Joe Bevilacqua

Joseph Bevilacqua, February 2013

Joe Bevilacqua (born January 2, 1959) is an American actor, voice actor, producer, director, author, dramatist, humorist, cartoonist, and documentarian.

Biography

Joe Bevilacqua, also known as Joe Bev, is a public radio producer and radio theater dramatist. However, his career has taken him into every aspect of show business, including stage, film and television, as a producer, director, writer, author, actor, and even cartoonist.

Early life

Bevilacqua was born on January 2, 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, the son of a policeman, Joseph Bevilacqua Sr., and a housewife, the former Joan Kvidahl. Bevilacqua began performing as a child. His family moved to Iselin, New Jersey in 1965. In 1971, he began recording his first audio stories, Willoughby and the Professor, half hour stories, in which he performed all of the voices himself, creating live sound effects, and scoring with 78 RPM records he found in his attic.

According to NPR, Bevilacqua sent a 120 minute cassette of his Willoughby stories to voice actor Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi Bear, Quickdraw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound and other Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward cartoon characters. Butler soon dubbed himself Bevilacqua's mentor.

Author

Joe Bevilacqua has written and edited a number of books, including Daws Butler, Characters Actor, the authorized biography and his mentor, the voice of Yogi Bear. He co-authored the script book Uncle Dunkle and Donnie with Daws Butler and edited Butler's Scenes for Actors and Voices workbook. He has also written many liner notes on the history of radio for Radio Spirits releases.

Radio career

Joe Bevilacqua in his studio in Napanoch, NY. Public Radio.

Bevilacqua has produced radio in many genres. In 1980, at 19, Bevilacqua produced his first radio show, Liquid Comedy, for public radio station WRSU in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which was subsequently distributed internationally by the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (which became Pacifica Radio Archives). He co-hosted The Jazz Show with Garret Gega in the early 1980s, a four hour per week mix of classic jazz and comedy for WKNJ in Union, New Jersey.

Bevilacqua also worked for WBGO, Jazz 88 in Newark, NJ, and produced documentaries for WNYC, New York Public Radio, on jazz legends including Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Cab Calloway, and Lionel Hampton. His features play on NPR.

He is a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, and in 2009, Bevilacqua did a commentary for Marketplace. about his "green lifestyle".

As of June 2–14, Bevilacqua produces 14 regularly airing radio series, and 34 hours of new radio per month.

The Joe Bev Hour

Bevilacqua currently produces The Joe Bev Hour, consisting of six different shows per week and is syndicated worldwide:

• The Comedy-O-Rama Hour is improvised radio theater, performed by regulars Bevilacqua, Lorie Kellogg, Kenny Savoy, Jim Folly and guest stars Rick Overton, Judy Tenuta, Bob Camp (co-creator of Ren and Stimpy), Shelley Berman, Al Franken (before he was a Senator), Bob Edwards, Julie Newmar and Stuart Pankin. The series had a four year run on Sirius XM Radio before moving to syndication.
• The Jazz-O-Rama Hour is a music show hosted by Bevilacqua, featuring 78 RPM and early LP recordings remastered from his own personal collection spanning the 1920s to the 1960s.
• The Joe Bev Experience is an omnibus of documentaries, interviews, comedy and drama.
• Cartoon Carnival is an hour of rare and classic cartoon audio, children’s records, cartoon music and sound effects, new radio cartoons, interviews and mini-documentaries about the animation.
• The Joe Bev Audio Theater is an anthology of drama and humor storytelling with full casts, sound effects and music.
• The Joe Bev Hour Sunday Edition is a rotating lineup which includes The Comedy-O-Rama, The Joe Bev Experience, Cartoon Carnival, and The Joe Bev Audio Theater.

Stations running The Joe Bev Hour including WGTD, Wisconsin Public Radio, Sound Stages Radio, WHRO-Norfolk, VA, The 1920s Radio Network, Toon Radio, Pawling Public Radio, Radio New Zealand, and others.

Bear Manor Radio

In March 2014, BearManor Media appointed Joe Bevilacqua Program Director of the new Bear Manor Radio Network.

In an announcement dated Mar. 28, 2014, Ben Ohmart, president of Bear Manor Media, the publisher of books about old Hollywood, said, "We are excited to collaborate again with the extraordinarily talented Joe Bevilacqua."

The BearManor Radio went on the air streaming 24/7 on April 1, 2014, with six program. On June 1, 2014, the network added four more hour, all produced by Joe Bevilacqua. These are:

• The Voice Actor Show: Interviews with top voice actors
• Lorie's Book Nook: Interviews with Bear Manor authors
• The J-OTR Show: A mix of new and old time radio
• Fred Frees Favorites: An audio book sampler
• The Jazz-O-Rama Hour: Early 78 RPM and LP recordings remastered
• Cartoon Carnival: Interview, music and soundtracks
• The Lost OTR Show: Recently uncovered old time radio not heard in over 60 years
• Audio Classics Archive: The top old time radio from the vault of Terry Salomonson
• What's Cookin' with Chef Steve: Jazz, authors, and recipes

Audio Books

Joe Bevilacqua's audio credits include the radio documentaries: From Moonshine to Armadillos: the Birth of the Austin Music Scene (2003), that tells the history of the Armadillo World Headquarters; One Song at a Time: Tales from the Kerrville Folk Festival (2000); and We Take You Now to Grover's Mill: The 50th Anniversary of The War of the Worlds Broadcast (1988), which includes the last interview with John Houseman. His radio documentary Lady Bird Johnson: Legacy of a First Lady (2001), was heard on over 400 public radio stations and included interviews with Johnson White House Administration members Liz Carpenter, Bess Abell, and Nash Castro, Washington Post owner Katharine Graham, Lady Bird biographer Jan Jarboe Russell, and First Ladies Betty Ford and Barbara Bush.

In 2011, Joe Bevilacqua signed a deal with Audible to distribute all of his audiobooks, including radio drama, science fiction, comedy, cartoons, documentary, classic literature, biography, and autobiography.

In 2012, Bevilacqua signed a new deal with Blackstone Audio, who has released more nearly 100 audio titles by Bevilacqua, for download, CD, retail and libraries. 100 more are planned for 2014, many radio theater and comedy.

Audio Titles produced by Joe Bevilacqua as of 2014 include:

• The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes
• Waterlogg Documentary Pack
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles, Seasons 1-5
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 1
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 2
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 3
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 4
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 5
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 6
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 7
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 8
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 9
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles 10
• New & Old Time Radio Collection
• The 2nd New & Old Time Radio Collection
• What the Butler Wrote: Scenes from the Daws Butler Workshop
• Uncle Dunkle and Donnie: Fractured Fables from the Voice of Yogi Bear!
• Uncle Dunkle and Donnie 2: More Fractured Fables from the Voice of Yogi Bear!
• Daws Butler: Voice Magician
• Daws Butler Workshop '76
• Deconstructing Laurel & Hardy
• Louis Armstrong's New Orleans, with Wynton Marsalis
• From Moonshine to Armadillos: The Birth of the Austin Music Scene
• Tobin's Palm by O. Henry
• The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
• Pedro's Halloween Fables
• The New Old Time Radio Hour: 'Fibber McGee' and 'Duffy's Tavern'
• Daws Butler's Halloween Happening
• The Pace of Youth by Stephen Crane
• Pedro's Fables
• The Pedro Collection
• Pedro's Parodies: 14 Fractured Fables in Famous Funny Voices
• Pedro's Christmas Fables
• Pedro's Fables: Goofy Kids
• Pedro's Fables: Talented Kids
• Pedro's Fables: Plants, Pets, and Birds
• Pedro's Fables: Knights, Warriors, Pirates, and Dragons
• Pedro's Fables: Jungle Animals
• Pedro's Fables: Water Creatures
• Pedro's Fables: Fairies, Witches, Wizards, and Goblins
• Pedro's Fables: Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses, and Giants
• Pedro's Fables: Robots, Aliens, Planets, and Outer Space
• The Pedro's Fables Themes Collection
• The Complete Pedro's 200 Fables Master Collection
• The Whithering of Willoughby and the Professor
• The Camp Waterlogg Chronicles, Seasons 6 -10
• Comedy-O-Rama Variety Pack
• Waterlogg Holiday Collection
• Abbott & Costello in the Catskills
• Old Time Radio Parodies
• The Bear by Anton Chekhov
• Lady Bird Johnson: Legacy of a First Lady
• The New Stories of Old Time Radio: Volume One
• We Take You Now to Grover's Mill: The Making of the War of the Worlds Broadcast
• A Freneau Sampler: The Prose and Poetry of Revolutionary War Writer Philip Freneau
• Ancient Rising: The Rise of the Ancients Saga, Book 1
• The Daws Butler Collection
• The 2nd Daws Butler Collection
• A Joe Bev Audio Theater Sampler, Volume 1
• Yabba Dabba Doo! The Alan Reed Story
• Healthy Living in the Catskills
• One Song at a Time: Tales from the Kerrville Folk Festival
• A Waterlogg Double Feature
• All Things Joe Bev: The Best of Public Radio
• The Best of Cartoon Carnival, Volume 1: 'The Interviews'
• The Best of Cartoon Carnival, Volume 2: The Holiday Specials
• The Best of Cartoon Carnival, Volume 3: Pirates, Ghosts, and Moon Men
• The Best of Cartoon Carnival, Volume 4: The Superstars
• The Best of Cartoon Carnival, Volumes 1-4
• The LaughMakers: A Behind the Scenes Tribute to Bob Hopes Incredible Gag Writers
• Son of Harpo Speaks!

Cartoonist

Since the 1970s, Joe Bevilacqua has been cartooning his own characters, starting with Willoughby and the Professor. He has drawn for many of his projects and most recently drew cover art for six new Blackstone Audio titles coming up July 1, 2014, under the collective title A Joe Bev Cartoon.

Film & TV

Joseph Bevilacqua has acted in a number of US movies and TV shows. Not content to hide behind his microphone, Bevilacqua will be seen acting in the feature films: as the first lawyer Abraham Lincoln met as a child in The Better Angels directed A.J. Edwards, Cold in July directed by Jim Mickle, as an IRS Agent in TV's Deadly Devotions, and as an angry villager in Hits directed by David Cross. A number of this films went to the Sundance Festival in 2014.

Bevilacqua biggest on screen role to date is that of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery for the 2014 The World Wars History Channel TV Mini-Series.

Joe Bev was also the voice of Unicycler Cat in the North Bay Corp animated television commercials.

For the upcoming movie "The Fly Room," he not only portrayed the on screen character of Uncle Dwight, he was personally commissioned by the director Alexis Gambis, to act as vocal coach to the cast during the entire shoot and wrote, produced and voiced a number of audio sound beds in the style of old time radio for use in the film.

He will be seen in the upcoming Keanu Reeves movie John Wick, as Giuseppe in the upcoming film The Wannabe.

Stage

Bevilacqua's stage work includes roles in "Equus, Bedroom Farce, Applause, Black Comedy, and others plays. He tours regularly as Bud Abbott in A Tribute to Bud & Lou with Bob Greenberg as Lou Costello. Bevilacqua has performed at [The Improv], Caroline's on Broadway, Catch a Rising Star, and the Comic Strip. He has opened for Uncle Floyd, and has worked with Al Franken, Shelley Berman, Lewis Black and Rick Overton. Bevilacqua has also MC'd shows featuring Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Mahr and Gilbert Gottfried.

In 1989, funded by The New Jersey Historical Commission and The Monmouth County Historical Society, Bevilacqua produced, directed and starred in A Freneau Sampler, consisting of the poetry, prose and life of Philip Freneau.

Awards

• 2013 Kean University Distinguished Alumni Award.
• 2012 New York TANYS Award for Excellence in Ensemble Acting, for his portrayal of Bud Abbott in The Vaudeville in the Catskills show.
• 2006 New York Festivals award for All Things Considered, an tribute to Joe Barbera.
• 2004 Silver Reel Award from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters for his personal essay, "A Guy Named Joe Bevilacqua Audio".
• 2001, New York Festivals award for Lady Bird Johnson: Legacy of a First Lady

Lorie Kellogg

Bevilacqua frequently works as a team with his wife Lorie Kellogg, a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and California Institute of the Arts. Audiobook Heaven REVIEW: "Joe an [sic] Lorie are both extremely talented voice artists. They can both do lots of entertaining voices, not just characterizations but whole personalities, and they both have a fine flair for drama, satire, and comedy. Put them together and, well, need I say more? If you haven’t heard these two at work, you’re missing out on something special.")

The couple have been working together since they met in 1996, and currently co-produce, write and voice the second version of The Comedy-O-Rama Hour for cult Radio-A-Go-Go!. They recently toured with their Vaudeville in the Catskills stage show, in which they performed "Lambchops", the classic Burns and Allen comedy routine, and Kellogg performed the classic Abbott and Costello routine, "Who's On First?". A second tour occurred 2013.

From 2002-2006, Bevilacqua and Kellogg co-produced, wrote and voiced the first version of The Comedy-O-Rama Hour for XM Radio, Sonic Theater, which is now Sirius XM Radio Book Channel 80.

Today, Kellogg co-produces all of Joe Bevilacqua's audio and designs all the packaging.

External links

• Joe Bevilacqua's Comedy-O-Rama Hour site
• Joe Bevilacqua's Official Waterlogg Productions Blogg
• Official Daws Butler site
• Waterlogg Productions, Waterlogg Design
• The Official Joe Bev website