Comedian Tammy Pescatelli has played many Northeast Ohio gigs but never one in Lorain Count, but that will change on March 23 with the ‘HaHa Ohio’ show.
“I’m so excited because I’m a Northeast Ohio girl, born and raised,” said, Pescatelli, who grew up in Perry and attended Perry High School. “To me, any part of that area is considered home because there will be people there that come to the show that I literally love and probably some who have known me before I hit puberty.”
Joining one of the hardest-working women in comedy today will be Ohio comics John Henton, Bill Benden, Michael Gershe, Chris Harvey and Craig Peters.
Speaking of her comedy career, Pescatelli recently received quite the honor, appearing on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, where she talked growing up in Lake County, experiences with Rodney Dangerfield and her three decades in the entertainment business.
“Let me tell you what a good guy Marc is,” said Pescatelli, who graduated from Kent State University. “He went out of his way afterwards to make a few phone calls on my behalf to some people — and that just doesn’t happen.
“I’ve been in this game for a long time, but I think people kind of … I hate to say forgot about me, but really they kind of did. I left Los Angeles just as the world exploded, and I wasn’t part of that clique that were on each other’s podcasts all of the time.”
In addition to appearances on “Blue Bloods,” Pescatelli’s acting career is about to get a bump after she found herself on the set of the upcoming feature film “Nonnas.” The star-studded cast includes Vince Vaughn, Drea de Matteo, Linda Cardellini, Joe Manganiello, Lorraine Bracco, Susan Sarandon and Talia Shire.
“It’s a cute little story for me, but it’s a beautiful movie,” she said. “I was so blessed. I auditioned for a part that (went to) Drea de Matteo, and, of course, she’s phenomenal in it. They offered me a very small part as Cousin No. 2, but I was thrilled to take it. I have three lines with Vince, who I know.”
What happened on the set was pure Pescatelli career magic thanks to She and Vaughn having had crossed paths decades ago in the Los Angeles comedy scene and sharing a lot of mutual friends.
“In between takes, I kind of reminded him about that,” she said. “The next take, he throws me an improv. Then we went back and forth a little bit and from that improv, they expanded my part.
“I ended up with five days, I got a name and by the end of the movie, it’s literally Vince, Linda Cardellini and me sitting across from Drea de Matteo and Joe Manganiello. As they continued to expand my part, I’m literally acting with Susan Sarandon. It was like a bizarre story.”
Pescatelli stressed that anything can happen with the final cut of a movie. Her scenes could land on the cutting room floor, but she knows where she’s been and where she’s headed.
She doesn’t dream of movie stardom or selling out Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Instead, the native Northeast Ohioan and Pennsylvania resident with a blue-collar attitude wants simply to remain in the game.
“I have a very ‘kick the ball, Charlie Brown’ career,” she said. “Just as I feel like I’m at a breakthrough, it comes back. But if you turn around and look at it, I still had the career.
“I still continue to grow. I just need to each step of the way sell a few more tickets, keep playing bigger venues and keep creating because as hard as this world is right now, people really need to laugh.”
‘Haha Ohio’
Featuring: Tammy Pescatelli, John Henton, Bill Benden, Michael Gershe, Chris Harvey and Craig Peters
When: 7 p.m. March 23.
Where: Lorain Palace Theatre, 617 Broadway.
Tickets: $25 to $35.
Info: lorainpalace.org or 440-245-2323.
