Longtime local comedian Joey Callahan is getting ready for a big-time gig, having been invited to appear on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.
The show is televised weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.
“I’m very excited. It’s my first national TV credit. It’s kind of cool,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to hit a national audience. It’s a national credit.”
Callahan, 60, is a Fishtown native who moved to the Far Northeast when he was 10 and now lives in Somerton.
“I did the great Irish exodus,” he joked.
He attended three grammar schools – Holy Name, Our Lady of Calvary for a year and St. Martha (class of 1980).
“I was traded a lot in my rookie years,” he joked.
Callahan, a 1984 Archbishop Ryan graduate, is married with two adult daughters – one who lives in Kansas and the other in Cleveland.
Over the years, he has headlined clubs and casinos all over the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and has appeared on Comedy Central, Sirius XM and the BBC. He’s been the opening act for Weird Al Yankovic, the Smothers Brothers, B.B. King and Dionne Warrick.
On Oct. 30, he’ll perform at the Comedy Cabaret in Doylestown.
The next day, Halloween, he’ll fly to California in anticipation of a Nov. 3 taping of Comics Unleashed.
“They do five shows a day every Tuesday,” he said.
Allen got his start as a standup comic, appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1979 when he was just 18. Soon after, he began co-hosting Real People.
Comics Unleashed moved to its current time slot in May, when Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled.
On the 30-minute show, Allen delivers a short monologue, then welcomes four comedians to share stories and tell jokes. There’s a live studio audience. There is no air date, though it’ll probably be shown a month after the taping.
“It’s supposed to be a conversation. We’re doing standup, but we’re sitting down,” Callahan said. “I’m definitely going to mention Philly. I truly, truly love the city.”
Callahan will be ready for however the conversation turns, recalling how the late comedian Big Daddy Graham once told him, “You’ve got to hit the ground running.”
Callahan said he will not be nervous.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life. I’ve wanted to do this,” he said. “I have to be appreciative. I can’t be nervous.” ••
Watch one of Callahan’s performances at https://youtu.be/4ZAyE30hSP8
For more information, visit www.joeycallahan.com or go to joeycallahancomedy on Facebook and Instagram.
