11/12/2009
The prop man cometh
Ear Full
Comedian Freddie Stone to play the Cultural Center
By Randy Shemanski
The prop man cometh
Ear Full
Comedian Freddie Stone to play the Cultural Center
By Randy Shemanski
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When Freddie Stone makes an appearance Saturday to perform at the Scranton Cultural Center’s Up and Coming Comedy Series, he might not be quick to reveal that he’s a Boston Red Sox fan. After all, the 570 has turned into Yankee country, especially following the Bronx Bombers’ 27th World Series title a week ago.
But that doesn’t mean it’s OK to heckle him by making fun of the Red Sox because there’s always a chance he’ll shoot something out of his Ass Cannon at you. That’s right, Stone has a prop he calls an Ass Cannon.
Known for his prop, musical and stand-up comedy, Stone has been taking the stage to make people laugh for 18 years. The 50-year-old Wilmington, Mass.n native was influenced by The Mike Douglas Show and Rip Taylor while growing up, but never truly looked at comedy as a viable career choice.
“A few relatives decided they thought I’d be a good stand-up comedian. I was always being told that,” Stone told ec/dc. “It’s one thing to be funny in front of your friends and in front of your relatives. It’s another thing to be funny in front of a whole group of people who don’t know you from a whole in the wall.”
He first took the stage in 1991, the same year his grandmother passed away. In a twist of irony, it was her passing that motivated him to finally take his shot at stand-up.
“She was one of those people that was very talented, but never used it. She was a singer,” Stone said of his grandmother. “I said, ‘Ya know, I don’t want to be sitting there in a nursing home with one tube stuck up my rear end and another in my nose, thinking to myself, what if?’”
Even though he’s apparently not too fond of his original act — “If you want to torture a comedian, play all his old video tapes from when he first started, the first five years. He’ll tell you anything you want to know.” — Stone has evolved into a popular comedian thanks to his use of a guitar and other props to go along with a stand-up routine.
He has three CDs of his musical work out already and is working on a fourth, Chick’n Kick’n, as well as a DVD, I’m Not Well, both due out early next year.
Stone says no topic is off limits and his show will most certainly keep the audience on its toes, including a possible appearance by the Ass Cannon, a large, plastic rear end that shoots balls out of the, well, hole.
“If people have been to a (stand-up) show, they’re not going to experience what they’ll experience with me,” Stone said. “In a lot of cases, comedy has gotten very generic. I try to eliminate that in the shows I do. It’s a lot more crowd interaction and people get to enjoy something they don’t normally see at a regular comedy club.
“There’s a lot of action, a lot of movement, a lot of high energy.”
-rshemanski@timesshamrock.com
But that doesn’t mean it’s OK to heckle him by making fun of the Red Sox because there’s always a chance he’ll shoot something out of his Ass Cannon at you. That’s right, Stone has a prop he calls an Ass Cannon.
Known for his prop, musical and stand-up comedy, Stone has been taking the stage to make people laugh for 18 years. The 50-year-old Wilmington, Mass.n native was influenced by The Mike Douglas Show and Rip Taylor while growing up, but never truly looked at comedy as a viable career choice.
“A few relatives decided they thought I’d be a good stand-up comedian. I was always being told that,” Stone told ec/dc. “It’s one thing to be funny in front of your friends and in front of your relatives. It’s another thing to be funny in front of a whole group of people who don’t know you from a whole in the wall.”
He first took the stage in 1991, the same year his grandmother passed away. In a twist of irony, it was her passing that motivated him to finally take his shot at stand-up.
“She was one of those people that was very talented, but never used it. She was a singer,” Stone said of his grandmother. “I said, ‘Ya know, I don’t want to be sitting there in a nursing home with one tube stuck up my rear end and another in my nose, thinking to myself, what if?’”
Even though he’s apparently not too fond of his original act — “If you want to torture a comedian, play all his old video tapes from when he first started, the first five years. He’ll tell you anything you want to know.” — Stone has evolved into a popular comedian thanks to his use of a guitar and other props to go along with a stand-up routine.
He has three CDs of his musical work out already and is working on a fourth, Chick’n Kick’n, as well as a DVD, I’m Not Well, both due out early next year.
Stone says no topic is off limits and his show will most certainly keep the audience on its toes, including a possible appearance by the Ass Cannon, a large, plastic rear end that shoots balls out of the, well, hole.
“If people have been to a (stand-up) show, they’re not going to experience what they’ll experience with me,” Stone said. “In a lot of cases, comedy has gotten very generic. I try to eliminate that in the shows I do. It’s a lot more crowd interaction and people get to enjoy something they don’t normally see at a regular comedy club.
“There’s a lot of action, a lot of movement, a lot of high energy.”
-rshemanski@timesshamrock.com
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