“I just finished reading Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle,’ ’’ Mr. Goodnight said, imitating Roosevelt’s voice. “I tell you, I haven’t seen that much spoiled meat since I was at the concession stands at the boardwalk on Coney Island.’’
With each joke, the audience broke into fits of laughter. For them, it was a change of pace. Mr. Goodnight is not the kind of comedian you’d typically see at a Boston-area comedy club. In fact, Mr. Goodnight, who will appear next Sunday at the Comedy Studio, is not the kind of comedian you are likely to see at any club.
Since the fall of 2009, Weymouth resident Joe Possemato - who created the alter ego Mr. Goodnight - has been moonlighting at comedy clubs in Boston and Los Angeles, where he spends his winters. The comedy world is a new scene for Possemato, who just four years ago was a PhD student at Fordham University, teaching history to undergraduates.
Though Possemato’s comedy career is in its nascent stages, Mr. Goodnight continues to develop a bicoastal fan base.
“Mr. Goodnight is a very unassuming intellectual,’’ said Eve Malapiante, who is a fan of Possemato’s character and also performs stand-up comedy locally. “He is nothing he is supposed to be. No subject or venue is too lowbrow or too highbrow for Mr. Goodnight.’’
Before embarking on his comedy career, Possemato was entrenched in academia. Holding a master’s degree in history from Virginia Commonwealth University, the 35-year-old has worked as a professor at Quincy College and Fordham, where he finished two years of his doctorate before leaving school.
“Things were going really well in academia, but I just grew tired of it,’’ said Possemato, who started performing as himself at local open mikes in 2007.
“I actually got into stand-up originally by accident,’’ he said. “I went down to an open mike to support a friend and tried it out. I did it for a few weeks then stopped, and a few years later, I began to perform again at The Red Parrot in Hull when they started to have a weekly show.’’
