THEATRE + COMEDY

Improv Comedy Showcase and Restaurant presents Pete Correale.

Recently named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the top 10 comics to watch, rapidly rising comedy sensation Pete Correale brings his keen eye for the humor found in daily life to Comedy Central with his first-ever special, “The Things We Do For Love.” The show debuts on Saturday, May 30 at 11 PM (Eastern and Pacific times).

Praised for his “brash and energetic” humor by the Anchorage Daily News, Correale is a veteran of the comedy club and festival circuit as well as television talk shows like “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with David Letterman” and “Last Call with Carson Daily,” and co-hosted the Sirius satellite radio show “Breuer Unleashed” with former “Saturday Night Live” star Jim Breuer for four years. The Long Island native began his comedy career after graduating from college in 1992 and moving to New York City, where he cooked hamburgers and mopped floors at the New York Comedy Club in exchange for stage time late in the night to hone his act. He quickly rose to headliner status and began making his living as a comedian.

“The Things We Do For Love” features Correale in front of a New York City streetscape set making his pungent observations on the absurdities, contradictions and weirdness of everyday life from the perspective of a regular guy (albeit one with a wickedly funny wit). The special spotlights his gift for finding laughs in love, marriage, drinking, smoking cigarettes in an increasingly non-smoking world, being married versus single, and living in New York City, among many other topics. Essential to the collective implication of “The Things We Do For Love,” his wife is an unseen presence yet integral partner throughout in many of Correale's wickedly funny tales. Whether the subject is life and health insurance, taking his nieces and nephews to the Bronx Zoo, being a dog owner, carnival rides, or his sister running in the New York Marathon, Correale zeroes in on the inherent humor in everything he encounters and experiences to evoke fervent and knowing laughter from the live audience at the special's taping. A viral Internet campaign and My Space and Facebook promotions over the next two months will tease comedy fans with snippets of Correale's wit to plug the special.

His first big breaks were appearing at Canada's prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in 2000 in its New Faces showcase and making his national TV debut on NBC's “Late Friday.” Other television appearances include NBC's “Friday Night” and Comedy Central's “Premium Blend” and “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn,” co-starring in the pilot for a Jim Breuer series for Fox, and being a featured comic in 2004 on MTV's live pre-game “Superbowl Bash.” He has showcased his stand up at the 2008 Comedy Festival in Las Vegas, New York Comedy Festival, the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and the 2005 Bonnaroo music festival. Correale has also taken his act international at Ireland's Kilkenny Cat Laughs Comedy Festival and was invited to perform in London, England on the BBC/Comedy Central show "The World Stands Up” that featured the best comedy acts from around the globe. He has been appearing in 2008 into 2009 on the third annual Jameson Comedy Tour. In April, Correale headlines the historic first-ever Beirut Stand Up Comedy Festival in Lebanon.

Correale has participated in such charity events as Comics Come Home fundraiser at Boston University, and was invited to entertain the first U.S. troops coming home from Iraq at a show aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York City. He has also worked as a comedy writer for shows on MTV and Comedy Central, and acted in starring roles in the films The Gynecologists, American Dummy and Act of Contrition. With his tabloid front-page styled website (www.petecorreale.com), the comic keeps his hilarity buzzing on the Internet. He is an avid sports fan and devoted follower of the New York Yankees who earned an All American honorable mention playing high school basketball and played for SUNY Fredonia in his college years. He lives with his wife in Manhattan, where he keeps his act sharp appearing at the city's comedy clubs when not on tour.

Correale's humor connects so strongly because it's reality-based comedy that comes from the laughs he finds in his own life. “If it happened to me, it happened to someone else,” he observes. “I like to tell stories that happen to me and find the joke in it. Whether it's putting together furniture for my wife, or walking my dog at 2 AM or hanging out with buddies having a few beers, it's all things we do for love.” And with Correale, the things that also provide hilarity in spades.