Comedian Jim Florentine was getting used to a traffic-less drive into New York City from his home in New Jersey when the area started to reopen.
Traffic returned to our roads pretty quickly, and while Florentine's commute time ballooned from a cool 35-minutes back to an hour-and-a-half, he's not complaining as long as he doesn't have to do anymore drive-in shows.
Speaking with Q104.3 New York's Jim Kerr and Jonathan Clarke, Florentine explained that the initial pandemic shutdowns were the first time in 28 years that he was unable to play to a live audience. When promoters began organizing outdoor shows last summer, Florentine was ready to try anything.
"I did one parking lot concert where they beeped the horn if they liked the joke," he continued. "I did that one early one. I was standing in the back of a pickup truck, in the bed, and they would beep if they liked the joke. The worst was if you just got one beep, 'cause that was just a sympathy beep. Then you knew your joke really was bad.
"I like working the crowd. I like going in the crowd and picking on people. It was tough. I'm like, 'Who's that guy in the Honda Accord over there?' He's just waving at me in his car."
The good news is that Florentine will be back onstage getting real laughs in front of a live audience at Caroline's on Broadway July 8 - July 10 with special guest Don Jamieson.
Go here for tickets and more information!
Watch the full conversation via the player above!
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images North America