Condom-headed comedian busts record at PSH
Comedian Dave Reilly
By Addeline Hiebert
Staff Reporter
arh227@psu.edu
On January 13, Penn State
Harrisburg students filled the
Community Center with plenty of
laughter, courtesy of comedian
Dave Reilly of Funny Guy
Productions, invited by the
Entertainment Council.
He was accompanied by fellow
comedian Joey Scarpelli, former
mechanic and ceramic tile spe
cialist, who has performed on
Saturday Night Live.
He warmed up the crowd and
started the show dressed as one
of his characters, Father Guido.
His humor was geared toward
an older crowd than what he
faced at PSH, cracking a lot of
typical jokes about his ex-wife
and holding up a pair of XXXL
"grannie panties" as his "big"
show stopper.
Scarpelli is working on a new
act with less vulgarity. "It's
tougher to do clean material
because profanity has such
great shock value," said
Scarpelli.
Scarpelli admires the work of
Louis Anderson because he is
"super funny and super clean."
Reilly lists his professions as a
professional comedian, fire eater
and escape artist. He learned
most of his tricks as the owner of
Lewney Toonz Comedy Club in
Connecticut, and started per
forming stand up comedy when
he had to fill in for a no-show
comedian at his own club.
Reilly said that he "sucked until
a heckler called me out." He was
able to outwit the heckler, and
continued to learn and develop
his act from guests at the club,
including magicians.
He opened the show by extin
guishing a cigarette in his mouth,
followed by a large ball of flames
that he also ingested. He also
impressed the audience with a
few magic tricks before the show
was over, with the most impres
sive being an escape from a
straight jacket. This escape was
extremely intense and order to
perform this feat, Reilly had to
hyperextend shoulders as well
as use brute force. The escape
was extremely successful and
Reilly beat his personal best
time of 2 minutes, 4 seconds by
freeing himself in 1:12.
As for Reilly's comedy routine,
he took the audience on excur
sions to places such as the
men's and ladies' bathrooms, the
gynecologist's office, and a very
different spin on a vacation to
Walt Disney World.
After the show, PSH student
Andrew Scott said that the show
was "hilarious." He said, "I will
definitely plan my next trip to
Disney World a little differently
after listening to Dave."
The rest of the fifty audience
members were also impressed expected," he said
with the show. Several students Reilly finished off the show by
purchased bright orange Dave sharing his "famous" feat of
Reilly T-Shirts that say "Dept. of stretching a condom over his
Mental Health Patient-Dave head and inflating it. Reilly has
Reilly's Weekend Pass Tour." done this over 20,001 times and
Student Michael Williams said, is proud to hold this world
"This school needs to bring more records among comedians.
comedians to this campus." For more information on Dave
Reilly enjoyed performing for Reilly and Joey Scarpelli, visit
the students as well. "The audi- www.funnyguyproductions.com
ence was way better than I
Reilly used brute force during his recent PSH show to escape from a
straight jacket. The trick is a regular part of Reilly's show.
Entertainment
Photos by Addeline Hiebert/Capital Times
Firebreathing adds a spark to Reilly's show.
Reilly performs his "famous" feat of inflating condoms on his head.
The Capital Times