Tommy Moore

Tommy Moore (born December 7, 1950) is an American comedian, clown, and motivational speaker versed in the styles of vaudeville and Catskill comedy. His act is filled with classic jokes, original material, props, costumes, improv, and misguided magic, drawing heavily on audience participation. Billed as The Professor of Fun, he has been called the "man who put the FUN back in Funny".

Early life Moore was born in West Philadelphia to parents John and Ann. He received a formal Catholic school and later private-academy education, but was more interested in comedy than curriculum. He made a deal with his parents that if he pulled straight A's he could stay up late and watch programs like The Red Skelton Show, The Danny Thomas Show, The Steve Allen Show and more on TV. He would then re-enact them for his classmates the next day at school.

Moore particularly enjoyed watching stand-up comics on The Ed Sullivan Show, counting among his favorites Red Buttons, Shecky Greene, Buddy Hackett, Jackie Mason, Danny Thomas, and Bill Cosby. At age six, he halted blowing out the candles on his birthday cake because comedian Jack Carter was on TV. After Carter finished his guest spot, Moore at last blew out the candles.

At age seven, Moore saw his first live nightclub comic, Cozy Morley, at Club Avalon in North Wildwood, New Jersey. By age nine, Moore earned his first dollars doing puppet shows at other children's birthday parties. Upon seeing comedy magician Carl Ballantine, of McHale's Navy fame, on The Ed Sullivan Show, Moore began spending every dollar at magic shops. He soon began performing his own comedy magic act at hospital shows throughout the city as part of The South Philadelphia Talent Workshop.

Moore earned a bachelor's degree in Elementary Ed. from Saint Joseph's University, but while others were reading school books and listening to rock 'n' roll, Moore turned to joke books (he now has over 800) and collecting comedy records (last count 1,200 plus) housed in an office that looks "like a mini museum of American comedy".

In 1977, he married Suzanne Martin and moved to the Philadelphia suburbs. Today they live in North Carolina.

Career By the 1970s, Moore was performing in the vein of his comedy idols, with clean, family-friendly material. But the comedy landscape was changing, as the country embraced the observational material of Robert Klein and David Brenner, and as George Carlin and David Steinberg popularized introspective and often controversial subjects. Moore, now performing regularly in New York City, followed the trend, as reflected in his two albums, Did I Say That? and I'm Telling You What They Told Me! (both for Castle Records). He was now working steadily as a comic, but didn't feel good about his act. The “warmth that had brought him to comedy was missing.”

So by 1980, Moore turned his act from the commercially popular style to a post-modern homage to the Borsht Belt and vaudeville styles he loved. During the comedy boom of the '80s, Moore moved from the Palumbo's/Downingtown Inn circuit to the comedy club scene. His act, now a departure from normal comedy club faire, was a surprise hit. Before long, he was developing many of his signature bits, including audience participation routines like Gilligan's Island, The Amateur Magician, and The Trip to Hawaii.

It was also in the 1980s that Moore added journalism to his résumé, writing the bi-weekly column Comedy Corner for eleven years as a staff member of The Out On The Town Entertainment Guide. He interviewed and profiled hundreds of American comedians, including George Burns and Harry Anderson. He also wrote comedy book reviews for the Philadelphia Daily News, and contributed articles to MAD and Parade magazines.

During the course of his career, Moore would land prestigious gigs at the famed New York Copacabana, as well as many Philadelphia-area institutions, including Lilly Langtry's and The American Academy of Music, as well as Caesar's Resorts, Mt. Airy Lodge, Stricklands, Fernwood, and Mt. Laurel hotels (all in the Pocono Mountains) and performances at Caesars, Harrah's, Trump Plaza, Showboat, Playboy, Golden Nugget, and Tropicana hotels in Atlantic City. It was these classes that landed him the moniker The Professor of Fun, and laid the groundwork for his corporate seminars on effectively using humor to reduce stress in the workplace. His corporate clients have included AT&T, American Express, General Electric, Dupont, and AARP.

In August, 1993, Moore's humor, upbeat and optimistic approach led to his being targeted by the Department of Defense for a tour of Army and Air Force Bases in Germany, Iceland, England, Belgium, and The Netherlands.

From 2000 to 2008, Moore returned to the showbiz reviews of a bygone era, headlining such shows as Greg Thompson's Celebrations on Ice, Showboat Casino's Basin Street Follies, L&M Production's The Catskills Come to You, Ace in The Hole Productions' Christmas Magic, Mardi Gras Carnival, Love of the Irish, That's Italian, Funny Valentines, Honky Tonk Angels, and Ragtime Rascals. Since then, he has performed more than 2,500 shows, speeches, and seminars. He says the incident has actually strengthened his outlook on life, and his faith in God, whom he credits with helping him survive that day. On November 30, 2017, Moore released his second book, Joketelling 101: How I Never Let School Interfere with My (Comedy) Education, which offers advice to new comedians on how to tell a joke based on his lectures at Temple University. Moore's third book, Comedians Telling Tales Out of School, was released on November 23, 2018. It features previously unpublished stories and interviews from his long-running "Comedy Corner" column for Out on the Town magazine.

TV appearances The Funniest Person in America – Showtime The People's Choice Awards – ABC The Jane Whitney Show – CBS The Road to Comedy – PBS Maury Povich's People Are Talking – KYW The Joe Franklin Show – WWOR Evening Magazine – KYW Weekend With The Stars – KYW Saturday Night Dead – KYW AM Philadelphia – WPVI Good Day Philadelphia – WTXF In Search of The 3 Stooges – WTAF Laughing in The New Year – WTAF The Out on the Town Show – WKBS