Despite performing in daytime soap operas for over 30 years, Walt Willey still believes he has maintained his blue-collar roots – a man who goes to work each day and does a job, just like many of the people he sees everyday near in his home in Jersey City.
Inspired by great comics like Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor, Willey will bring his comedy act to The Arts Factory in Bayonne on Nov. 8, drawing not from the imaginary world of “All My Children” where he plays a principal character, but from his own life.
The son of a one-time coal miner, Willey said he sees his role as a soap opera star as a job he does daily, giving the public they product they want.
His comedy, which he has performed on the side since around 1991, comes out of his own life.
“I think the first album I ever owned was by Bill Cosby,” Willey said.
The idea that a comic could create humor out of his own life appealed to Willey, especially later when he discovered the work of Richard Pryor, who added an edge of irreverence to comedy generated out of his life.
He started out on stage
Born in Ottawa, Ill., Willey attended Southern Illinois University, where he majored in fine arts.
He aspired to the stage, he said, and when he left Illinois for New York to break into acting professionally, he assumed that was what he would do.
“I did a few. I still like the idea of character discovery and the audience,” he said. “But when people started throwing money at me to get involved with TV, I did that.”
Among his off-Broadway productions, Willey appeared in Dust Off with Dan Lauia. But he was soon lured into TV soap operas, performing stints on Another World and Ryan’s Hope.
In 1987, he joined the cast of All My Children, originating the role of lawyer Jackson Montgomery. He was nominated for a People’s Choice Award in 1992, and was named All My Children’s Most Valuable Player by Soap Operate Update’s Reader’s Poll both in 1992 and 1993.
Willey kicked of his comedy careers in 1989, and quickly headlined at some of the most prominent comedy clubs in the country, including Caroline’s in New York, Zaine’s in Chicago and the Comedy Store in California.
Since the studio where he performs in All My Children is next door to the studio for the daytime TV show The View, Willey became friends with comic Joy Behar, who proposed him for membership in the Friar’s Club.
Over the years, he has co-hosted other TV programs and other events, including ABC sport’s coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade.
As if his career wasn’t diverse enough, Willey is also a published satirist and cartoonist, and is an official cartoonist for Disney.
Personal comedy
Willey’s comedy tends to be personal and edgy.
“I wouldn’t recommend anyone bringing their 16-year-old children to my shows,” he said, noting that his own kids have not seen his act. His son, a singer, opened for him. “But I made him leave right after he performed.”
Willey said the concept of truth can be funny and he can shape an act out of recounting some of the events, even tragedies, of his own life.
“I talk about life, parents, childhood, or being lonely,” he said. “It’s all very universal, and I think purging for everybody.”
Merchandise sales benefit autism research
Willey also brings another aspect of his personal life to his act. Since his two children have had issues related to autism, Willey dedicates funds from the sale of t-shirts and other items at his gigs to The WilleyWorld Endowment Fund, which often works with local autism-related charities. The funds raised through merchandising in Bayonne will be dedicated to benefiting the John Giordano Memorial Scholarship and autism research.
“One thing I want people to know, however, is that I never sell my autograph,” he said. “I have photos and I sign them. I do not sell them.”
Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20.
The Arts Factory is located at 280 Avenue E. For more information, call (201) 436-6700.