Long shot—Help figuring out a comedian

[momof3cruisers]

My husband and I were on Spirit in mid October last year. There was a comedian who was on the first half of the week who was fantastic. But neither of us can remember his name. He’s an older white guy, kind of heavy, gray hair. He walks around the theater before the show, chats with people etc. He does a LOT of crowd work. In fact, he has them bring the house lights up for the whole show. One of his big things was going out into the audience to “explain” a joke to someone if they didn’t laugh. He does all clean comedy and was friends with Louie Anderson. (We talked about that because we are from MN.)  I think his first name might have been Tommy, but my husband doesn’t think so. 
 

Does he sound familiar to anyone? 

[Honolulu Blue]

6 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

My husband and I were on Spirit in mid October last year. There was a comedian who was on the first half of the week who was fantastic. But neither of us can remember his name. He’s an older white guy, kind of heavy, gray hair. He walks around the theater before the show, chats with people etc. He does a LOT of crowd work. In fact, he has them bring the house lights up for the whole show. One of his big things was going out into the audience to “explain” a joke to someone if they didn’t laugh. He does all clean comedy and was friends with Louie Anderson. (We talked about that because we are from MN.)  I think his first name might have been Tommy, but my husband doesn’t think so. 
 

Does he sound familiar to anyone? 

Your physical description sounds like a lot of people, and a lot of cruisers.  Good luck finding out his name.  One guy we can eliminate is this one:

[jam19872016]

7 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

My husband and I were on Spirit in mid October last year. There was a comedian who was on the first half of the week who was fantastic. But neither of us can remember his name. He’s an older white guy, kind of heavy, gray hair. He walks around the theater before the show, chats with people etc. He does a LOT of crowd work. In fact, he has them bring the house lights up for the whole show. One of his big things was going out into the audience to “explain” a joke to someone if they didn’t laugh. He does all clean comedy and was friends with Louie Anderson. (We talked about that because we are from MN.)  I think his first name might have been Tommy, but my husband doesn’t think so. 
 

Does he sound familiar to anyone? 

I was on Spirit around that time. Do you remember the exact date or itinerary? I don't have any fun times but I may have a a screen shot of the app saved somewhere I can check. I wouldn't know who is who but maybe if you see a name it will trigger something. 

[five.]

@Saint Greg maintains that website:

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/punchliner-comedy-schedule/

 

But I looked at archives for that time frame and don't see Carnival Spirit listed other than:

John Wesley Austin July 7-27

JC Coccoli June 15-23

Jimmy Della Valle November 27-December 17

 

Narrow down the dates and maybe he'll know more.

[momof3cruisers]

10 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I was on Spirit around that time. Do you remember the exact date or itinerary? I don't have any fun times but I may have a a screen shot of the app saved somewhere I can check. I wouldn't know who is who but maybe if you see a name it will trigger something. 

October 22nd through Nov 5th is when we sailed so I’m pretty sure he was there the 22nd to the 26th. We went to HMC, Grand Cayman, Aruba and Bonaire on the 8 day which was our first portion. 
 

 

[momof3cruisers]

6 hours ago, five. said:

@Saint Greg maintains that website:

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/punchliner-comedy-schedule/

 

But I looked at archives for that time frame and don't see Carnival Spirit listed other than:

John Wesley Austin July 7-27

JC Coccoli June 15-23

Jimmy Della Valle November 27-December 17

 

Narrow down the dates and maybe he'll know more.

I have gone through his comedian list and clicked on all the men. He’s not there. But the cruise we were on was Oct 22 thru Oct 30th. 

 

This may be a lost cause! 

[ldubs]

20 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

My husband and I were on Spirit in mid October last year. There was a comedian who was on the first half of the week who was fantastic. But neither of us can remember his name. He’s an older white guy, kind of heavy, gray hair. He walks around the theater before the show, chats with people etc. He does a LOT of crowd work. In fact, he has them bring the house lights up for the whole show. One of his big things was going out into the audience to “explain” a joke to someone if they didn’t laugh. He does all clean comedy and was friends with Louie Anderson. (We talked about that because we are from MN.)  I think his first name might have been Tommy, but my husband doesn’t think so. 
 

Does he sound familiar to anyone? 

 

I wonder if entertainers are shared with Princess?  If yes, then we saw a guy on a Princess cruise that fits your description to a tee.  He spent a lot of time explaining punchlines in a way that was really funny.  He was incredibly entertaining.  Sadly, I can't remember his name and doubt I would recognize it if someone said.  

[FTLCruiseGal]

Looks like this review may have been your cruise.  This person may have the FunTimes or May remember:  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=692431, 

 

Not sure how you could contact them, though, but it may be a start.

 

 

[Tarheelblues]

Sounds just like Manny Oliveira. I’ve had the good fortune to cruise twice with him as a comedian and he’s one of the best!

[Saint Greg]

23 hours ago, five. said:

@Saint Greg maintains that website:

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/punchliner-comedy-schedule/

 

But I looked at archives for that time frame and don't see Carnival Spirit listed other than:

John Wesley Austin July 7-27

JC Coccoli June 15-23

Jimmy Della Valle November 27-December 17

 

Narrow down the dates and maybe he'll know more.

 

After their time on the ship is over I delete them. My suggestion is usually to check my fun times page to see if I have that cruise. But now we're going back over a year. I deleted the 2022 and earlier fun times thanks to my web host trying to squeeze me for more money by lowering my space limit by 80% on three weeks notice.

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, Tarheelblues said:

Sounds just like Manny Oliveira. I’ve had the good fortune to cruise twice with him as a comedian and he’s one of the best!

 

Definitely possible. His repeats are never repeats because they change based on who is in the audience.

[pirate4me2]

1 hour ago, Tarheelblues said:

Sounds just like Manny Oliveira. I’ve had the good fortune to cruise twice with him as a comedian and he’s one of the best!

I thought this as well (love Manny!) but the part about him doing "all clean comedy" does NOT fit Manny. Unless they went to just PG shows?

[Saint Greg]

Just now, pirate4me2 said:

I thought this as well (love Manny!) but the part about him doing "all clean comedy" does NOT fit Manny. Unless they went to just PG shows?

 

Oh yeah. He's the opposite of clean. I think he's one who struggles with that. Has to have a gimmick for a clean show. If I recall correctly he had everyone bring a dollar. Then took a kid  around to interact with everyone and take all of the dollars.

[pirate4me2]

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Oh yeah. He's the opposite of clean. I think he's one who struggles with that. Has to have a gimmick for a clean show. If I recall correctly he had everyone bring a dollar. Then took a kid  around to interact with everyone and take all of the dollars.

Yes! That is his go-to trick. We love his shows, and that was cute the first time we saw it at a PG one, but we learned his adult shows are much better. 

[five.]

I found a great thread where someone mentions that specific cruise and comedian. I think his name was Tim Kiminski. Hilarious times indeed. 🤣

[cyntil8ing]

11 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Oh yeah. He's the opposite of clean. I think he's one who struggles with that. Has to have a gimmick for a clean show. If I recall correctly he had everyone bring a dollar. Then took a kid  around to interact with everyone and take all of the dollars.

He was on Pride in Europe in August 2022. We went to a couple of his shows. He loved my teen son’s haircut, a sort-of Mohawk, which he compared to a landing strip. I was embarrassed to later have to explain to my son what a landing strip was. We still laugh about it.

 

My son is internationally adopted and appears different than my husband, daughter, and me. We are not overly sensitive to the topic, but have been offended by a comic picking us out in the past. We don’t usually sit near the front to avoid this, but Manny roams the room and he found us. He walked a line between funny and offensive. He made everyone laugh, including us, but didn’t make fun of us.