They did this last year at the M.V. Film Center, and no one asked them not to do it again. Longtime comedy writer and performer Marty Nadler, now living mostly in Florida, poor chap, and his son, Charlie, also a professional comic and, by the way, a Vineyard native now residing in North Adams in Western Massachusetts, but popping up to perform comedy gigs around the country, will appear on Saturday, July 16, at 7:30 pm at the Film Center in Vineyard Haven with another father/son comedy team in tow.
The show promoter and the creative genius who put the Nadler boys together as a comedy act a few years ago, Boston’s Gary Marino, is a media personality, comedic performer, published author, awardwinning filmmaker and live-show producer. And, cleverly enough, he’s now bringing to the forefront his hilarious 15-year-old son, Desi Marino.
According to his dad (and who’s to dispute this), “Desi has been a bottomless cup of creativity literally since he was born!” As he came of age, he appeared in two Adam Sandler movies, “Hubie Halloween” and “Father of the Year.” He wrote his first comedy bit in July 2018, on the way to his dad’s show at the Comedy Lounge in Oak Bluffs. And Dad reports, “In the greatest example of Take Your Kid to Work Day, Papa got him to perform a ‘tight five minutes’ at the annual Cape Cod Comedy Fest in Falmouth later that year, in front of a crowd of 400.”
Moving along to the other father/son team. Despite the pandemic, Charlie has had a busy couple of years professionally, and is coming into his own as a standup headliner. Last year, he signed with the agency Degy Entertainment for representation in the college and military markets, and he is also currently developing a feature film project under the mentorship of a producer in Los Angeles. He and fellow Islander Kiar Holland continue to serve as co-founders of laughdealers.com, which produces customized virtual comedy shows for companies.
And last but not least is the seasoned comedian of the lot, “young” Marty Nadler, who had this to say about his own 50 or so years of making jokes: “Marty has put his comedy mark on television, film, and standup comedy. His contribution as a staff writer on over a dozen sitcoms, such as ‘The Odd Couple,’ ‘Happy Days,’ and ‘Laverne & Shirley,’ then onward and upward with on-set writing on many films like ‘Runaway Bride,’ ‘Princess Diaries’ 1 and 2, and ‘Valentine’s Day.’ Still and all, Marty’s greatest joy is performing standup, that preceded all his body of work when he started out at the New York Improvisation with, as he calls them, ‘fellow unknowns’ such as Jay Leno, Andy Kaufman, and Richard Lewis.” He concludes, “Now I’m back at the mic doing my favorite kind of comedy.”
We tend to think of inherited talent along the lines of science, and athletics, and literary flair. But can comedy be bequeathed? Wait until you see this show and leave your own review wherever requested.
You might be asking me, as Charlie’s mom and Marty’s ex-wife, why I too haven’t ventured into the wild, wild world of standup. Ya know, I was an actress back in the day (the ’60s day) and cast in various comedies onstage, but apart from some singular female exceptions such as Phillis Diller and Joan Rivers, standup comedy wasn’t thrust on many girls. Now I kinda wish, with my boys performing, that someone would call me to at least come up, take the mic, and introduce them, but … it would likely embarrass the hell out of them. That’s what moms are good at, in addition to serving as the butt of family jokes.
For the meantime, I’ll be in the audience hooting them on! Come join me and buy your tickets now — last year they sold out ahead of time.
Visit bit.ly/nadlers for more information.
