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PERSONALITY PEEKS:
TONY V, Comedian/Actor

by FRANK O'DONNELL
May 10, 2007

I remember the first time I sat down to watch Showtime’s “Brotherhood” last year. One of the characters was a grizzled middle-aged undercover cop. You weren’t really sure if he was a local, state or federal cop, and you couldn’t really tell if he was a good cop or a bad cop.
 
What I was sure of was that he looked a lot like Tony V, a Boston comic I knew from the old days traveling the New England circuit. And sure enough, there was Tony V playing Ralph Mango.

“He’s part of a Federal Task Force,” explained Tony recently in a phone interview. “A Mass state cop on loan to help with organized crime in Rhode Island.” Tony was driving through Pawtucket on his way to a day of filming on Federal Hill.

Tony is enjoying his second year in the role. “You never know who the good guys are,” he says.

“My guy got himself in a pickle.”

I ask whether Tony’s character will make it through to the end of the season. “Honestly, I have no idea. Oftentimes, we’re looking to the last page of the script every week to see if we’re still around.”

What’s the show done for his comedy career? “It’s really good, and it’s bad,” he says. “TV helps a lot. People know you, it ups your visibility, you get offered more gigs.”

That’s the good part. Now, the bad. “I take a gig, there’s a 10% chance I can’t make it.” The show comes first, and its production schedule is erratic. “We’ve had nights where I’ve been booked at the Connection. I’m a quarter-mile away, shooting the show, and I can’t get to the gig.” He’s actually done shows at the Connection, wearing his clothes and make-up from the show.

I was surprised when Showtime announced the second season, as one of the main characters appeared to have died in the first season’s final episode. “They found a way to make that work,” says Tony on the character’s return. “It makes sense the way they did it. There aren’t a lot of leaps, nothing hokey.”

I mention that watching the show, even though I’ve known Tony a long time, it’s easy to forget that’s him up there. “Yeah, my wife said that too. She was hooked on the show, and she doesn’t watch anything. She’d watch it, then we’d talk about me, and she’d say, ‘Oh, that was you?’”

Tony says he’s learning a lot from his co-stars. “This is such a great experience, working with such great actors. I’m a ham-and-egger, and just working around these guys makes me a better actor.”

He talks about Jason Isaacs, the English actor who plays Michael Caffee on the show, sporting a convincing Rhode Island accent. “It’s wild. At lunch, he doesn’t stay in character.” Isaacs will talk up a storm, using English terminology in his normal voice. “Then we get in a scene, and he gets right back to it. It’s amazing to watch.”

If Tony’s character stays alive, the second season should be done by late July – a four-and-a-half month shooting schedule – with the show ready to air in September.

Tony’s a family guy, and won’t let his 6- and 8-year-old kids watch the show. “They go to a pretty progressive school, so I tried to keep it quiet that I was a comedian. But people found out. Now I tell them, please don’t watch this show. That’s all I need, someone coming up to discuss what I said (on the show). And I’ve got to explain, I didn’t say it, it was written for me to say.”

Not that he’s ashamed of the show. Not at all. “I am proud to be on board. This show is a class act. I just want to stay alive. I hope it continues for 12 seasons, and I get killed in the second to last episode.”

Ralph Mango is still breathing – for now. Does Tony think he’ll live to see the third season? “It’s like the guy who falls off a 10-story building. At every window on the way down, people ask, ‘How’s it going?’ He says, ‘So far, so good.’”

[Tony V is scheduled to appear at the Comedy Connection in East Providence on Thursday, May 17 and Sunday, May 20. “There’s a 97% chance I will honor those dates,” says Tony. For ticket information, contact the Connection at (401) 438-8383, or log onto www.ricomedyconnection.com.]