Why Dom Irrera Is A "Supple, Little Hunk"

Prospective audience members for Dom Irrera's Sydney Comedy Festival show can expect at least two things from the performance — neither of them laughter.

"My show is different than a lot of comedians — it's not particularly funny," claims stand-up stalwart Irrera — six-time nominee for the American Comedy Award, and a man who's been working a mic since the '80s on stages such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Leno, Letterman, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and any major comedy festival you care to mention. "I don't pander to the crowd by trying to entertain them," he continues. "I build confidence in them. When they walk out of the room, and it's usually during my act, I want them thinking, 'Fuck, I could do that.'"

"I dance like a man: interpretive, jazz, and ballet. My legs are my life and they're beautiful."

Confidence is good, we can always do with more of that. So what's the other blessing will that Irrera bestow upon the crowd? "A yearning and a true sense to want to bring me home with them and share their wives with me," he says graciously. "I'm a supple little hunk." Which may be something he owes to his strict pre and post show regime. "I do a lot of stretching. I drink a lot of fluid. And I dance like a man: interpretive, jazz, and ballet. My legs are my life and they're beautiful. Same thing afterwards. But there may be alcohol involved. That's how I keep my bloat."

Though Irrera was the voice Hey Arnold!'s Ernie Potts — the demolition man with a monobrow and a metal plate in his head — among several other prominent voice acting credits, you may want to think twice before you bring the kids along. Irrera's humour stems from his own personal experiences, with particular attention paid to his Philly childhood with his Italian-American family. Well, that and "all the comedians that I stole from. Boy those guys have a lot of material. Thank you fellow comedians for inspiring my thievery. No, I kid because I care".

Wherever it comes from, it's usually pretty blue by the time Irrera's done with it — ranging from Irrera's desire to die with every drop of semen utterly spent, to the body issues he developed in his youth from being unable to attract the local priest's eye.

It's easy to imagine that there aren't any comedic no-go zones in Irrera's comedic landscape, though he admits one border in "anything that has to do with hurting a child". With everything else up for grabs it's possible he's offended his share of punters. Does he have a procedure for hecklers?

"Funny you should ask. I just visited [a] lady in the hospital. The doctor said she should be out in two months. God bless her. I didn't know she had Tourette's."