NJ Creatives Network November 2003 Meeting

by Eileen Watkins

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Rescheduled from the September NJCN meeting, Bill Ervolino of The Record talked about the career twists that led to his success as a humor columnist. Along the way he pointed out, "Most journalists want to be columnists, but not many can. At a newspaper, you usually write about important things. I take unimportant things and try to make them interesting."

Ervolino first got a glimpse of his true calling while an editor at the Massapequa Observer, where he wrote a political column. When his brother was arrested on Thanksgiving morning for an unpaid parking ticket, Ervolino wrote a hilarious article about his family's reaction, and it was a big hit.

"I've been doing that kind of thing now for 27 years," he said. "I found what my voice was, what I could do better than anybody else."

Growing up on Long Island, Ervolino didn't know he could write for a living, and told people he wanted to go into advertising. Nevertheless, one high school teacher saw his talent and asked him to be in a special writing class. At Nassau Community College, Ervolino took only art and English courses, refusing to become well-rounded, and so never matriculated.

That didn't prevent him from writing humor for the "back page" of Night Life magazine and then running that Long Island publication for two years. To avoid being "typed," he wrote health features for the New York Times, and reviewed comedy and wrote other entertainment features for the New York Post. He also freelanced for Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Backstage and Vogue.

Ervolino notes, "In one year--1990--I had eight editors." That influenced him to accept a full-time gig with The Record.

He did not fully comprehend the popularity of his humor column until a couple of years ago, when The Record published a collection of his articles as a book. Some Kind of Wiseguy: Stories About Parents, Weddings, Modern Living and Growing Up Italian, has just sold out its third printing, and Ervolino's appearances have drawn hundreds of people.

"Only the senior citizens wrote me notes, but (on tour) I realized I had a crossection of fans," he said. "People come up to me on the street and start talking to me about my family. Sometimes they call me up and scream at me about my column. But most are friendly and nice."

He read a typical column, about buying a poinsettia for some new neighbors. (After he paid to have it delivered, the florist left it at his house, anyway, so he had to present it in person.)

Life isn't always a laugh riot, though, and producing a column twice a week sometimes forces Ervolino to search for the humor in even painful situations. Last year, shortly after Christmas, he developed a case of Bell's Palsy, which temporarily paralyzed one side of his face. He managed to write about the funnier aspects of his attempts to diagnose himself and his emergency room experiences.

Also producing some food, health and entertainment stories, Ervolino works for The Record full-time. Still, he writes at home and goes into the office only about six hours a week. He concludes, "It's great to have a real job with benefits, and still be kind of a freelancer."

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