best Unproduced Screenplay. There are also awards given in several other categories. In addition, there is a Grand Prize (for Best Narrative Feature Film) of a distribution deal offer (2009 company TBA).

All festival venues are located in the heart of New Jersey’s artistic capital, with gorgeous, waterfront scenic views of the New York City skyline.

HIFF will be held from May 29, 2009-June 4, 2009 in Hoboken, NJ.

The post Hoboken International Film Festival May 29- June 4th first appeared on River View Observer.