The third annual Valentine's All-Star Comedy show at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Feb. 14 features host Bill Bellamy and a bill that includes Luenell, Michael Blackson and John Witherspoon.
During a recent interview, the ever-modest Bill Bellamy proclaimed himself “the funniest thing to ever come out of New Jersey.”
“Who else we got? Joe Piscopo? Who else is putting it down like me, with movies, television,” he asked. “I’m the best. I’m the baddest.”
The Newark native will host the third annual Valentine’s All-Star Comedy Show at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Feb. 14. And as Bellamy knows about comedy, so he knows about romance.
“Nothing’s better than laughter for couples on Valentine’s Day,” said Bellamy, who now lives in California. “I’m showing up for your holiday. I’m turning up … I’m trying to make the women walk out of there with mascara on their cheekbones.”
It’s entirely possible that this show will make people laugh until they cry and ruin their make up. The line-up includes Michael Blackson, John Witherspoon and Luenell.
Bellamy praised everyone on the bill, including himself:
“My set is super funny and then I set the table for my friends,” he said. “I’m the ringmaster, keeping the party going. That stage is going to be nuts.
“Queen Luenell, she’s the girl of the night, one of the funniest women in the country. She’s raw, the auntie who is telling everybody’s business at the card game. John’s the outrageous uncle that embarrasses everyone, still wearing a Speedo and his body is not the same. Michael is irreverent. He’ll knock over the table for a joke.
Bellamy, who began doing stand-up while a student at Rutgers, has always found humor in his Garden State roots.
During his recent chat with NJ Advance Media Bellamy called NJPAC “a stunning venue” and said, “The downtown is being rejuvenated. It’s so nice. The whole waterfront is great.”
Bellamy has many claims to fame at this point in his career: Owning the stage on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam on HBO in the 1990s; Becoming a staple on MTV in the early 2002; Branching into television sitcom work with “Hot in Cleveland” and into films including “Any Given Sunday;” Hosting a radio show and doing voice-overs for cartoons and video games; Coining the term “booty call” — and being shocked when this reporter said she’d only just learned that.
“You think that ‘booty call’ just came out of nowhere?! You gotta think of your own thing now,” he declared.
Coming up next: The horror-thriller “The Great Illusion” and another comedy special. He’s writing the jokes for the latter now — and his goal is to get people laughing so hard they snort.
The jokes I got now, they hit so hard, I honestly think I’m going for funniest person in the country,” Bellamy said. “When you snort, that means it got up in your nasal cavity and that’s funny. When you get up in there” – he paused to whistle – “things get crazy.”t
VALENTINE’S ALL-STAR COMEDY SHOW
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
1 Center St., Newark
$ 49-99, available online at www.njpac.org. Feb. 14.
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.