Jokes keep coming from Joe Piscopo

BY LARRY MUHAMMAD GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
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Ask him if his age is 56 and comedian Joe Piscopo jokes, "That depends. If you see me with a younger woman, shave at least 10 years off."
Twice divorced, Piscopo's a single father of three young children aged 8, 4 and 2; and a 28-year-old son pursuing an acting career in New York.
"That's what I do best," says the former "SNL" slum who stays busy with acting and charity work. "I live for the kids."
We caught up with him while he was in town emceeing a sold-out Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau soiree for sports-industry honchos. While here he sang Frank Sinatra standards cabaret style accompanied by the University of Louisville Jazz Ensemble II.
Most people remember Piscopo from "Saturday Night Live," on which he was the standout skit player who introduced America to Doug Whiner and The Sports Guy, among other signature Jersey characters, and did dead-on impressions of Jimmy Carter, Andy Rooney and Sinatra.
"I still bring in the impressions so everybody's happy," Piscopo says. "But when we lay into the music, with a great band, that's really a thrill for me, and it all came from 'Saturday Night Live.' "
He left the show in 1985, but unlike Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler and other Saturday Night vets who went on to movie stardom, Piscopo saw his Hollywood moment dissolve after roles opposite Danny DeVito in "Wise Guys" and Michael Keaton in "Johnny Dangerously."
He's done three HBO specials, worked Las Vegas and standup comedy clubs, played Vinnie Fontaine in "Grease!"on Broadway, and guest-starred on "Law & Order" and other TV shows.
He devotes lots of private time and money to worthy causes, especially those benefiting children, prompted, he says, by memories of his own discipline problems growing up. Perhaps most important is Jersey Joe's Gyms, a Newark program involving police and Boys & Girls Clubs in mentoring underprivileged teens. There's also Positive Impact Foundation, which uses entertainment and education in a ground-breaking TV series to reinforce positive behavior in at-risk youth.
"I look into the eyes of those children," he says, "a lot of them forgotten about, and I think they are our responsibility, not just as God's children but because we're the greatest country in the world. And generally I try to highlight small, grass-roots organizations not helped by major grants and politicians. And if I hadn't been a bad kid, I would never have seen the light, and know that there but for the grace of God, go I."
Last year he started Avellino Productions, a New Jersey company that puts out televisions specials and sitcoms and is developing a feature film, "Joey Benefit," a title that suggests a documentary about his charity work.
"My director tells me it's not, but it's awful close," he says. "My friends call me Joey Benefit. You got a charity, I got a tuxedo. I come early and stay late."
Piscopo also has an extended date at the Las Vegas Hilton and tours the country with a band, but brings it home every week to New Jersey, where he's played the Sands Hotel and Casino, Resorts Atlantic City and other venues.