Comedian Pete Correale and his wife tried starting a family, stopped trying and then wound up with one. “We’re that story you hear all the time,” he says. “We were trying. We didn’t do anything other than try and we said, ‘It’s not happening, we’re not spring chickens.’ ”
Tired of New York City, the couple moved to Los Angeles. “We moved into this little bungalow up in Hollywood. We weren’t sure we were staying.” The Correales soon became friends with comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and his girlfriend (now wife). “We all went out one night drinking,” Correale says. “The next morning I get a text from Sebastian saying, ‘I’m so hung over I feel like I’m pregnant.’ ” To which Correale’s wife replied, “Well, one of us is.” And with that announcement they headed back East. However, they didn’t move back to New York City, but to western New York, near Correale’s wife’s hometown. “I wouldn’t raise a loaf of bread in L.A.,” he says.
Though happily living in western New York, Correale is knee-deep in developing a sitcom. It is at the very beginning stages, meaning the idea has been sold. Now a script needs to be written and a pilot shot. Then CBS has to decide if they want to pick it up. Early on in the process it’s already proven interesting. “The other day we had to do a call with the people at CBS,” he says. The conference call involved network executives, Correale’s management, the show’s producer, as well as his writing partner Marsh McCall (Just Shoot Me, Last Man Standing). Correale, sitting in his office in his house, was caught off guard when he and McCall were asked to redo their pitch.
“I did this pitch for ABC, FOX, TV Land — I’m done pitching. But Marsh does his bit and says, ‘Why don’t you tell them a little bit about your wife, Pete?’”
Correale replied, “I thought this call was going to be to discuss the size of my trailer. I hung up my pitching uniform.”
Afterward, Marsh called him back and complimented the comic on his handling of that unexpected situation. “Dude, I thought you were a pro before, but you are a pro’s pro.” McCall was just as taken aback as Correale. “[McCall] told me that these meetings are just for the network to introduce themselves and say, ‘Hey, we’re looking forward to working with you and we’re really excited.’ ”
Quite exciting indeed for a guy that has more than paid his dues as a stand-up act. Born and raised on Long Island, N.Y., there was always humor in Correale’s household growing up.
“My father would come home from working in Manhattan,” he says, “and he’d always have a couple of stories ready. He’d sit at the dinner table with his hands moving. That’s what he does when he talks.” This reminds Correale of a more recent dinner with his family. “We were out to dinner a few weeks ago at a restaurant and the waitress came over because she thought he wanted a drink.”
Correale’s mom explained that that was just how her husband talked. Of course when he did want a drink and tried signaling the waitress, she hesitated. “She said ‘I’m sorry, I thought you were just talking.’ ”
Not an unusual dinner for the family, even now.
“My dad would have these stories and we would all just make fun of each other, but with love and encouragement,” Correale says. “One time, though, my mother broke down at the table and said, ‘Can’t we have just one dinner where no one makes fun of anybody?’ And there was this two-second pause, and we all started cracking up. That’s just how we were.”
While his childhood formed the basis for his humor, on stage he talks about his own life now. “It’s about the town I live in now, it’s about experiences I’ve had on the road. I just have this love for stand-up,” he says. He’s not sure, however, if some of his peers have the same passion.
“I was listening to other comedians on Sirius Satellite Radio the other day,” he says, “and it was a long drive so I heard a lot of comics. And I can tell from listening the comedians that really love it and the ones that are just doing it because they’re funny and they like to stay out late and think, ‘Maybe I’ll wind up in movies.’ Even in my most down moments, I love it. I looked at my wife a few years ago and said, ‘What the fuck, maybe I’ll quit.’ She laughed and said, ‘What would you even do?’ I have a college degree, but she said, ‘You’d be miserable doing anything else.’ ”
PETE CORREALE performs at Funny Bone on the Levee Thursday-Sunday. More info: funnyboneonthelevee.com.
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2014.