You Know Jon Lovitz by Now

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Photo via Jon Lovitz - Instagram

Jon Lovitz

Jon Lovitz

Jon Lovitz has connected the dots between improvisation and the kind of stand-up he is currently performing. 

“In a weird way, you are improvising with set material,” Lovitz observes regarding his set at the improv in Brookfield from Thursday, September 28 to Sunday, October 1. “All the material is there, in my brain, at my beck and call. So, I never get to all of it, because there’s not enough time. and you never know how long the laughs will be at different jokes,” the comic arguably best known for his half-decade SNL tenure observes.  

Lovitz’s extensive television credits make his brand of hilarity a known entity to most anyone attending one of his shows. “I’m presenting my sense of humor. and most of the people at the show know it by now,” he surmises. But even if people going to see his act didn’t know his style from precious encounters, he wouldn’t want to be face cultural cancelation for getting under any audience member’s skin.

“I don’t change my act or not say something, for any audience. How can i know what 300 or 400 random people I’ve never met, are not going to like or be offended by? It’s impossible,” Lovitz insists. Drawing a parallel, he adds, “Would you submit a play list to a rock band, before you go see their show? It’s their show, not yours. the audience is there to see it, not to co-create it.” 

Laugh at Yourself

The advice Lovitz gives anyone going out for a night of shtick? “If you don’t have the ability to laugh at yourself, don’t go to a comedy show. A comic’s job is to make fun of anything they want—and hopefully, make the audience laugh. And if they laugh or don’t laugh? Nothing changes. It’s on to the next joke!” 

Regarding the connection between his work on club stages and soundstages, Lovitz says, “stand up is very different. You are talking directly to the audience, so you are breaking the ‘fourth wall,’ which you never do when you’re doing a play or movie and staying in character. In stand-up, you write and perform your act. You have to learn how to create rhythms, use a microphone, create whole routines and jokes and discover who you are onstage, as opposed to doing a character from a movie or play.” 

It was a movie, starring a man whom Lovitz eventually got to work with, that led to his life in comedy. 

Take the Money and Run

“I saw Take the Money and Run when I was 13,” he recalls of Woody Allen’s 1970 film. “I just thought, this guy has the best sense of humor, similar to my own and my best friend’s. We just thought he was the funniest guy we’d ever seen.” Lovitz was able to share screen time with his hero 30 years later. “I got to work with Woody in his movie Small Time Crooks. So, I told him many times how he inspired me and was the reason I became a comedian. and that doing this movie with him was a dream come true. I could not stop smiling, whenever I was in a scene with him. he really went out of his way to let me know I made him laugh and I was doing a good job in the movie.” 

Thrilling though it was for Lovitz to work with Allen, “my role as Ernie Capadino in A League of their Own was probably my favorite role. I’ve really enjoyed all the movies I’ve made. I like to act.” Anyone attending his Improv dates, however, should be advised that he won’t be reprising any of his previous roles. “It’s not characters from SNL or movies,” Lovitz emphasizes. “It’s me, being myself and doing jokes about different topics. If you’ve ever seen me on a talk show, that’s how I am in my stand-up show.” 

Though he doesn’t revisit SNL roles such as the Pathological Liar and Tommy Flannagan in his current act, Lovitz remains friendly with some of the series’ alumni. “I still hang out with Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller. David Spade has become a close friend. and I got to play Dan Ackroyd’s brother in a movie. we became friends.  and of course, Larraine Newman I love. She recommended me to Lorne Michaels for SNL.” 

Lovitz has kept up with the march of time by adding social media as a venue for his humor. “I’m on Instagram now. I try to come up with funny, entertaining clips. It’s weird, you never know what is going to go viral.” But just as he has discovered from his stand-up, “its seems people just want to see you, being yourself.” 

Though Lovitz won’t likely be tickling any ivories at The Improv, he is at a piano delivering the quips that got him canned as a restaurant entertainer ...