On May 31rst, 1992 I woke up to a gloomy wet Sunday. I can still see the bright green colors of the grass and the leaves as they seemed to have reached their peak in thickness. I fear that because I have not mowed the lawn yet this season that these rains are going to cause the grass to get way to high. I’m a bit tired. I take a shower and get dressed. It’s noon now and I get a phone call. It’s James and Erin. They are ready to roll. It’s actually going to happen. I’m about to give birth to a TV show. It only took a few minutes for them to arrive. We wait for John but so far he has not been heard from. We set the camera up and get ready. We decided to call John. He was home and it appeared he was not going to come. I still think he didn’t really believe in my idea. James was able to convince him and actually went to get him. My youngest brother Chris joins us in the basement and after three months "Comedy After Dark" is born and my life is about to be forever changed.
This is a big anniversary for me. It was fifteen years ago this month when my life took a dramatic change. My entire career in the entertainment business is owed to what happened fifteen years ago. The person I am today is mostly due to what happened all those years ago. For however long I left on this planet I will always remember and cherish what started in May of 1992.
If you happen to be a fan of mine or know me personally then you my story. You may know that when I was twelve years old I discovered I had the talent to manipulate my voice in many ways and was able to do celebrity impressions. For a twelve year old they were quite accurate and people were always shocked when they heard the voices come from my mouth. My first was that of President Ronald Reagan who was in office at the time. It was early fall of 1988 and it didn’t take long before I was a stand-up comic. Now I was twelve going on thirteen so I couldn’t get into the clubs so instead I did other things. I performed at parties, family functions, school events, and even in the classroom. I continued this for four years. In 1991 I had my first official comedy stage show. I performed in a restaurant for nearly two hours. The show was videotaped and two weeks later aired over public access TV. I was unable to attract a large audience for the live show to despite my advertising efforts. Now I didn’t think I did a great show and I was actually embarrassed by it. It killed me to have it air over television but on the other hand I wanted the exposure and boy did I get it. To my shock a lot of people watched the show when it aired. More than I expected. My name was now in the public. My dream was coming true!
I have always loved to entertain people. I have been doing it since I was two and I have the pictures to prove it. I always liked the feeling I would get from making others laugh. In 1991, after my comedy special aired I wanted to entertain a much bigger audience. A few months later my wish would come true.
When I first got involved in comedy I wanted to surround myself with it. I would watch HBO’s "One Night Stand" and their comedy specials. I remember seeing Jerry Seinfeld and Louie Anderson for the first time with my brothers and couldn’t stop laughing. I wanted to do that. I also would rent about three to four comedy movies a week starring Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Candy, Bill Murray, and whatever I could squeeze in. I would stay up late and watch the late night talk shows. I tried to watch them all at the time. Johnny Carson, Arsenio Hall, Dave Letterman, Later with Bob Costas, Jay Leno on Tuesdays when he guest hosted the Tonight Show, Pat Sajak’s show, and Saturday Night Live.. I fell in love with late night. I loved the fact that you could interview anyone from celebrities to Presidents. I loved the fact that the host could spend time doing his comedy every night and then do comedy bits. The possibilities were endless! It was such a great way to showcase comedy. I became addicted. To this day I still watch the late night shows. I had begin to envision myself sitting behind the desk with the microphone. My obsession lead me to actually building a talk show desk and a full set in my basement. Fake microphone included!
In February, 1992 I’m a sophomore in High school. I am sixteen years old and just completed Driver’s Ed. At this point in the school year we have now just had our mid-terms and are now starting up the second half of the year. This is when half year courses end and new ones begin. I happen to have a new study hall in my schedule and to my excitement many of my friends have the same study hall. To top that off some new fans of my work are also their including John Landolfi who went from a fan to a friend. A few of my friends happen to be there including a fan of comedy turn friend John. John, as well as many others, would refer to me as "The man of a Thousand voices" and I believe by this point in time I was doing over a thousand. Now one particular day John and I are talking. I believe it had to do with the little comedy skits I would do in my act where I would do one celebrity talking to another. People really loved it and I would always try to take it new heights. John goes on to tells me about a comedy he skit he did and videotaped for his family. What he tells me is that he would dress up to look like Madonna (cone breasts included) and then lip sing to "Like a Virgin" with dance moves included. It took about a second when an idea popped into my head. It was the moment I had been waiting for. A moment that would lead me down the very road I’m on today. I asked him if he would like to do a TV show. He looked at me like I was crazy. I pressed on and tried to convince him. I told him about my fake set in the basement and said I would bring in the photos to prove it. The next day I did and finally believed me, somewhat.
My idea was to do a talk/ variety show. I explained it as mix between Letterman and Saturday Night Live. My biggest motivation was the fact that it would give me a place to perform my impressions. You see I had reached a point where I was tired of performing as a comic. Trying to come up with new routines for my characters and impressions was not easy. I hated doing the same act over and over again. That’s the toughest part as I hate repetition. Fans would have me do the act for them and I would sometimes do the same joke or skit ten times a day! I never said no or complained to my fans because I was so grateful to have their support. With my own show I could actually dress up like the characters and do new and different things every week. I became very excited about this.
After showing John the photos I began to create the show within seconds. In that day’s study hall I began to develop the style of the show and write the first episode. I also had a name that everyone seemed to like. It was suggested by all that my name should be in the title. At first I wasn’t sure but they convinced me. "The Mike Burke Comedy Hour" was born. That afternoon when I got home from school I told my younger brother Chris (twelve years old at the time) about the idea and asked if he wanted to be a part of it. The idea to have him be a part of it was based on the fact that we use to record fake newscasts on audio tapes so I thought he might work out well. We immediately began to enhance the set and make it TV friendly. We added chairs and benches so that we could have a live studio audience. Lighting was added as well as a sound system. Our budget was ZERO so everything that made up the set was all stuff I had laying around. My family had our house built seven years earlier so we still had a lot of construction remnants. I would these materials to built the set. My sound system was a Karaoke machine with microphones. Lighting was just extra fixtures I had laying around the house. I built a small stage with a brick background and within two days it was ready to go! Word spread quickly in school that I wanted to start a TV show. My friend James who had filmed my comedy special agreed to film the new show and he had access to the local TV station and would set us up with them. My friend Jen heard about the show and wanted to be a part of it and a friend Erin also wanted to be there. This would be the shows original line-up. John Landolfi, Chris Burke, Erin Fleming, Jennifer Soules (now Wetmore), James Glover, and your host me. We would all serve as the crew and the on-screen performers. The show was ready to begin.
The most challenging thing for me at the time was trying to get everyone to show up! First it was difficult to get everyone to agree on a start date. None of us, except for James, had a car so everyone else had to rely of parents who thought we were joking. In early spring we made an attempt to film our first show but things went terribly wrong. Our lighting didn’t work well with the camera and only three people showed up! John, my co-creator and co-producer was not one of them. I don’t think he really took it seriously at first. Two skits we shot were the only thing that survived from that day’s work. They were added to our official first episode and still exist today.
For the next month things were not looking good. I wanted to start the show so badly I couldn’t sleep. Week after week and still no show. The most unfortunate thing was what would happen every Saturday for three straight weeks. The cast would confirm that they were ready to go. We scheduled the show to tape on Saturday and then when Saturday arrived I would find myself standing in front of a large bay window looking out into the driveway waiting for the cast to arrive. They didn’t. None of them. I was devastated and started to believe that my dream was dead. In school a few days later when I approached them it seemed as though none of them really took me seriously. I had a real hard time trying to convince them this was real and that we could pull it off. Sure we were a bunch of inexperience High School students who didn’t know the first thing about TV production but I believed we could pull it off. The month of May was about to end and still no first episode. I was really disappointed and decided I would take one more stab at this and if it didn’t happen I would abandon the idea and the show would never be.
On May 22, 1992, I was preparing for the High School Variety Show. I was the only Stand-up comic who would perform and they were giving me two sets. This was also the very day that Johnny Carson would say goodnight to the The Tonight Show for the last time. It was also the day I received some devastating news involving my family that would be the beginning of a very difficult and painful two year battle. Here I was about to go on stage to perform in front of my biggest audience ever, was only days away from taping my first episode of my TV show, and now it could all end just like that. I took the stage that night and to my surprise I brought the house down, twice! People loved my act and the applause at the end of each set was overwhelming. I couldn’t see the audience because of the stage lights but every once in awhile someone would take a flash photo and I would see faces light up in a pool of white light. I can still see the huge smiles and laughter coming from their faces. When it was over, for the first time, I felt like I was a real comedian. I was not some amateur but a real performer and knowing In just days I would have my own TV show soon only enhanced that feeling. I also wanted tom ride on that nights success and exposure so a huge sense of urgency to get this show on TV became overwhelming. I decided that although I could lose my home I had to press on. The show must go on.
As I left the stage and said my goodbye’s I was now on a mission to rush home quickly so as not to miss a minute of Johnny’s farewell. I still remember that night so clearly. I can still feel the cool breeze blowing through my small window in my basement bedroom. I rigged my little stereo to the TV and waited. Johnny’s final show started. When it was over it felt weird. As he says goodbye to the TV audience for the last time I will be saying hello for the first time my new audience. The next day, as Saturday rolled in, the phone calls came in one by one. Once again there would be no show this weekend. However a glimmer of hope had arrived.. We were all in agreement to tape on May 30th and everyone was making sure they could do it. It felt like is was going to happen. I had faith. May 25th Jay Leno began his reign as late night King and I knew in days I would celebrate my first show.
May 30th had arrived and boy did it make an appearance. Heavy rains, major flooding, mud slides, hurricanes, twisters, a volcano eruption, a giant ape terrorizing the town.... you get the picture. Needless to say the show, once again, wasn’t going to happen. The only thing that did happen that day was a sudden name change for the show. It would now be "The Comedy Hour starring Mike Burke." This would remain until February, 1993 when we changed to "Comedy After Dark starring Mike Burke."
On May 31rst, 1992 my dream came true! Finally, after months of dreaming, we taped our first full episode. I can still remember the moment it began. Chris also known as "Rockin’ D.J #1" got the pre-recorded theme song ready. By the way "Rockin’ D.J. # 2" only came to our second show and was there for less then ten minutes. It became a joke within the show that lasted through our entire run. I stood behind the red curtain as the music began. I was nervous. This was really happening. Here I am this sixteen year old teenager who was very shy about to take the stage on my first TV show that bares my name. While the music played I had to do the opening announcements as we didn’t have anyone else to do it. I announced my own name and I then I step out of the curtain (actually a bed sheet) and took to the very tiny stage. Comedy After Dark (known as the Comedy Hour then) was born!
Now the monologue didn’t really go well and although the first episode was structured really well there were only a few moments I actually liked. I knew we needed to improve. In the next few weeks we did and produced some of our funniest moments that would be talked about until the day the show ended. Things with the cast changed as well. Surprisingly the one person who didn’t seem to trust my idea or take the show seriously would actually go on to be a major asset in keeping us going. John became very dedicated. He wrote many comedy bits and really got into the show. He became my co-producer and a major supporter of the show. He loved it as much as I did. He was an advocate for us and told as many people as he could. Without him I’m not sure if the show would have made it past the first episode. Now James on the other hand stopped taking things seriously and would soon leave taking the camera equipment with him. John saved the day with his half working camera that we rigged in a special way to record directly to a VHS VCR. Nearly a year after we started James did pay us visit and was shocked to see how far we had come. We were closing in on 50 episodes in our first year, our set was bright, and very more professional. We had a full in house rock band, a great new camera ,and our success had gone through the roof. Performance wise we had improved ten fold. James later told me that he never thought I was really this serious about it and didn’t actually think I would do a real TV show. When he saw what we were doing he was stunned that indeed it was all real and we had reached success. When the show finally began broadcasting over the TV airways we shot directly to number one and became the most watched show on cable access in Connecticut.
In May of 1992 The Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s had a new hit song "Under the Bridge." Movie goers were just weeks away from the highly anticipated "Batman Returns." On TV "The Fresh Prince of Belair" was going strong and the "The Golden Girls" aired their final episode. President George Bush was in office( Pres. George W. Bush’s father) and the fight for the oval office was in full swing with the likes of Ross Perot, Bill Clinton, Jerry Brown, to name a few. The U.S. had just gone through some very dark days as the LA riots had finally ended brought on by the Police beating of Rodney King. I was an awkward sixteen year old with long hair and was praying every day that the baby fat on my face would finally melt away. Actually that summer it would and my hair would get longer. I knew what I wanted from life and for my future but I was not to sure of myself. I had no confidence in myself. As the show began all that changed.
What is most interesting about a bunch teens doing their own television show compared to adults is that you are watching us grow up and turn into adults right before your eyes. That’s exactly what happened with my show. Watching the old tapes back you can see the changes in our personalities as we matured. As we got better at doing the show and successful I became more confident. I learned to work with others and realized that I was born to be a leader. Artistically and performance wise I improved greatly. I loved playing the variety of characters and being able to grow them each week. It became clear that comedy was my strongest asset. As the show aired locally on TV and then spread out across different regions in my home state our ratings went through the roof. Never would I have thought we would actually go that far. I knew we could do it but becoming the most watched local show was something none of us saw coming. This type of success only made us stronger.
There are many stories to tell and a good strong history of the show but this is my celebration of the beginning of it all fifteen years ago. I credit the show for making me the person I am today but more important I credit those who helped me do the show. Through our entire run I worked with an amazing group of friends. They stuck by me and gave me support. They gave me their honesty and trust. In all of the movies I have done to date and plays I have been in none have ever given me the support I got from all of those who were a part of "Comedy After Dark." they are always on my mind and in my thoughts. Now it was not all perfect. It was a daily struggle to keep the show going and more often than none things would go wrong and not work out the way we wanted it to. Amazingly the audience would never know when they watched the edited episodes on TV.
This show gave me everything I needed to go forward. It mended me into the man I have become. It taught me things that are still relevant to my life today. No matter what I do in my film career or in life there will never be another opportunity like that one. Never will I experience what I experienced there again. It was truly a once and a lifetime event. To do this show with my friends and new friends that would join us as we rolled along. To grow up in front the camera and have all of it archived on video. My great-grandkids will be able to watch me as teenage talk-show host. The show may have been about comedy and entertaining others but it had also become so much more.
I celebrate this anniversary by remembering all of those who helped me and were a part of the show. It wasn’t just my show it belonged to all of us. Fifteen years ago guys, can you believe it! For me that was half a life time ago yet it feels like it was yesterday. Sometimes it feels like it was all a dream and never really happened. I thank you all and I will never forget what you did for the show and me. I hope you will always remember the show as well. The show lasted an amazing 100 episodes in just a little over two years. In 1994 we said goodbye to Comedy After Dark but in reality it never really ended. With every step I take and every breath I inhale that little no-budget show produced by a bunch of teens that had no TV experience whatsoever still lives on in me.
Happy 15th anniversary Comedy After Dark and thank you!