Joe Scrocca Jr.’s life experiences are the foundation of his stand-up act
TUCKAHOE – Joe Scrocca Jr.’s life is a joke.
His life’s the subject of his jokes, that is.
The Cape May County native, who was raised in Wildwood Crest, decided last December to try his hand as a stand-up comedian. Since his first open mic at Christopher’s Pub in Toms River, he has performed more than 30 shows, including at the famed Rodney’s (formerly Dangerfield’s) and at the Copacabana, both in New York City. He made it to the semifinals of the Funniest Person in Delmarva event and performed three shows at the 2024 Meadowlands Comedy Festival.
His material is based on things that actually happened to him during his life. His parents owned the former Wildwood Diner for 40 years, where he worked as well. “I woke up one morning, and I had been having difficult relationships, and decided I needed to make some changes. I wanted to try something different and have fun,” the 63-year-old said.
“I had no background in comedy; I had never been behind a mic. Over the years, I made mental notes of things that happened during my life, and all my stories are true.”
Although he is new to stand-up comedy, Scrocca told many of the stories to friends over the years. However, to make them work onstage, he realized he had to refine his stories to make them shorter and get to the punchline faster. He’s been known to change stories mid-set based on the crowd’s reaction.
“My first open mic at Christopher’s, I looked out at the audience, and many of them belonged to a motorcycle club,” he recalled. “I thought, if I’m bad, they are going to kill me.”
He survived that first night and has since performed in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Florida. He also has been a guest on Tony Walker’s “Knock ‘Em Dead” podcast from Governor’s Comedy Club on Long Island, N.Y.
“It is hard to find anyone who enters the world of stand-up comedy cold, without any experience in stand-up, acting or any type of entertainment and still be successful,” Scrocca said. “By all accounts, after only two months doing stand-up, I should not have been on the famous stage at Rodney’s. Not only did I have the crowd of 60-plus laughing from the minute I took the stage, but my time was extended because every story I told hit hard with the crowd.”
Most of Scrocca’s material is R-rated, but he is working on doing a more family-oriented set as well. When coming up with his stories, he uses a whiteboard to refine each bit to make it as short and funny as possible.
“There’s a lot of on-the-job training,” he said. “You have to keep writing and rewriting how to present the material. You can’t be hard and fast in what you want to tell. You need to be flexible, and change the story in different ways to see if it works with the audience.”
So far, Scrocca is proud to say he’s never been heckled or booed. “I’ve had stuff land without laughs, though,” he admitted, “but you just have to roll with it. Every audience is different, and sometimes what works one night doesn’t work another night.”
Scrocca is a widower; his wife died from cancer in 2014. They had one child, a son, whom Scrocca called “his toughest critic.”
“My son, who is 33, first thought I would try it once or twice and get it out of my system,” he said, chuckling at the memory. “He’s very proud of me, but he’s also my biggest critic. I try out my material with him, and he’s always got suggestions on how to make it better.”
Scrocca’s background is in accounting and taxation, so he is approaching his new comedy career as a business. “I know how to network, how to sell myself to the right people,” he said.
“If in two years I’m still doing just open mics, I will have at least tried it. If I can make a living and have fun at it, it sure beats real work.”
Scrocca hopes others find his story inspiring.
“I think my story can inspire widows and widowers to go out and live life after the loss of a spouse,” he said. “It’s never too late to try something new, and I am living proof of this.
“It’s never too late, or you are never too old to try something, so try it and have no regrets, you can at least say you tried.”
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
