Cooper will always
perform for his audiences

By Rita Charleston
For the Times

He said his family was not funny at all. In fact, Pasquale Caputo, a.k.a. Pat Cooper, remembers that being funny in an Italian family was something nobody really understood.
"I was always a funny guy, but being Italian, we were never known for our sense of humor. Of course, that’s going back many years," said the 78-year-old comedian who will be appearing along with Danny Aiello at a matinee performance at the Keswick Theatre April 15.
"Now the Jewish people," Cooper continued, "they were the best comics I ever saw in my life. They were unbelievable. But when I would say something funny at the table, they would call me a buffoon. If someone in a Jewish family said something funny, they would call him the next Milton Berle."
So Cooper said he tried to hold his tongue and took on a variety of jobs — brick layer, cab driver, furrier — until something kept dragging him back to comedy.
"I had the confidence, the belief in myself," Cooper continued, "but what was I going to do with that? And then, one day, someone offered me $20 to do a show, and I said OK. But I had a family to support and knew I needed to keep my day job."
Then, he recalled, the $20 turned into $40 for a weekend of fun, then $100 for a weekend of comedy.
Cooper thought he’d struck gold but never thought it would go any further — until it did.
"All of a sudden, here I am working at a small place in New York and got discovered by an agent," Cooper said. "He told me he’d put me on the (Jackie) Gleason Show. I said fine. I thought if he was kidding, I had nothing to lose anyway. And if he wasn’t kidding, well… ."
"Surprisingly, the guy wasn’t kidding, and not even a year later, I was on the (Jackie) Gleason Show. That was 1963. The show was on Saturday, and Sunday I was on my way to Vegas (and) Reno. The doors opened like you wouldn’t believe. It was a remarkable thing.
"But I handled it with dignity," he continued. "I didn’t go crazy. I didn’t go nuts, realizing that all these things could go away just as quickly as they had come on. But they didn’t. And all these years later, I’m still here!"
Indeed, even at this stage of his career, Cooper continues to travel to do as many appearances as possible to make his audiences happy.
"I’ll give you an idea of just how much I travel. A couple of weeks ago, I worked in Florida one night, Detroit the next night, and then back to New York the next night," he said.
"I just do what I gotta do. And one of those things is to play to a specific audience that’s been around a long, long time. I play mainly to older people — 50 to 100 — ‘cause nobody else does. I make them realize there’ll never be another group of people like this."
Someone once pointed to Cooper as an "angry man."
Listening to that description again, Cooper said, "Me? I’m always angry. Not hateful, but angry. It’s called lovable anger, and I like it that way!"
Now alone but not lonely — his beloved wife of 41 years died three years ago — Cooper keeps busy by watching a little TV, cooking, visiting friends, traveling, performing and more.
"I’m used to being by myself," he said. "I’m basically a loner, so I’ve gotten used to it. I learned a long time ago that if you fall in love with your loneliness, you’ll never be lonely.
"So here I am. I’m never afraid to be by myself." ••
For times and ticket information call 215-572-7650.