Joseph Charles John "Joe" Piscopo (born June 17, 1951) is an American comedian and actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live where he played a variety of recurring characters. He was also known as the sports anchor on the various incarnations of Weekend Update that occurred during his tenure on the show.
He and Eddie Murphy often worked together. The two were the only cast members spared from the group hired by Jean Doumanian for season 6.
When Eddie Murphy became very famous after the film 48 Hours, many people said that it caused a rift between them. Joe recently said in a Reddit AMA that this was untrue.
In his Reddit AMA, Joe spoke fondly of Murphy, saying, "Favorite person is easy: I can never quite describe the thrill of working with Eddie Murphy live on the set of SNL. He had a reckless abandon that was contagious." "I can remember Eddie and me staying up all night trying to come up with new material. We were like two college roommates cramming for a final -- we both got punchy and started riffing and some of the best stuff came out of that."
On the infamous "Eddie Murphy Show" incident, Joe dispelled the rumors that there were no hard feelings: "Eddie was the best host I've ever seen -- if you'll remember, Nick Nolte was scheduled to host and backed out at the last second and Eddie stepped in for him. There have been a lot of SNL articles and book about this incident, but I can tell you Reddit none of them got it right: Eddie Murphy was the single best host in the show's history. And... he saved our ass that week."
When asked what his favorite sketch he'd performed on SNL was, he had this to say: "Solomon and Pudge -- where Eddie and I played those two old guys in the neighborhood bar. It was always placed in the 12:55 slot -- it was so organic, I always felt that it embodied the relationship of Eddie and I more than anything else. But swinging with the SNL band and doing Frank Sinatra was Ring-A-Ding as well..."
Piscopo ran into some controversy in the early 1990s. He was pictured on the cover of Muscle and Fitness in extremely buff shape, and this led many to speculate that he was using steroids. He has repeatedly denied these allegations, explaining that he was trying to better himself after conquering thyroid cancer in 1982.
Characters/Impressions
Characters
- Blaire
- Doug Whiner
- Pokey
- Froggy
- Harry Schliemer
- Mr. Blunt
- Mr. Wonderful
- Paulie Herman
- Pudge
Impressions
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Gallery
External links
- Official website
- Official Facebook page
- Joe Piscopo article on Wikipedia
- Joe Piscopo on IMDB
- Official Twitter
| Preceded by: Robin Williams as one-episode anchor |
Saturday Night News Anchor (one-episode anchor) (February 18, 1984— February 18, 1984) |
Followed by: Edwin Newman as one-episode anchor |
With Eddie Murphy playing flamboyant hairstylists Dion (Murphy) and Blaire (Piscopo)
Doing his Andy Rooney impression
Playing Ronald McDonald backstage
Joe doing his David Letterman impression
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With Eddie Murphy during the "Ebony and Ivory" sketch as Frank Sinatra (Piscopo) and Stevie Wonder (Murphy)