Floyd Vivino

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Uncle Floyd Vivino
Born Floyd Vivino
October 19, 1951 (1951-10-19) (age 57)
Paterson, New Jersey, United States
Occupation Television, Film, and Stage Actor
Years active 1974 - present
Official website

Floyd Vivino aka "Uncle Floyd" (b. October 19, 1951) is a television, film, and stage performer primarily known for his comedy/variety TV show The Uncle Floyd Show (1974-1998).


Contents

[edit] The Uncle Floyd Show

The Uncle Floyd Show aired in the New Jersey and New York market from 1974 to 1998, for a time airing on the state wide PBS network, New Jersey Network. It can be read as a children's show, or a parody of a children's show. Much of the humor has a twist aimed at adults in the style of Soupy Sales and Pee Wee Herman. The show featured slapstick comedy, puppetry, some audience participation, and piano music. Floyd's puppet sidekick (actually a ventriloquial figure) was named Oogie.

The show first aired on United Artists Columbia Cable of New Jersey on January 29, 1974 then starting in November 1974 on UHF-TV station WBTB-TV, Newark (broadcasting on channels 68 and 60), later becoming WTVG, then WWHT, as ownership changed hands.

Around 1976, The Uncle Floyd Show aired opposite reruns of Star Trek. Floyd declared war on Star Trek and through the support of fans and Fan Clubs (of which there were at least 400), eventually succeeded in knocking Star Trek off the air.[citation needed] Victory was declared, though only the most ardent supporter would actually believe Floyd's show had anything to do with the programming change.

The first cast members were Pat Cupo and Bob D. Caterino. Later members were Scott Gordon , Craig "Mugsy" Calam, "Netto", Jim Monaco, "Looney" Skip Rooney, Charlie Stoddard and Artie Delmar. There was one album from the show, the titular The Uncle Floyd Show Album, released on Mercury Records, that is much sought-after by collectors, along with several singles self-released by Floyd on his Bioya label (he wanted to call his label "Vivitone", but that name was already being used) around 1980-1983. (Rumors abound that "Bioya" was an acronym for "Blow It Out Your Ass".) Floyd Vivino has also put out numerous CDs of his live performances and Italian-language radio work.

In 1980, The Uncle Floyd Show, as seen on local channel 68 in North Jersey, went into a small syndication circuit which included 17 markets, among them WNBC-TV channel 4 in New York and then WTAF-TV channel 29 in Philadelphia and WFLD-TV Channel 32 in Chicago. Production of the show ceased in 1998.

[edit] Other works

Vivino wrote the lyrics for and, under the guise of his country and western character "Cowboy Charley", sang the locally famous parody song "Deep In The Heart Of Jersey" (based on the tune of "Deep in the Heart of Texas").

Vivino is able to perform hundreds of songs from the early part of the Twentieth Century,[citation needed] and has on more than one occasion claimed to be descended from a traditional line of court jesters from the kingdoms of Italy.[citation needed] He performs live upwards of 300 nights per year,[citation needed] while his brothers, Jimmy and Jerry, have been members of The Max Weinberg 7 band on Late Night with Conan O'Brien since 1993.

Vivino has appeared on several television shows filmed in New York City including Law & Order, 100 Centre Street, and Cosby and is currently a regular on the Sirius Satellite Radio program The Wiseguys Show on Raw Dog Comedy (channel 104) hosted by former Sopranos cast member Vincent Pastore.

He has also had bit parts in the movies Good Morning, Vietnam, Crazy People and Mr. Wonderful.[1] He also appeared briefly in One Trick Pony in a deleted scene.[citation needed]

In 1999, he was placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for non-stop piano playing, having played for 24 hours and 15 minutes.[2]

In 2008, Vivino began his 22nd year broadcasting on WVIP-FM 93.5 from New Rochelle, New York, where he plays a wide range of Italian music. He claims to have the largest collection of Italian records in the world.

[edit] Tributes

David Bowie, a big fan of the show, recorded the song "Slip Away" on his 2002 album, Heathen, as a tribute. The lyrics mention Uncle Floyd and his puppets "Oogie" and "Bones Boy". When asked how Bowie learned of The Uncle Floyd Show he replied, "John Lennon told me about it."[3]

The song "Work for Food" by Dramarama, on the album Hi-Fi Sci-Fi from 1994, features the Uncle Floyd Show in the lyrics. Footage of Uncle Floyd as Cowboy Charlie also appears in the video for the song. The members of Dramarama were from Wayne, New Jersey and made their first television appearance on The Uncle Floyd Show.

The Ramones also recognized The Uncle Floyd Show in their song "It's Not My Place (In the Nine to Five World)"[4], as well as in various live appearances. Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone could often be seen wearing an Uncle Floyd Show t-shirt in pictures of the band.[citation needed]

[edit] Performers who have appeared

Part of the variety format of the show included in-studio appearances by many rock and roll acts, sometimes lip-syncing and sometimes performing live, making clear that the show was not aimed only at children. Below is an incomplete list of acts that have appeared:

[edit] References

  1. ^ imdb.com
  2. ^ Answers.com
  3. ^ bobleafe.com
  4. ^ skaponk.com

[edit] External links

[edit] tags
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