Podcast Transcript
John Tobin:
Hi, my name is John Tobin, from John Tobin Presents and Laugh Boston, and several comedy clubs around Massachusetts, and the rest of the country. And I’m taking a walk with Buzz Knight.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Takin’ a Walk, an excursion to converse, connect, and catch up at a cool location with some of the most interesting people you can find. Here’s Buzz Knight.
Buzz Knight:
I’m so excited on this edition of Takin’ a Walk to be in the glorious Boston Seaport area, a wildly cool and active place, that was way different back in the early ’90s, when my guest was working away in this area. His name is John Tobin, former Boston city councilor. He’s currently vice president of city and community engagement at Northeastern, but he’s also a man with a passion and history for radio and comedy. He’s part of the ongoing history of comedy in Boston and his John Tobin Presents is a live comedy production company that produces and operates comedy shows in and around Boston, and all over the country too, including Laugh Boston. Let’s go take a walk with John Tobin. John, it is so great to see you to be taking a walk. JT, can I call you JT?
John Tobin:
Sure.
Buzz Knight:
Does anyone call you that?
John Tobin:
I’ve been called a lot worse.
Buzz Knight:
What else have you been called?
John Tobin:
Late for parties, never by potential prom dates.
Buzz Knight:
There you go. Well, thanks for taking a walk. So set the scene where we’re taking a walk here, because I know there’s a little bit of history for you, and it kind of winds into how you got where you are.
John Tobin:
Yeah, we’re on the Concourse in between the inner channel here on the Boston Harbor, across from the Tea Party Museum.
Buzz Knight:
Did you say harbor?
John Tobin:
I think I did. Yes. That’ll never leave. And then that’s probably why I never got a job in broadcasting. Leading up to the Martin Richard Park, and the Children’s Museum over here, which I was a member of when it first opened, my family. And next to us, it’s not there anymore, was a boat called … It was a restaurant called Lightships. And it had two floors, and on the bottom floor, Dick Doherty, who had his … Legendary comic, obviously in Boston, Cape Cod, in the ’60s and ’70s. He had had a tough ’80s, and made a recovery, and started to open up comedy clubs. So he came in to do Matty Siegel’s show on Kiss 108. And my job was in addition to playing the music came off satellite from Los Angeles, the music of your life, 14:30, big band music.
Buzz Knight:
Oh my God.
John Tobin:
Oh my God.
Buzz Knight:
How did you stay awake?
John Tobin:
I get in there midnight to 06:00, or midnight to 8:00 AM. And after the 14th Tommy Dorsey song came on, I was luggage. And Arnie “The Woo” Ginsburg was my boss, and he shortly thereafter relieved me of my duties, but I had a great time there. And I had to open the door for guests coming onto Matty’s show, if I was doing the front desk. And I’d sit in with the jocks overnight. And Lisa Lipps was, she was a sweetheart, and she was relegated to overnights, and Ed McMahon, and J.J. Wright, and Kid David, and just hang out there, and sit and talk with them. Vinnie Peruzzi.
Buzz Knight:
God, what names.
John Tobin:
Yeah. And I just felt like I was a part of … I just had been just parachuted into my radio, into my own radio. I’m here with legends. So I’d open the door for all Matty’s guests. And Dick Doherty came in to be on Matty’s show to talk about his new comedy club he was opening up. So I just introduced myself to him. I loved comedy. And I said, “My parents used to go see you all the time when they were dating, and first married.” And of course, now I realize someone who’s older when someone says, “Oh, my parents hung around with you.” I’m like, “Man, I’m really old.” Dick said, “How would you like to work in my club?” And I said, “Yeah, in a heartbeat, I’d work there.” And Hank Morse, he got me the job at Kiss. And then Hank and I ended up working here at Lightships, the boat.
John Tobin:
First time I saw live comedy was in 1986, my junior year of Catholic Memorial at Nick’s Comedy Stop. And it was Kevin Knox, DJ Hazard, and Don Gavin, who we grew up on the same street in West Roxbury, but I didn’t know him, but I knew he was a legend already. And Steve Sweeney came off the street and did a guest set. And me and my buddy, Gary [Diamiti, who’s still one of my best friends to this day, would love comedy. We have never forgotten that night. And that changed us forever just to see that live in front of … These mad men, just making people … I’ve never laughed so hard before in my life.
John Tobin:
And so, Gary and I every date for the next four years, we’d go to Nick’s Comedy Stop. We’d take two girls to Nick’s Comedy Stop. There’d be four of us. And before that, we’d cut the $4 off coupons off in the Herald. And the girls are going up to the desk, we would say, “No, we’ll go.” I said, “No, no, you ladies wait here.” We didn’t want them to see us that we were getting reduced prices, the coupons. So we could afford the $2 beers that were in there, right? So it was like every first date, because you really got to know somebody, as opposed to a movie. You really got to know what their likes were, and dislikes were from watching a comedy show, and what their sensibilities were.
Buzz Knight:
So the bug bit you.
John Tobin:
Oh yeah. My parents would always encourage me to watch comedy. I’d watch M*A*S*H with my father. I mean every single episode, probably 15 times.
Buzz Knight:
Are your parents still alive?
John Tobin:
My dad passed away six years ago. My mom’s still alive. But they would always encourage it. Like they had a Steve Martin album. They used to have parties down in their converted garage, with shag carpeting. These seventies parties with people. And of course I wasn’t allowed to be up there.
Buzz Knight:
Did they have the Redd Foxx party records?
John Tobin:
They had Redd Foxx. They had Steve Martin, was the one that … But I wasn’t allowed to listen to because they had swears on them.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. That was what I was going to explain. Yeah. The Redd Foxx party records, for those listening, maybe those that … Our Czechoslovakian audience, as an example, Redd Foxx was this filthy African-American comedian. And he put these records out that pretty much laid everything out there. They were like dirty secrets that were done underground, weren’t they?
John Tobin:
They really were. And he was a legend at the Comedy Store. And every time I go to the Comedy … Redd Foxx is one of the four neon faces in the Comedy Store, in the main room at the Comedy Store. And in a lot of ways, he had this persona on television, but this, I mean, dirty, filthy, but funny on-stage at a private club. Kind of like the recently deceased Bob Saget. Saget is a dad persona, and then you’d go in to see him at a comedy club, he’d make your hair curl.
Buzz Knight:
You had Bob at your club a few times, didn’t you?
John Tobin:
I never did produce a Bob Saget show. I met him a few times, just in passing. Really good person. In fact, I just had a couple of comedians in at Laugh Boston who were really good friends with him. And they were telling great stories about him, and his generosity, and just really had friends wherever he went, but made time for people. Not a diva quality about him. He actually liked being famous. He enjoyed that.
Buzz Knight:
His death touched a lot of people, obviously, because of the suddenness of it, for sure. And all the joy that he brought to so many people. Right?
John Tobin:
Yeah. He brought a lot of joy to people. To me, that’s what comedians do, is they bring joy to people. You think about going to a comedy club, and you got a tough job, maybe you got a tough family situation, maybe a medical issue. Kids are bothering you, but you go out and you watch this comic on stage, and they make your problems go away for an hour and a half, two hours.
Buzz Knight:
It’s an amazing thing. Now, were your parents funny? Or are … Your mom’s still alive.
John Tobin:
Yeah, they were in different ways. My father on the construction site was really the prank guy. But he could bag himself. He was a big guy, I’m not. My mother, but that was my … As a little kid. My mother is 10 years younger than my father. She loved puns. And so we’d do the pun thing back and forth. But I was born on August 31st, so I made my grade by literally 14 hours. My mother always wished she kept me back, because every grade I was in until I was a senior in high school, I was the smallest, the shortest, the tiniest. So my defense mechanism against bullies and people was humor, was fending them off with jokes and humor. Most of the time that worked, but sometimes it didn’t work. But I used it, that was my defense thing.
Buzz Knight:
So back to the ship. So did you do the door at the ship?
John Tobin:
I did the door. I sat people. And then a couple weeks in, Dick calls me up. He says, “I’d like you to start introducing the comics.” Like, “What?” And so it was a Saturday night. It’s going to be my first night introducing the comics. Of course, I told my parents. And I still lived at home, I was like 21. And so I went out and bought a, I can still see it, a powder blue blazer. Right? And new pants and a new shirt. I think the shirt and the blazer came in the same package with each other. My parents came, and a couple of my aunts and uncles came. So here I am taking money from people. And there’s no credit card, it’s all cash. Then I’m seating people. It sat about a hundred people, maybe. And it was a beautiful room, because it looked right out over here, over the boats and the harbor, it was great. The Intercontinental wasn’t here, none of this was here. So it just had a wide view of downtown Boston.
John Tobin:
So now it’s showtime. My heart is beating out of my chest. It is beating out of my chest. And I get up on stage, and I grab the microphone. And I’m so nervous, I’m holding onto the back curtain with my hand. And I heard two things. I heard my Aunt Mary, who’s deceased now, say, “Oh, look at him. He’s adorable.” I hear that. Before I even got a word out of my mouth.
Buzz Knight:
That’s awesome.
John Tobin:
And then a guy on my left says, probably to his wife or to his … He says, “Is this the kid who just sat us?” Just petrified that I’m going to go up and start doing comedy. So I just had to go up and introduce the comics. And I couldn’t get off that stage quick enough.
Buzz Knight:
Did you do some jokes though?
John Tobin:
No. As I get more comfortable through the years at clubs, you’d go up. And Dick could have you go up in between the feature and the headliner, and promote the dinner and show package. So you’re throwing your little jokes here and there. Then you get booed. But I love telling jokes, and sometimes I’m my own best audience. I love when people don’t laugh. I find that to be hilarious.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. There’s something crazy about it.
John Tobin:
Yeah. I think it’s great.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Yeah. But so you never, even though you had this, and still do obviously, this incredible appreciation for comedy, and the bug bit you. But you never really set your sights truly to be a standup and make a living that way. Right?
John Tobin:
Oh God, no. I couldn’t even … Because I just, at an early age, have realized how hard these people worked. They might be at Lightships one night, but the next night they’re driving the headliner up to Bangor, Maine for gas money. To get five minutes on stage, or 10 minutes on stage. It just seemed to me like what an incredible amount of work to realize their dream, and to make it happen. And to me, it’s like being the door person. I was right there, and I got to work with different people every single night, and it was secure. I got the same pay regardless. Course back in those days, in the early ’90s in Boston, there was always a concern. It was a jump ball, whether your car would still be across the street. That was probably my biggest concern.
John Tobin:
So you’re working with Gavin, and Sweeney. And there were certain guys who wouldn’t for Dick, for whatever the reason. But Mike Donovan, and Frank Santorelli. Then you get the people who had just left Boston. Marc Maron, and Nick Di Paolo in the late ’80s go to New York. But then this new crop of people came in, Bill Burr, Patrice O’Neal, Greg Fitzsimmons, Kerri Louise. This whole list of these people came in, and now they’re some of the best comedians in the country.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
John Tobin:
But they learned the Boston way.
Buzz Knight:
So why though, Boston as such a hub of comedy? I mean, is it the misery that the inhabitants have to go through on a regular basis, with traffic and weather conditions? So is it all of that that drove this appetite, and drives this appetite for comedy? What is it about the psyche?
John Tobin:
I think it’s all those things. I think it’s the weather, the politics. Before the advent of Boston sports 20 years ago, it was the sports team, the misery, the lovable losers, and just down in the dumps. I believe, strongly believe until the Red Sox beat the Yankees in ’04, that there was a gigantic inferiority complex in Boston about New York.
Buzz Knight:
Sure.
John Tobin:
That has since dissipated, I think, largely because of the success of the sports teams, which is so funny. But people love to complain. And also traditionally in the city, that there were people from big families. In order to be heard, you had to speak up.
Buzz Knight:
There you go.
John Tobin:
You know? But it’s also a thing, you think you’re something else in a big family, a big Irish or Italian family, a big African-American family. You think you’re something big, and no one will cut you down quicker than your own siblings, or your parents. You may be a big shot on the outside, but you come down it’s like, “Pass the gravy.” You’re down to their level, and there’s no superiority. It’s a good check on people.
Buzz Knight:
Oh, certainly. It still is.
John Tobin:
Yeah.
Buzz Knight:
So I moved here in the early ’90s. So was this big monstrosity, this Hood monstrosity, was it here? And describe that for people.
John Tobin:
It was. It’s not in the condition it’s in today. It was peeling away. It’s kind of like the Citgo sign of the harbor, in a lot of ways. Right? Remember the Citgo sign was not in good shape?
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
John Tobin:
It was not well lit up, bulbs were out, nobody cared. And then all of a sudden, it became this-
Buzz Knight:
This thing.
John Tobin:
… this thing. And the Milk Bottle, I guarantee you, if they announced that they were going to remove the Milk Bottle, there’d be a protest down here. Over 500 people chaining themselves to it.
Buzz Knight:
We’d be lined up.
John Tobin:
You’d be lined up. You’re not taking that Milk Bottle away from us.
Buzz Knight:
I’d be here.
John Tobin:
Yeah. Of course. It’s ours.
Buzz Knight:
I would be here.
John Tobin:
I probably, just given its history, I probably would be too.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. You’d probably buy it.
John Tobin:
Yeah I would. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Buzz Knight:
That’s what you’d probably do.
John Tobin:
If Dick was still running comedy clubs, he’d have a club inside there.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
John Tobin:
You know?
Buzz Knight:
That’s really funny. Oh, that is beautiful. So just going back a second. So you did the radio stuff. Was radio something? Because I know you’re a big fan of radio to this day.
John Tobin:
Love radio.
Buzz Knight:
So was radio ever something you really thought of as a career? And then how did you wise up?
John Tobin:
Yeah, well I was wisened up. I love radio., and Click and Clack, and Dr. Joyce Brothers, and some shows I probably shouldn’t have been listening to. But I just love that medium, and I just listen to the radio. Overnight, I listen to Norm Nathan speaking to you live from the plush, but not overly ostentatious studios of WBZ. And then Steven Wright would stop into his show overnight, just pop in. Steven Wright, come by the Norm Nathan show from two to three o’clock in the morning. Just riffing and talking. And so I just loved it. So I decided in the middle of my nine-year journey through UMass Boston, I decided to … I was just paying as I went, and working part-time jobs. And it was an interesting time in my life. I was just kind of meandering through. And so I decided to go to broadcasting school. Dick Robinson, the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Wellesley Hills.
John Tobin:
And so I went. Actually, Jordan Rich was one of my instructors, and I’m still in touch with Jordan to this day. But everybody there, they said I was pretty good. I didn’t know how cut tape. You had to do the grease pencil, and the thing. I never really mastered that. My father was a construction worker, and I inherited exactly none of his skills. I have like a mallet and some masking tape in my toolbox. I don’t know how to do any of that stuff.
Buzz Knight:
More than I have, so.
John Tobin:
But I was good. Yeah. I guess I was pretty good on the air, and could do the talk up to the record, and do the news and stuff like that. But they told me, they said, “John, your accent is … You got to change that thing.” It was kind of like Rudolph with his red nose. You could do something, but … As I think we said, your first job, you got to go up to cover eighth grade girls’ volleyball, up in Augusta, Maine. I’m like, “No one’s going to understand me.” Who’s going to-
Buzz Knight:
Right. Get a translator.
John Tobin:
Yeah. And I remember, back in TV back in the ’70s, and the reason why they say Carson and perhaps even Letterman, I mean, in addition to being hilariously funny and talented, but they were not threatening. They had that kind of Midwestern, middle-of-the-road dialect that people from Topeka wouldn’t be upset about. It was that middle-of-the-road, as opposed to later years, as you get the whichever coast kind of dialect. But it was important back then. It was important back then. That’s why I thought Eddie Andelman was so groundbreaking. I listened to Sports Huddle every Sunday night from 06:00 to 10:00. And I’d tape it. I put my tape recorder up to it.
Buzz Knight:
There you go. Yep.
John Tobin:
But those guys, Eddie, Mark, and Jim, they were Boston guys. And that show was … I think they were having drinks at a bar one night, and someone discovered them. They ended up on WBZ first, and then HDH. But that wasn’t working for me. But then I, just by chance, Hank Morse dated a girl from West Roxbury, Sherri [Scolanti. She worked at Decelles clothing store with a girl named Trish Rowan. Trish was my girlfriend.. And Sherry said she’s dating this guy, Hank Morris. I said, “Hank Morse. I know Hank Morse from Kiss 108.” So when I met Hank, it was like I was meeting a celebrity.
Buzz Knight:
He’s the best.
John Tobin:
He is awesome. And he could run for mayor of Medford tonight, and win in a recall election, if he wanted to.
Buzz Knight:
Oh yeah.
John Tobin:
So he hooked me up. He said, “I’ll hook you up with an interview.” And he got me an interview with Lisa Fell, who was Billy Costa’s wife at the time. And got the job, and reported Arnie “The Woo” Ginsburg. First my parents were very skeptical for the broadcasting school. You know?
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
John Tobin:
They wanted me to go work for utility. Just go get a good job.
Buzz Knight:
Get a stable job.
John Tobin:
Get a job with the gas company.
Buzz Knight:
John, get a stable job.
John Tobin:
I would’ve lasted with a jackhammer on the middle of the street … And I’ve so much respect for those people who do that stuff. I mean, my father, I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes doing what he did for work. Or my mother does for work still, she’s a daycare provider to this day. So they were skeptical about it. But when I told them that Arnie “The Woo” Ginsburg was my boss, their eyes lit up.
Buzz Knight:
Couldn’t believe it.
John Tobin:
You know? “What?”
Buzz Knight:
Yeah.
John Tobin:
He’s the Wolfman Jack of Boston.
Buzz Knight:
Oh yeah.
John Tobin:
So then when I parlayed that into getting the job at the Comedy Club for Dick Doherty, now I’ve become someone in my parents’ eyes.
Buzz Knight:
There you go.
John Tobin:
I’ve arrived.
Buzz Knight:
It’s that moment.
John Tobin:
I’ve arrived.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Yeah. So take us through what got you to here. There’s so many interesting paths, and still interesting paths that you’ve taken. So walk us through where those took you, and how it got here.
John Tobin:
Well, growing up in Mattapan, every other person was an elected official, and the other half were always running against them. So it was always an election going on. My parents weren’t involved in politics, even though they were friends with all these. They never ran for office. But they’d work on campaigns, and let me work on campaigns. So I’ve been delivering flyers and holding signs for people since I was six. My parents were foster parents. Probably had 30 different kids in the house over the course of 30 years. My youngest brother Patrick was abandoned by his teenage parents in 1976 in South Boston. It was a high profile case in Boston. He ended up coming to our house, and our family ended up adopting him. So that was their form of public service.
John Tobin:
But I wanted to be mayor of Boston. That’s what I wanted to do. But I also loved comedy growing up, and I loved the politics, and started working in the State House. And then I was working at Kiss. I was interning at the State House. And so I stopped working in the clubs, helped start the Boston Comedy Festival. When I’m 25, I run for District City Council against a 14 year incumbent. And I came in second, there were five of us in the race. I get into the final with her, and I lost. I came in second. But I wasn’t too upset because I figured I was still working the State House, I had my comedy job. And even though I wanted to win, I was probably a little bit too young, and didn’t have the life experience that voters are looking for at the time.
John Tobin:
And so I worked a couple more years in the State House, and then ended up at a private company. More to balance myself off on the business side of things, just so I had that experience. Knew I was going to run again. Run for City Council again in 1999. I’m still working at clubs and managing clubs. After Lightships, I ran a place for Dick up in Andover, the Grill 93. And then they sent me out to Worcester, to the Aku-Aku, which I will write a book about someday, but I need about 15 more people to die.
John Tobin:
And I run in ’99 against now the 18 year incumbent at the time. And five of us in the race, I get into the final with her. We think we have her, and she beat me again. I was devastated. I was really. And now I’ve lost twice for the seat. I’m barely 30. And I’m like, “Oh man.” And I don’t want to become like a Harold Stassen, perennial … I’m on the precipice of this happening. So I end up out in 2000, I’m working at Catholic Memorial, my alma mater, as the development director. Go out to L.A. for comedy festival stuff. End up at a party. We have an off night, end up at a party. There’s a bunch of girls living out there from Boston. And meet this girl, Kate, and she’s from Milton. So we kind of hit it off, went to a comedy show at the Improv. And while I’m out there in California, I get word that the incumbent is leaving to run for another seat. I was never going to beat her.
John Tobin:
So I fly home early. And I sit down with my parents. And my father actually said to me, who was my biggest supporter, I mean, he made all my signs by hand, and he’d be out Dunkin’ Donuts with me at 05:30 in the morning. And he said, “John, it’s probably not your time.” I said, “What do you mean, it’s not my time?” I said, “I’ve just run twice and lost.” And he said, “Yeah, but this kid …” There was already a guy in the race, way ahead. I said, “I feel like I got to do it.” But I also knew in the back of mind, if I lost … If I had lost that race, I would be running a building complex in Tallahassee right now. My life would’ve been completely different.
Buzz Knight:
Completely. Yeah.
John Tobin:
We lost the preliminary, came in second. We crushed. And we ended up turning around in the next six weeks. We got some political gods that visited us. And so won that race, and continued. Became a Boston city councilor. Continued booking comedy. Mayor Menino was so good to me personally, and professionally. Not at the beginning, but he loved comedy. And we’d talk comedy all the time, and then I’d bring in big comedians to give them the key to the city. I brought in Dane Cook. We gave him a key to the city one time. Norm Crosby, who was a sweetheart of a man. He’s from Boston, his wife’s from Boston. He came back and we treated him like gold. Menino would give them gold cuff links. Vin Di Bona from America’s Funniest Home Videos. And so it was kind of my entree to Menino, loved that stuff.
Buzz Knight:
And the mayor, I remember too, a Loren & Wally fan as well.
John Tobin:
Yeah, he did all Loren & Wally day.
Buzz Knight:
Oh yeah.
John Tobin:
Yeah, he was a really good guy. And then when I told him I opened up a comedy club with Frank Ahearn, who’s since passed away, on Warrenton Street, up a street from Nick’s, in the old Comedy Connection. And in the room, in between Shared Madness and Blue Man Group. And we called it Tommy’s. I think Tom Menino thought I was naming it after him. But it was named after Thomas Wignell, who’s the first known comedian in the country.
Buzz Knight:
Wow.
John Tobin:
All the old-time comedians would give me crap and they’d say, “Who the hell’s Tommy?” I said, “Well, who the hell’s Nick?” You know, from Nick’s Comedy Stop, right? So about six months after we opened, Frank had a stroke. Frank Ahearn had a stroke, and we thought he was gone. He was in a coma for a few months. And at the time Nick’s Comedy Stop calling me down the street. And they said, “Why don’t you run our club too?” So now I’m running two clubs, and neither one is doing particularly well. And I’m like, “Oh my God, what am I going to do?” So Frank came out of the coma, was in a rehab facility down in Scituate. This is 2010. And I said, “Frank, I’m going to mothball Tommy’s until you get better. Let me concentrate on Nick’s, because that’s the one that’s making some bit of money here.” And he agreed with it.
John Tobin:
Then I get the job at Northeastern. I was recruited to come to Northeastern, leave the council. Because I wanted to run for mayor, but Mayor Menino, as good as he was to me, he wasn’t about to tell me his plans. And my boys were two and four at the time. And I’m like, “I could run, and I could win, or I could run, and I could lose. Then what’s going to happen?” So I went to Northeastern, and I’ve been there ever since. It’s been a great experience, but I have always continued running the clubs.
John Tobin:
Frank passed away two days before I started at Northeastern, so we didn’t reopen Tommy’s. We concentrate on Nick’s. And then the guys from the Improv Asylum, who I knew from my work in the City Council, I was chair of Arts and Humanities. They came to me and said, “Let’s look at down the Seaport.” At that time, the only thing down here really was the Moakley Courthouse, and the last remnants of Pier 4, where my parents took me for my eighth grade graduation gift. That was my gift, from graduate the eighth grade was to go to Pier 4. So we walked around in the Seaport. It was a rainy January day, like an 11 or 12. And we had no broker with us. We actually went into the Westin. Went over the foot bridge to the World Trade Center, went into the Westin to stay warm. The Westin was relatively new. But I knew there was an MJ O’Connors down the way. So went down to go open. It was closed. It was like 10 o’clock in the morning.
John Tobin:
There was a gray door next to it. We opened it up. It was unlocked. And it’s a whole shell. We’re like, “What is this? All this space?” And long story short, that ended becoming Laugh Boston. But Tom Menino, on opening night at Tommy’s, came to my opening night and spoke at it. And if it were not for Tom Menino, Laugh Boston doesn’t open on time, because we were cash-strapped. We ran into some overruns with construction, like you always do. There were event liquor vendors taking their product off trucks, weren’t going to deliver it. Tom Menino made that night happen. So the opening night of Laugh Boston, it’s a packed house, family and friends. We got Tom Menino in the back. I asked him to come to be the first person on stage. No one knows he’s there. And I said, “Ladies and gentlemen …” We’d got through our things. And I said, “Can’t think of anybody better to open up this club than the best Tom Menino impersonator there is.” So everybody assumes it’s going to be Sweeny.
Buzz Knight:
Right. Oh, that’s brilliant.
John Tobin:
And out comes … And the mayor wasn’t doing well, he was failing, but he wasn’t … And he came out on the stage, and I swear to God, the roof came off the place.
Buzz Knight:
Wow.
John Tobin:
The place exploded. Gave him a standing ovation. It was one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen. And it was just so … So he was a big part of things, and really encouraged me as well. It was another way to keep another oar in the water. I mean a lot of elected officials are attorneys or … I was probably the only elected official that’s a comedy booker, but it enabled me to … God forbid, I used to tell some of my colleagues who’d give me crap about it. Good natured. “You’re not a full-time city councilor.” I certainly was. But I said, “Look it, we think we walk on water in our districts. We could lose the next election. Our mortgage company still wants the money on the first of the month. You’ve still got to provide to your family, you need something to go.” That’s the way I’ve always thought of it. No job is secure forever, and you just need backup, and another skill in something.
John Tobin:
So Laugh Boston opens up and it just opened up this whole world. Put us on a national map in terms of bookers, and agents, and things like that. But something we really had to work hard at. But it’s opened up so many, the other clubs, and Foxborough and at MGM, and the casino. I just think, I tell everybody, every young kid, I just say, “Open the door.” You never know. We opened that gray door. But we opened the door at Tommy’s. We did it at Nick’s. If I don’t open up Tommy’s, Nick’s doesn’t happen. And if Nick’s doesn’t happen, Laugh guys don’t come along. And if Laugh doesn’t happen, then all these other clubs in Massachusetts don’t happen.
John Tobin:
And then if you don’t put yourself out there and network out there, then Plano, Texas doesn’t happen, and Detroit doesn’t happen, and potentially Louisville and Pittsburgh. And then people just are crawling out the woodwork. And then we’re booking these one nighters at theaters, and tents, and things like that. And I think what kind of regarded our company, what we built up is kind of the go-to people in terms of comedy. And I’m really lucky.
Buzz Knight:
That’s awesome. We were talking too, before we started to take a walk, about our mutual friend, Skinny Vinny O’Neill who was Episode Four, actually, of Takin’ a Walk. And Vinny in that episode talks about how taking a walk is one of those wonderful things, because it produces these serendipitous moments. And it sounds like your metaphor of opening doors, is it really about those serendipitous moments, right?
John Tobin:
For sure. Opening the doors, taking a chance. I tell my own boys, my boys are 15 and 16 now. They’re different guys. But my oldest son is the more reserved, and quiet, and a little bit more hesitant on things. And he was a student manager of the football team last year. Pretty good athlete, but not a CM football player. But he became the student manager for the … They could beat Division Three teams, Catholic Memorial. And he was thinking about quitting last summer. So my wife and I had a conversation. We sat him down and said, “Matthew, stick with it. This team is going to win championships. They’re potentially playing in Ireland next year. And you walk into college with that experience, and knowing these people.” I say, “You’re working with guys right now who are going to be Division One college athletes, and potentially in the NFL. That opens up so many different windows for you down the road, these relationships. It’s all about relationships.” And he finally came to his senses and he did it. And three weeks ago he got measured for a Super Bowl ring. Right?
John Tobin:
So just getting out there. As Tony V says, his best advice for young comics is, “Well, you’re not going to get better sitting on your couch watching Murder She Wrote having Doritos. The only way you’re going to get better is being out in the clubs and being on stage.” And I tell comedians, people who want to do it who’s starting out, “Even if you’re not going to be on stage that night, come to the club. Hang out, don’t be a pain in the neck, but you never know when you’re going to get called on. Be prepared, be ready. Keep on writing and working, and you’ll get your shot.” Because you stick around long enough, they just can’t possibly say no to you anymore.
Buzz Knight:
Right.
John Tobin:
Right? But it’s just getting out there in the world and not being a hermit.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
John Tobin:
It’s important. It’s important. And I think the people I’ve worked with in comedy, and the relationships, and there’s people from Boston all over the country. All over the country, and it helps enormously.
Buzz Knight:
Sure.
John Tobin:
That you could be connected in Los Angeles, or all over the world. I mean, I went to a trip to Turkey 20 years ago with a group of under forties. There was this nonpartisan group that went out to Turkey. And we’d go into these meetings and they’d go around the hall and you had to introduce yourself. We met with every mayor, and governor, and cotton mill person in Turkey, in Ankara, and Istanbul and Sanliurfa. Every single person went to Boston University. So we do the round the hall where your people … One guy was from Kansas City, one guy who was from Kentucky, one woman was from San Francisco, another woman was from Virginia. And I’d say Boston, and their eyes would light up. And we’d talk about Boston for a half hour to the point where the kid, Jamie Comer, who’s now a Congressman from Kentucky. We get out in the car on the third day, he says, “Hey John, can you do me a favor?” I said, “What’s that?” And he said, “Can you stop saying you’re from Boston? Because you’re holding up every meeting by 30 minutes.”
Buzz Knight:
That’s awesome. I love it.
John Tobin:
And we went into some place, in some church or some palace. And two guys, a couple from the South End come out of the … They recognized me as a city councilor. People are like … This is in Turkey. Right? It just happens. It’s a Boston thing.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. It’s a Boston thing.
John Tobin:
Which is really great.
Buzz Knight:
Yeah. Well we are very grateful that we’re here in Boston. I’m grateful to be taking a walk with you, and hearing your story, and hearing about that ship that is no longer here. But I could actually see it, as you describe it as we’re taking a walk.
John Tobin:
Oh, it was such a great memorable time, and met so many great … Some of them, I’m still friends with. And then at the end of the night, we’d go hit golf balls off the deck over that way. Every once in a while you’d hear a window break, not for any of my shots. I think I told you, the first two weeks I worked there, I thought it was a replica boat. I didn’t think that it was an actual boat. And so until I realized, I’m a little late to the party sometimes. Sometimes I’d walk down into work, and then the same night I’d walk up out of work, and I’m like, “Oh, it really is the water.”
Buzz Knight:
Oh my God.
John Tobin:
I’m glad I didn’t get into physics or math, and I’m more in the entertainment and government relations positions I’m in.
Buzz Knight:
Well, we are all grateful. We’re grateful for the laughs. We’re grateful for what you bring to the community, and all your great work. And this is one of the joys of taking a walk, being able to catch up with you and hear the story. So thank you for your time.
John Tobin:
I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m grateful to be from Boston.
Speaker 2:
Takin’ a Walk with Buzz Knight is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
About The Author
Buzz Knight
Buzz Knight is an established media executive with a long history of content creation and multi-platform distribution.
After a successful career as a Radio Executive, he formed Buzz Knight Media which focuses on strategic guidance and the development of new original content.
