His greatest moment in life was in high school. He hit a home run during a ballgame right after eating a slice of pizza a friend gave him while he was on deck to bat. Since then, luck seemed to find New Jersey funnyman Artie Lange in the strangest ways.
The Hoboken resident, who lives in a condominium complex overlooking the Hudson River, is the newest member of the gang of strange characters on the internationally popular Howard Stern Radio Show, broadcast from New York City. He got his big break working alongside Stern, soundman Fred Norris, and coordinator of news affairs Robin Quivers, after comedian and head writer Jackie Martling walked off in March as a result of a salary dispute involving an undisclosed amount.
"I don’t know the exact reasons why Jackie left," Lange said two weeks ago in an interview near the Current‘s office. "He was such a big part of the show. All I know is what was said on the air. He didn’t get enough money. For a while Howard was looking for somebody and he was rotating comics on the show."
After several months of changing the show’s lineup with such notables as comedian Jeff Ross and actor A.J. Benza, Lange got the call in the spring of 2001 from Stern’s producers to sit in during the mornings and crack jokes at celebrity guests. After several successful appearances, he met with Stern and a couple of the producers to discuss long-term opportunities with the show. As a result, Lange signed a contract for a year. He would not comment on his salary, but just a couple of months into his tenure, he finds himself having the time of his life.
"This is definitely a job you don’t want to lose," he said, smiling. "You need luck in this business, and I’ve been lucky."
Each morning, Lange takes a car service to the radio station in midtown Manhattan to arrive before 6 a.m. To prepare for the unscripted live show, he needs to read several newspapers to find out what’s going on in the world. Then, he and the rest of the gang take to the air for almost five hours. It takes his toll on him, Lange said, but the rewards are extraordinary.
"It doesn’t feel like work when I’m having fun in the studio," he said. "And waking up early and going to bed early has given me a lot of discipline. It makes my mom happy."
And when asked if he ever gets tired of staring at the beautiful adult female entertainers who strip for Stern on the show, Lange said, "What, are you kidding me? Never."
But Lange’s professional journey did not begin quite so well.
Zigzag path
The 34-year-old comedian grew up in the urban New Jersey city of Union in a nuclear family. He was into sports, especially baseball, and on the weekends he would help his father with his business.
"He installed antennas on roofs. It was a dangerous job, but he was good at it," Lange said. "He definitely had a strange sense of humor."
After high school, Lange attended Seton Hall University in South Orange to play for the school’s nationally known baseball team. But one week into classes, his father died from complications from an accident he suffered while installing an antenna. And Lange, who admitted he was never fond of academic studies anyway, decided to drop out.
"It was sad to lose my father, and I used his death to give me a strong reason to leave school," he said.
Lange began to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue with the business. He had to help his family financially. After he quit installing antennas, he sought jobs delivering wedding cakes, unloading goods at docks, and even driving a taxi in his native town.
"My boss at the taxi job was just happy to have somebody working for him who wasn’t legally retarded," he said, laughing.
But Lange also had been a devout fan of comedy since his childhood. He grew up watching videos of such stand up legends as Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield and George Carlin. After noticing he was going nowhere fast with his part-time jobs, he decided to commit himself to his dream of being a professional comedian. At the age of 23, with only a couple of thousand dollars in the bank, Lange began to seriously perform at local open-mics and clubs in New York City.
He remembers the first time he performed in front of a live audience.
"It was a small bar in the middle of nowhere in Jersey," he said. "My best friend came to see me with his girl and I bombed. I bombed so bad that I think my friend’s girl left him."
He kept performing and writing. With each gig, he could feel himself getting better, getting more laughs. And after several months of hard work, he signed a deal with an agent who had seen him play at Caroline’s in New York City. That agent helped Lange land several commercial spots. His most notable commercial was for Budweiser and aired during the Super Bowl in 1995.
"I established myself because I was able to get an agent," he said. "That’s half the battle in show business. They get you in the room."
Lange also took part in a sketch comedy group called "Live on Tape."
In the spring of 1995, there was a lot of buzz among comics that the Fox network was planning to launch a sketch comedy show to compete with NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Lange’s agent sent him to Los Angeles to audition. It was a battery of tryouts with the show’s producers. One of them was celebrated national virtuoso Quincy Jones.
"I was nervous but I knew I was doing pretty well, but you never know in comedy," he said. "It was during my last audition that I met most of the cast members on the show. [Afterward] I went to my room, but I couldn’t keep still, so I walked up and down the Sunset Strip."
When he returned to his hotel room, he found three messages on his answering machine. His agent, manager and the show’s casting director all said he got the part on Mad TV.
"I’ve been pretty lucky," Lange said. "We had some good times on that show."
Lange, along with Orlando Jones, Nicole Sullivan, and David Hermann, would lead Fox’s Mad TV against Saturday Night Live for their share of the ratings. The show became established as a formidable playground for up-and-coming comics.
But Lange’s luck would seem to run out, however briefly. After more than a season with Mad TV creating an array of funny characters, he was arrested for drug possession in front of the show’s studios.
"It was bad. I punched an L.A. cop and spent a week in jail," he said. "I was self-destructive, doing drugs, gambling and drinking."
After the arrest, Lange could not come back to the show. He was let go.
"It was tough because I thought I had to start all over again, driving a cab and doing standup," he said.
Lange was in his late 20s at the time of the arrest and he checked himself into a drug rehabilitation clinic to get himself straight. Shortly after rehab, luck would find Lange again. This time, luck had a name: Norm McDonald.
The Saturday Night Live cast member was looking for someone to play his brother in the Hollywood feature film "Dirty Work," and McDonald had his eye on Lange.
"My agent called me and said, ‘Norm wants to see you,’" he said.
Lange eventually met with McDonald and the movie’s director, Bob Saget. He got the part, and the movie was a success. He played McDonald’s brother in a comedy about getting revenge. The movie sparked a close relationship with McDonald that is strong to this day. After "Dirty Work," Lange went on to do movies with David Spade and Chris O’Donnell. He was also part of Norm’s eponymous TV show, which was canceled last spring.
Ascending to Sternland
During his times with McDonald, Lange went on the Stern show a couple of times to promote movies and the sitcom. Little did he know he would eventually be a regular on the show.
"Norm and I were regular guests. I’ve always been a big fan of the show," Lange said. "I think Howard is a true radio genius."
Lange said that Stern is a regular guy who works very hard at what he does and demands quality work from his staff. He is approachable and very smart, he said.
"Howard is a professional. He lets us do our job and we always have fun," Lange said. "He’s busy with his girlfriend and his kids."
Nowadays, Lange takes it easy in the mile-square city he calls home. Single and living alone, he spends time at local bars with live music like Scotland Yard and the restaurants uptown like City Bistro and The Madison, and he loves diners.
"I think diners are one of New Jersey’s best things," Lange said.
The Jersey kid who hates L.A. does not consider himself an "A" list celebrity, but with the newfound exposure on the radio, he admits he has been recognized more often lately.
"You’ll be at a bar and people look at you twice. They know who you are. It’s just creepy when they keep looking and they don’t say anything," he said.
Lange looks back at the body of work he has done and he is proud of the success he has had. Drug-free for more than five years, he enjoys watching a good Woody Allen flick or traveling down the Jersey shore to Long Beach Island with friends.
"My favorite hangout on the shore is definitely L.B.I.," he said with a smile.
When he is not doing the radio show, Lange works on his movie script about a beer-drinking softball league. For Lange, the movie is almost like a case of art imitating life.
"I played on a bunch of those leagues where everybody was drunk and took the games too seriously," he said.
Lange will be in the movies "Boat Trip" with Cuba Gooding Jr., and "A Piece of My Heart," both to be released this year. And the Howard Stern Radio Show airs Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. – the gang sometimes stays on until 11 a.m. – on 92.3 FM K-Rock. q