We recently connected with Joe Pontillo and have shared our conversation below.

Joe, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

For stand-up comedy I never took a class, unless you count a public speaking class I took in college. The best grade I received was for a speech where I technically advocated committing a crime (Pirating music). I just thought I was funny and if I went on stage and started talking, hilarity would naturally flow out of me. Eventually that did happen but it took years of getting on stage regularly and realizing that one of the keys to comedy is having some semblance of a recurring act. Of course you can do different jokes every night but at least have some regular bits you can pull from to keep the flow going. Plus in stand-up there’s a certain confidence level you need to get up there before you can really do what you want. Early on I’d be cruising along and then one joke would miss and I would naturally assume I would never get laugh again. Eventually you realize one miss means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

For acting, I took a few classes in college although they were more for theater acting which I’ve never done. Although I may be curious to try it once! I did one Pilot Season workshop class with world renowned teacher Joanna Beckson. I also once accidentally took an improv class while in Los Angeles and partook in a sketch writing group at Governor’s on Long Island. In all of these I learned how to find comedic timing while acting out scenes which I have put to great use in all my writing.

In college I also took a class learning to edit but it wasn’t until years later that I realized I am just barely talented enough to edit my own projects without having to rely on others, except when it comes to my two comedy specials which I’d probably still be editing today if it wasn’t for the help of some good people. They know who they are!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a stand up comedian, editor, writer, and filmmaker or content creator depending on what sounds cooler. I have performed stand-up for nearly twenty years, I started very young. Probably too young as I wish I had more life experience before I started besides thinking “I’m hilarious, I should do this.” I really only became what I wanted to be as performer in the last several years. It’s an insane journey that’s cost me everything but in a fun way.

I have written and created multiple films both short and long including ‘Street of the Dead’, ‘Hank Is Evil’ and ‘Social Media Killed The Super Villain’. All probably available on YouTube, Currently my focus is on short term content or my own talk show/podcast ‘The Joe Pontillo Show’ as well as webisodes of ‘Pontillo & Associates’. I really like the sound of my own name as you can see. Branding!

As for solving problems, I mainly just cause them but if you need a good writer or someone to edit small projects I can probably help you with that,

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I didn’t realize NFTs were still a thing. I honestly don’t understand what the appeal is. It kind of seems like I could just pay an artist to commission a drawing and it’s basically the same thing. Also why are they predominately humanoid apes? Very confusing turn for the arts in this country. I can kind of understand the allure of crypto which I always associated with NFTs but I think I prefer my tokens to be fungible? Am I doing this right? Not sure. It was very funny when someone stole Seth Green’s NFTs though. So I guess there is some kind of value in them.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I am still working to make a lucrative and consistent living at what I do. I work and tour a lot as a stand-up comedian but it always fluctuates monetarily. Some months you’re doing well and then other months you get excited to do jury duty or see if your UberDriver app still recognizes your face.

The real goal to me is getting paid to create content, whether it’s a podcast, talk show, episodic, movie, whatever. Something that lasts long and has wide appeal. I have been stuck on the low end of the internet totem pole for too long. Late in 2024 I went semi-viral on TikTok and my last comedy special blew through 17K views on YouTube. These are the types of wins that need to keep happening.

Unfortunately everything you do now has to be on the internet and you are at the mercy of the almighty algorithm. Maybe it accepts NFTs as a bribe? Outside of continuing to create content that reaches more and more people I will continue to tour as a comedian. I have grown so much in this business that I almost gain new fans at every single show. Ones that actually follow me on a social media afterwards. Not just ones who say they will. That’s when you know you’re getting good.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://JoePontillo.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/pontillogram
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoePontillo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-pontillo-226b9622a/
• Twitter: https://Twitter.com/JoePontillo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoePontillo
• Other: https://TikTok.com/JoePontillo

Image Credits

Most of these are still shots but one photo was taken by Jacqueline Olszewski and another was taken by Tom Punchur.