The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Perry grad returns for film
Stand-up comic Tammy Pescatelli to shoot Netflix special at high school
It’s back to school for back-in-the-day Perry native Tammy Pescatelli.
The stand-up comic and actress, who graduated from Perry High School in 1987, is coming back home to film her latest one-hour show, “Way After School Special,” which comes after the success of her current special on Netflix, “Finding the Funny.”
“I’ve been blessed to have a lot of success,” Pescatelli said. “I think it’s a rare opportunity to have it at my old school, not just for the kids who are receiving class and Internet Movie Database (IMDb) credit for assisting the crew in
production, but for Northeast Ohio to take a minute to laugh for themselves and participate in helping put that laughter out to the masses.”
Pescatelli also has decided to establish a scholarship for the arts based on her new special’s success. A release date for “Way After School Special” has yet to be determined.
“When it came time to film the follow-up to my Netflix special, everyone said, ‘Go big.’ And I said, ‘Why go big, when you can go home?’ ”
But Pescatelli’s success as an entertainer almost didn’t happen, as 10thgrader Tammy Gillespie — Pescatelli later chose to use her grandfather’s surname to honor not only him, but her Sicilian heritage — was heavily dissuaded to pursue her dream of becoming an actress by her guidance counselor.
“You’re from Perry, Ohio,” Pescatelli was told. “No one from here is on TV. The only way you’ll be on TV is if you rob a bank.” While not doing that, Pescatelli said she was indeed deterred for a while, “not knowing a single person in Hollywood,” but later
decided to forgo the counselor’s guidance. Growing up in a “large, crazy, Italian family outside of Cleveland,” she learned and continued to hone her comedic skills, chasing her goal after graduating.
Solid choice, as fate would have it.
Since her foray into comedy, Pescatelli has appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “The Talk,” “The View” and many other programs, including “The Howard Stern Show.” Her first comedy special for Comedy Central won the network’s coveted “Stand-up Showdown” No. 1 spot. “Finding the Funny” was selected as iTunes’ Editor’s Choice and one of the Top Downloaded shows for 2014.
Pescatelli, though, still faces Hollywood hurdles, noting that with “Way After School Special,” thoughts on the venue differed after the cost of the special were examined by the production company’s new vice president.
“They were originally down for it,” she said of filming at the school. “But their fall (2017) schedule conflicted with some family things I had going on. By the time I was ready to go, the company’s transition had taken place, and as is often the Hollywood case, things changed. They said it would
cost too much.
“Instead, they wanted to shoot at the Ohio Theatre in Cleveland. But I know they like to do things formulaically, and would have marched four other comics out there, too. I just kept thinking how I couldn’t let the students down because this is greater than me. I had to fight to do this. But this material is not about Perry — it’s about a time period and I just happen to be a Perry girl. You don’t have to be from Perry or even a small town to understand what it was like to be a child of the ’80s.”
Pescatelli, who’s been performing
for 23 years, has lived in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Brooklyn, New York. She’s taken her standup all over the world, last week returning from Vancouver, and traveling seven weeks straight in preparation of her upcoming special.
Pescatelli does, however, maintain a sense of balance in her professional and personal lives. “Way After School Special” is directed by her husband, Luca, and the couple have one son, Luca James.
“I’ll sacrifice for my kid to have a normal life,” she said. “I keep my family and
comedic lives separate. We all live life and when I have to, I jump on a plane, but when I’m home, I’m wife and mommy.”
The family currently lives in Meadville, Pennsylvania, a city Pescatelli calls a “comedy mecca.”
That metaphor, by the way, is sardonic.
“My comedy is complete sarcasm,” Pescatelli said, smiling, adding her standup, including “Way After School Special,” isn’t really for kids.
“I don’t think I’m dirty, but I’m definitely for adults. I don’t modify my material. I gotta stay true. This is for my generation, because they’re all on Facebook trying to see how fat and old the captain of the cheerleaders got, and since I was, I’ll give them an hour of showing it. They can stare at every wrinkle and bulge I have.
“With my generation, I feel everything we learned was from the after school special,” she said. “I think there’s a big generation gap right now. I think people are so nervous, forgetting how to laugh in the past couple of years, especially good friends being separated over political views. I’ve never seen the country so polarized. It’s sad.”
While comedy remains Pescatelli’s primary professional force, she’s set to
star in her first lead role in a movie shot in Pittsburgh this fall, though she’s the first to say that’s never been her thing.
“I say my own words, man, and have worked too hard to ever give that up,” she said. “I’ve always been a bit shy, but it’s coming around. Even more apropos, all I have to give is laughter. And now I understand the nuclear plant may be leaving. People are scared. I can’t build a house, but I can pack a house. I’m not saying you can giggle through paying your electric bill, but if you can still find something to laugh at, you’ll carry through life a lot easier.”
With her special predicated on going back to school, does Pescatelli realize there’s a movie starring Rodney Dangerfield based on that very theme? Of course she does. “That’s one of my favorite movies, man,” she laughed. “Believe me, if I could do a Triple Lindy at the end of ‘Way After School Special,’ I certainly would.”
Tammy Pescatelli’s “Way After School Special” will be filmed in Perry High School’s Goodwin Theater on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:20 p.m. No tickets will be sold at the door.
For tickets, visit bit.ly/ pescate-lliinperry.