Table
Talk with Tammy
By
Barbara Feiner
“This
is like dinner at my parents’ house,” says standup
comic Tammy Pescatelli, as she competes against one of
the top poker professionals in the world: David
Williams, second-place finisher in the 2004 World
Series of Poker Final Event.
She
quickly reconsiders. No, it’s not quite the same:
“No one is screaming or throwing food,” jokes the
comedienne who first gained national attention last
year as one of the funnier finalists on the NBC hit
series “Last Comic Standing.”
I
catch up with Pescatelli during a break while she’s
taping “Poker Royale: Comedians Vs. Pros”—a
12-week Game Show Network (GSN) series that 
debuts
Friday, July 8 (9 p.m. EST/PST). She’s competing in
five preliminary matches at a
Hollywood
studio on famed
Vine Street
, leading up to a possible seat at the two-hour season
finale if she fares well over the next few days.
Unlike
other TV poker shows, where celebrities donate their
winnings to charity, GSN allows pro and celeb players
to keep their earnings, and Pescatelli would love to
walk away with bragging rights—not to mention the
$50,000 grand prize, poker bracelet and trophy.
She’s
gearing up for a “Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
appearance when we meet. Born in
Cleveland
,
Ohio
, to a Sicilian family—one of the main topics in her
standup routines—she’s the only girl in her family
of brothers. They helped her become tough enough and
develop the self-confidence needed to survive in the
grueling world of standup comedy—a never-ending
series of road trips to clubs across the country,
where every comedian hopes to catch the often-elusive
big break. Unlike Pescatelli, many are destined to
labor in obscurity.
“I’ve
been playing poker since I was a kid,” says the
elegantly coiffed comic (she has hair to die for),
dressed in a sequined strapless top that shows off
toned arms. “It’s a big, fun, family thing we do.
We usually play on holidays—games like Deuces Wild,
Hot Mama and Jacks Are Better to Open. But I had no
idea how to play Texas Hold’em, which is a
completely different game.”
On
the weekend before the GSN tapings, Pescatelli
received a crash course in Hold’em from the managers
of the comedy club where she was appearing.
“It
seemed completely overwhelming to me when I
started,” she admits, “but the managers are
addicted to it. They’re on every poker website you
can play on, such as Party
Poker, so I was very lucky. I did some research
online, and on Sunday, one of the comics and the club
manager got together and we played for a couple of
hours. And then I thought, ‘You know what? At least
I won’t embarrass myself.’ I thought, if I just
play slow and smart, I’ll be OK.”
Comedy
and poker have more in common than most people might
imagine, according to Pescatelli.
“It’s
the risk-reward ratio,” she explains. “I’ll take
risks—whether on stage or at the poker table—if I
believe enough in myself to do it. Of course,
sometimes you are bluffing, but you still believe in
yourself.
“Sometimes,
if you’re performing a local club set and you want
to grow, you go on stage completely blind,” she
continues. “You just start talking about whatever
you’re going to talk about. It may be something
completely new—and
it’s kind of the same thing as learning
poker. You just sit down and say, ‘I’ll see what
happens.’ ”
While
GSN has not yet released the winner’s name to the
media, Pescatelli was praised by both pros and
celebrities as being an “awesome” player—willing
to learn and innately aggressive, never succumbing to
intimidation when competing against world-class
players like Williams and Phil “The Unabomber”
Laak.
“I
love being the underdog because they never expect much
out of you,” she says. “I was the underdog in
comedy before anybody knew me. They thought, ‘Oh,
she’s a woman. She can’t be capable of much. She
can’t be funny.’ But I’ve got to take the
risk.”
To
see if that risk pays off, tune in to GSN for Friday
night’s joke-packed tournaments.
Tammy Live!
See
Tammy Pescatelli perform live at the following comedy
clubs as she tours the country this year:
July
July 14–17 – Miami, FL - Improv
July 28–31 – San Francisco – Cobb’s Comedy
Club
August
Aug. 6 – Cincinnati, OH – College of Mount St.
Joseph
Aug. 10–13 – Houston, TX – Laff Stop
Aug. 18–21 – West Palm Beach, FL – Improv
Aug. 24–28 – Denver, CO – Comedy Works
September
Sept. 15–18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Improv
Sept. 23 – Poughkeepsie, NY –Banana’s Comedy
Club
Sept. 24 – Hasbrouck Heights, NJ - Banana’s Comedy
Club
Sept. 30 – Oct. 1 – Levittown, NY – Governors
Comedy Club
October
Oct. 12–16 –
Omaha
, NE – Funny Bone
Oct. 19–23 –
Kansas City
,
MO
– Improv
November
Nov. 9–13 –
Sarasota
,
FL
– McCurdy’s Comedy Club
Nov. 17–20 –
Tampa
, FL – Improv
Nov. 22–27 –
Cleveland
,
OH
– Improv
__________________
About
Barbara Feiner:
Barbara Feiner is a Los Angeles-based journalist who
covers the poker world.
