Hometown Comic Bringing Laughs To Paramount

Comedian and actor Gary Valentine is scheduled to perform tomorrow night at The Paramount in Huntington.

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Comedian Gary Valentine began his career as a stand-up comic at Huntington’s East Side Comedy Club during his college days.

“My mother signed me up for an open mic night,” Valentine said. “I ended up doing five minutes and I killed; I was hooked.”

Now 56, Valentine recently bought a house in the Huntington area, and is set to perform here once again. This time, though, he’ll be heading his very own show at The Paramount.

Born Gary Knipfing in Mineola, Valentine is the older brother of Kevin Knipfing, better known as comedian and actor Kevin James.

“My brother’s really shy, and I wasn’t; so we’re really opposites,” Valentine said. “We used to put on little shows for our parents when we were kids.”

Valentine is best known for his acting roles alongside his brother in sitcoms “The King of Queens” and the more recent and ongoing “Kevin Can Wait.”

Valentine said he loves both acting and stand-up, but said he appreciates the immediate reaction from the live audience.

“The sitcoms and stand-up are probably my favorite because you get the live reaction,” Valentine said. “With a movie you do a funny scene, and you don’t find out if people liked it or not until a year and a half later.”

Tomorrow night’s show will be the first that Valentine is headlining at The Paramount, but he and his brother are no strangers to the venue.

“It’s great for music and it’s great for comedy… we’ve done a few shows there, and we love the place,” Valentine said.

This time around his commute to the venue got a bit shorter. “It’s going to be very local, about five minutes away from my house,” he said.

Between his role on “Kevin Can Wait” and a film he is hoping to act in this summer, Valentine said his passion for stand-up will have to take a back seat role, at least temporarily, in favor of acting career.

He said, “The stand-up is kind of on the back burner right now, but I’m still doing a little bit here and there.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show on Friday, Feb. 16. Tickets are $19.50-$39.50 and available at the box office or Paramountny.com.