Comedian Jim Florentine has traveled the country performing stand-up, has appeared many times on the Howard Stern Show, and is a cast member of Crank Yankers.

What should people unfamiliar with your stand-up expect from one of your performances? 

A lot of penis jokes and edgy comedy.

When did you first perform stand-up? 

14 years ago.

What inspired you? 

When I saw Andrew Dice Clay on TV and the stuff he was doing- bringing stand-up comedy to a whole different level. That inspired me to stop cutting lawns and get on stage.

How did your first performance go? 

It was terrible, but I knew I had something there. A lot of comics say that they killed the first time and knew that it was what they wanted to do. That never happens. They think they did well but they didn't. I did terrible, but I knew that if I stuck with it and worked hard I would get somewhere with it.

What were the next couple of years like? 

They were rough, but I met a couple of guys that were doing it for a while and they helped me out. Brought me on the road with them and had me open shows for them. That really helped.

What were you doing at the time when not performing stand-up? 

Cutting lawns.

You used to be involved in radio, correct? 

I did a little radio in college, but there were too many restrictions. So I stopped.

Were you incorporating humor? 

I tried to, but then I'd get in trouble for saying anything. And I wasn't trying to be outrageous.

What sort of radio was it? 

Local New Jersey Radio.

Do you have any aspirations to get back into radio? 

It's possible. Times have changed. You can be a little more edgy. Maybe on satellite radio.

What advice do you have for aspiring comedians? 

Don't get in it for the money. If you do, you'll be disappointed.

Do you find that many people do do it for the money? 

Well, if they make $100 in one night, they think they'll make $100 every night, but it doesn't work that way. Some shows pay better than the others, but don't worry about what you got paid last time. Just keep working your craft. I didn't worry about that stuff. I was doing comedy 4 or 5 years and I was still driving 3 hours to make 25 bucks. I didn't care because that's what I knew I wanted to do. I knew I had to work on it.

Can you compare doing stand-up to something a norm has experienced? 

Maybe an actor that goes to auditions and get rejected all the time because with stand-up there's a lot of rejection that you need to be able to deal with.

How did you get involved with Crank Yankers? 

I had these CD's where I would mess with telemarketers and I was doing a couple of characters and they wanted to make the characters into puppets.

How did you come up with the character of Special Ed? 

Just being an idiot with telemarketers. If I do a voice like that would they try to sell me something.

How did you come up with the character of Bobby Fletcher? 

That's just my voice. I can burp very well. I'm talented like that. I use a different name for him, but it's just me being a wise ass.

How did you come up with that name? 

It's a friend of mine. There was already a Jimmy on the show – Jimmy Kimmel – so they said to use something else. Alright, well, Bobby Fletcher is a comic friend of mine. It just clicked.

What's the status of the new season of Crank Yankers? 

We don't know. Right now we're on hiatus and we're hoping to be picked up for another season.

Tell me about the movie Beer League. 

It's a movie starring Artie Lange; he wrote it and is a friend of mine. It's about being drunken softball players, which I was many years. Playing softball and drinking afterwards. It's a Jersey movie. It's really funny.

When should we expect to see it? 

Late spring of 2006.

What other projects are you currently involved in? 

A new hidden camera DVD that should be out in November. And a live stand-up CD that I just released.

Do you have an idea for a sitcom for you to be in? 

No, I'm not sitcom material. I'm not the goofy, corny white guy that tries to do physical comedy, so I probably have no future in that.

Do you have a message to leave our readers with? 

Yay.

Jim will be appearing at Uncle Vinnie's Comedy Club in Point Pleasant on October 19th. Visit http://www.jimflorentine.com for samples of his comedy, funny footage, tour dates, and other Jim themed fun.

This interview first appeared in Upstage Magazine. Ben is the creator of the humor site One Trick Pony, www.onetrickpony.ws