Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Comedy is a family affair for Capri

Lisa Ferguson

Friday, Dec. 26, 2003 | 8:44 a.m.

Lisa Ferguson's Laugh Lines column appears Fridays. Her Sun Lite Column appears Mondays. Reach her at lmsferguson@yahoo.com.

For Jeff Capri it was never a question of if, but when he would join the family business.

So, at the tender age of 6, he rolled up his pint-sized shirt sleeves and went to work alongside his father, legendary Catskills impressionist/comedian Dick Capri.

"I was excited," the younger Capri recalls of the first time father and son took the stage together three decades ago. "I remember rehearsing with my dad in the car. We just did silly little jokes together: 'Did you take a bath today?,' and I would say, 'Why, is one missing?' It's cute when a 6-year-old does it; now when we do it, it's pretty pathetic."

Actually, the two don't work together these days. "The closest we ever got, we worked Vegas at the same time at different hotels," says Jeff Capri, who flies solo during his performances through Sunday at The Improv at Harrah's.

The 36-year-old Capri says he somehow "always knew" he'd end up in comedy. He began his career in earnest as a teen, performing during open-mike nights at clubs in his native Southern California. He had experience on his side in more ways than one.

"My first time onstage alone, I was using 90 percent of my dad's material, which was odd for a 17-year-old kid to be talking about his ex-wife," he recalled recently from his home in Hermosa Beach, Calif. "But there was a certain confidence, I think, that probably helped knowing I had material that worked already, even though I didn't know how to do it ... I already knew what it was like to be onstage and have material, even though it wasn't mine."

Of course, he doesn't steal dear old Dad's jokes any longer. Capri, who officially went pro a dozen years ago, has developed his own observational style of humor. Onstage, "I talk about me, because that's really all I know about," he says.

He's also quick to point out that he and his father are "two separate types of comics. I cut my teeth in comedy clubs in Southern California, while he cut his teeth back in the '50s in New York, in the Catskill Mountains ... I think he's still one of the funniest guys out there."

The elder Capri, who in the 1970s toured with crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, still performs comedy. In 1991 he appeared on Broadway in the show "Catskills on Broadway." In '98 he was featured in the raucous New York Friar's Club Roast of Drew Carey, which aired on cable's Comedy Central (Cox cable channel 56).

Meanwhile, Jeff Capri returned this fall from Iraq, where he and several other comics played a three-week series of gigs for U.S. military troops stationed there. In the past five years, he's performed for servicemen and women in Europe, Asia and other points on the globe, but calls his most recent comedic deployment "probably the most rewarding thing I've ever done."

Stopping in such cities as Mosul, Tikrit, Babylon and Baghdad, shows were often staged at military base camps and on the backs of flatbed trucks. Others were held at abandoned drive-in movie theaters and at a soccer stadium that U.S. troops "hadn't blown up."

Capri says he tweaked his comedy a bit for the troops by musing on topics specific to Iraq -- "what was local there, whether it be the heat or just simple observations that wouldn't fly" in a stateside show, he explains. Most important to the audiences was "just the fact that you're acknowledging what they're going through up front. Other than that, I thought it was important for us to bring (the set) we would do at home to them there, so they get a taste of home."

All of the shows "were really packed" and the troops "were so appreciative and thankful," he says. "After every show, they would come up, look us in the eye, shake our hands and say, 'Thank you so much for coming here.' "

Capri recorded one of his sets for his recent DVD, "Jeff Capri ... LIVE! From Baghdad," which is available on his website, www.jeffcapri.com.

He says the situation in the war-torn country is "definitely different than how the media portrays it. It's not as negative." Also, the soldiers' morale is "pretty upbeat. They don't want to be there any longer than they have to, but they're aware they're doing a job and they're OK."

Even if, at times, Capri wasn't sure he would be. "Sometimes, when you're performing, you could hear some distant gunfire, which was kind of creepy." He and the other comics were typically shuttled between shows in Blackhawk helicopters, but on one occasion they traveled via convoy and got stuck in a traffic jam.

"One car tried to drive closer to our convoy, and there were (American) soldiers outside with weapons," he recalls. "They kept telling this guy, 'Don't come any closer,' and he kept coming. At one point, I heard a guy say, 'If that guy gets any closer, shoot,' and that was disconcerting."

While he's "not in a hurry" to return to the region, Capri says he plans to do so next year and once again show his support for the troops through comedy. "There's no way ever that I'd consider being a military person, so this makes me feel like I've done something."

Out for laughs

Due to a private event, the show won't go on at Catch a Rising Star at Excalibur on New Year's Eve. It will reopen on Thursday with Rocky LaPorte and Karen Rontowski performing through Jan. 4.

Be sure to catch Catch while you can: As of Jan. 31, the club will be closed. No official word yet on whether it will reopen (it's previously been housed at Bally's and MGM Grand) in the future at another Las Vegas venue.

Speaking of New Year's Eve, comics Ron Pearson, Hal Spear and Harris Peet will ring in 2004 during the 10:30 p.m. performance at Riviera Comedy Club. The $49.99 ticket price includes unlimited drinks and party favors. Call 794-9433 for information.