Stand-Up, Message

Jim Labriola was born and raised in Queens, New York.  The youngest of five children, he always had a natural flair for comedy that would seep out at family gatherings.  Although Jim came from a Catholic background and his family believed in God they hardly ever attended church.  At about eight years old, Jim picked up a Bible at his friends’ house and began to read it.  He remembers reading that if you pray every night you will see God- and as this realization affected him deeply, he has continued to pray every night since. 

During his youth, one of his greatest passions was playing baseball.  But at the age of 16 he threw his arm out dashing all hopes of becoming a professional baseball player.  He then turned his attention to comedy, spending hours a day listening to his favorite comedy records like Pat Cooper, George Carlin and his personal idol, Don Rickles.  Jim supported himself as a bartender and teamster truck driver, however, while frequenting nightclubs with friends, he would grab a mike and jump on stage whenever the opportunity arose.

Growing up with a physically abusive father and alcoholic mother, Jim started drinking at a very early age to escape his emotional pain.  At the age of twenty-six, Jim realized his drinking was out of control and made a decision to go for help.  Entering into a program, he was blessed by God and his drinking was lifted from him, one day at a time.  That’s when he decided to take comedy seriously.  He would go anywhere there was a chance to perform on stage, sometimes driving an hour and a half just to do a five minute spot.  After six months, he got a regular gig at Pips comedy club in Brooklyn.  He made the move from Brooklyn to Manhattan when he became a regular at the then- famous Catch A Rising Star comedy club.  Not long afterwards, Jim went on the road and became a favorite in comedy clubs all around the country.

In 1989, Jim opened for Tim Allen at Governor’s comedy club on Long Island, New York.  This fortuitous meeting sparked a close friendship and a big boost for Jim’s career.  He fulfilled a life long dream of performing at Westbury Music Fair in front of three thousand people when he opened for Tim Allen in 1993.  Along with that, Jim also got his big break on network television in 1993 when he was offered one line as a deliveryman on the hit show “Home Improvement”.  That one line was all it took and Jim sold everything he owned and made the move to Los Angeles.  He soon landed guest spots on several network sitcoms and got to relive his teamster roots playing a truck driver in Disney’s huge hit, “The Santa Clause”.  His role on “Home Improvement” grew from his first guest appearance as a deliveryman to the very popular recurring character of Benny Barony.

Jim realized that even though all these wonderful things of the world were happening to him, he still felt empty inside.  So, after being on the show for about three years, he took a trip to see a good friend of his from New York who had moved to Florida.  While there, he felt a real peace about being in Florida and decided to stop at a real estate office to look into buying property.  During conversation with the real estate agent, he was asked if he was single and if he might want to meet this very nice lady the agent had just sold a house for.  Uncharacteristically, he agreed to a blind date for dinner and, upon meeting Rhonnda, felt an immediate connection.  The relationship blossomed and a year and a half later, they were married.

Taking Rhonnda back with him to California after getting married, Jim found life there to be different for him then when he lived there alone and single.  Feeling an uneasiness in his spirit and with problems beginning to surface in their relationship, Jim knew they had to go back to Florida where God wanted them to be.  After moving back, Rhonnda’s sister Wende, and her husband Michael encouraged the newlyweds to attend church with them.  Both of them had given their lives to the Lord several years ago and Jim had always been attracted to the way they lived their lives.  Jim watched them struggle a lot with finances but he never saw them lose their faith whether they had money or not.  After attending church on a regular basis for several months, Jim called the pastor of the church to meet over lunch to discuss some things on his mind.  The pastor met with him in a Mexican restaurant and the next thing Jim knew he was giving his life to Jesus Christ.

After beginning a discipleship, the Bible started to talk to him and Jim realized the word of God was the truth and the right way to live.  This became even more evident upon reading Ephesians 5:4 “Nor should there be any obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking…”.  For Jim’s style of humor had always been very adult in nature and he now felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Having stepped out of the dark into the light, Jim suddenly knew he could not go back into the world anymore.  This revelation came with a price though, and Jim suddenly found himself unable to support himself by doing the nightclub routines he had done for years.  To make matters worse, “Home Improvement” had just finished its’ final year leaving Jim with no steady work.

Feeling led to use the gifts that God gave him to lift up the body of Christ with joy and laughter, and after rewriting his act to reflect this, Jim started visiting local churches and performing at charity events.  Struggling with finances due to continually turning down comedy, TV and movie roles because of adverse subject matter, Jim began to take out his frustrations on Rhonnda.  Because of his abusive childhood, he had always struggled with an anger problem and the constant financial stress caused him to lose control.  With their marriage in crisis, Jim found his faith tested daily as he cried out to the Lord.  While doing a youth event one day, he noticed his wife’s hurting face in the audience and again was immediately convicted.  He heard the Holy Spirit ask him how he could be ministering to other people when he was mistreating his own wife.

With that he stopped performing altogether and over the next three years took jobs in various professions such as real estate while he and Rhonnda worked on their marriage.  With the help of Christian counseling and church support groups, things improved and Jim continued to ask the Lord what he wanted him to do.  The answer came to him one day when he remembered he had turned down an appearance on the James and Betty Robison show “Life Today” a year earlier.  They had told him to call them when he was ready and suddenly God put it on his spirit to contact them.  They agreed to have him on and as soon as the program had aired, Jim knew what God wanted him to do once again.

Jim now travels the country speaking at business meetings, motivational seminars and he continues to have  appearances on television and film. Jim's television credits include Home Improvement, Monty, Love & War, Colin Quinn Special Going Back to Brooklyn, Comedy on the Road and Caroline's Comedy Hour. Film credits include: The Santa Clause, It'll Kill You, The Con Job. Personal appearances include Catch A Rising Star, Dangerfield's, Comic Strip, Stand Up N.Y., Caroline's, Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, The Improv, Jim Labriola's Night of a Thousand Guidos.

Television Credits

- Home Improvement

- Monty

- Love & War

- Colin Quinn Special Going Back to Brooklyn

- Comedy on the Road

- Caroline's Comedy Hour

Film Credits

- The Santa Clause

- It'll Kill You

- The Con Job

Personal Appearances

- Catch a Rising Star

- Dangerfield's

- Comic Strip

- Stand-Up N.Y.

- Caroline's

- Comedy Store

- Laugh Factory

- The Improv

- Jim Labriola's Night of a Thousand Guidos

Opening Acts

- Time Allen, Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, NY and

  Landmark Theatre, Syracuse, NY

- The Doobie Brothers, Sands Hotel/Casino, Atlantic

  City, NJ

Radio

- "Jim Labriola's " The Boys From Brooklyn Show,"

  WGBB, New York

Performer: Jim Labriola

Travels from: Fort Myers, FL

Performance Fee: Call for quote

Travel Requirements: Airfare and Hotel for (1)