Comedian Bruce Fine, Las Vegas Sun, Dec . 17, 2004

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Red Sox series victory suits comic just Fine Lisa Ferguson Friday, Dec. 17, 2004 | 8:48 a.m. Bruce Fine is in no rush to bid 2004 adieu. He, along with countless other diehard Boston Red Sox fans, are still reveling in their beloved baseball team's recent World Series win, marking the end of the storied "Curse of the Bambino." "The memories of this whole season, it's just amazing," says the comic, who performs Tuesday through Dec. 26 at The Improv at Harrah's. Of watching the Sox win the series on TV this fall, the Beantown native explains: "The only thing I can compare it to is to like a birth or a death -- the way my body just shook, and I was crying uncontrollably." Tears of joy streamed not only for the victory, but also for Fine's own good fortune. In late 2003, driven by little more than a gut feeling, he trademarked the phrase "From Cursed to First" -- a nod to the team's losing streak of eight-plus decades, with hope for its demise -- which served as the title of a morale-boosting anthem written and recorded by Fine: "No mah umps missing calls, no mah crazy ground balls, No mah manager brain farts, no mah broken hearts, We want to scream 'til it hurts and have tears of joy burst, We want to watch the Red Sox go From Cursed to First." "I really just felt that this was the year," Fine insisted during a recent call from his home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, where he's resided for 15 years. "The team needed a more optimistic view from fans, and that's what I tried to do. 'From Cursed to First' was acknowledging that there was a curse, but it was gonna end." The tune was released last spring and received limited air play on some Boston-area radio stations, and a couple of national sports-news stations. In March, Fine fired up the Web site www.fromcursedtofirst.com, where he sells a disc featuring the song, along with a line of products -- from sweatshirts to boxer shorts, barbecue aprons to beer steins, greeting cards to holiday ornaments -- adorned with the phrase for adults, children and even pets. He recently signed a deal with sportswear maker Majestic Athletic that puts "From Cursed to First" on official Red Sox gear. Red Sox players also took notice: Fine says during the season first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz "put a 'From Cursed to First' hat in his locker facing out." Lest anyone assume the momentum has fizzled post-season, the comic claims to be in talks with an unnamed beer company that he says wants to create a beverage based on the catchphrase; and an ice cream manufacturer looking to market a "From Cursed to First"-brand ice cream bar. Though Fine concedes he has yet to see "any of the rewards financially ... there's a lot of exciting things that are being talked about that are going to make the years of pain, and the up-and-down roller coaster of this season" worth the effort. "The fact that the Red Sox won the World Series -- and I feel like I had a little bit to do with it -- is the greatest payment ever." Had he not been suffering a slump of his own last year, however, Fine might not have had a chance at bat with the business venture. The Boston University grad started in stand-up 18 years ago. His act is built on such "universal and observational" topics as the joys of shopping at Costco, the lack of water pressure in hotel showers and the irony of buying vitamins at a gas station. Earlier this year, Fine released "Actual Size," a comedy CD taped during a February performance at The Improv at Harrah's. The title is a gentle jab at his 5-foot-1-inch stature. "I have fun with it," he says. "I was never one of those insecure short guys." He has appeared on a handful of television series, including "Spenser: For Hire," "Married ... With Children" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and most recently played a police detective on an episode of the CBS sitcom "The King of Queens" that aired earlier this week. Fine is buddies with several members of the comic Wayans family, and has worked in front of the cameras as well as behind the scenes on the siblings' various series, including "The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show" and "The Wayans Brothers." He served nearly three years as a staff writer on the ABC sitcom "My Wife and Kids," starring Damon Wayans; has toured for five years as the opening act for Shawn Wayans; and claims to be in the process of pitching to network execs a half-hour animated sitcom ("It's sort of like 'Beavis and Butt-head' meets 'Clerks' "), which he co-created with Keenan Ivory Wayans. While "you get that great rush" that comes with performing stand-up, Fine concedes, "having a 9-to-5 comedy job ... has always been my dream." That dream was fulfilled when he landed a gig as a comedy producer for "The Wayne Brady Show," the Emmy-winning syndicated talk show hosted by frequent Vegas headliner Brady. Meanwhile, Fine had also written a sitcom pilot starring "Blade" actor Wesley Snipes, which he says was to air on cable's Spike TV network. Just as he was readying to cross home plate, 30-something Fine unexpectedly found himself riding the bench: In January, " 'The Wayne Brady Show' got canceled, and the pilot didn't get picked up," he explains, "and all of a sudden I went from having two jobs to being unemployed." Leaving him with little to do besides ponder the upcoming baseball season. "In a way it was a blessing, because I really had the time right before the spring," he says, to put into motion ideas for the "From Cursed to First" franchise. "I took advantage of the down time to do something that was a passionate dream to me and ... I created something that never existed." To get a business off the ground, "It takes a team of people, and it was a team of one. There's no way I could have done that if I was working, and I never would have created this company that is now a brand." Fine wraps his stand-up act with a rendition of "From Cursed to First," regaling audiences with "a quick story about how I kind of did this, and I sing the song and people go nuts. They're not even like big baseball fans, but they know about it because it was such a big story, a news event, and they appreciate it ... Everybody loves the underdog." Out for laughs Take note: Palace Station's Laugh Trax will be closed Tuesday through Dec. 27; "Laughs at The Beach" at The Beach nightclub will be dark on Dec. 25; and The Comedy Stop at The Trop remains shuttered through Dec. 24. Road comic Russ Nagel will be home for the holidays. The Louisiana-bred "Machine Gun of Comedy," who calls southwest Las Vegas home, settles in for a stint Tuesday through Jan. 2 headlining The Comedy Zone at the Plaza. Big Apple-based funny lady Tracy Esposito performs Dec. 27 through Jan. 2 at Riviera Comedy Club. The comic recently staged her one-woman show, "Chicken Parmigiana," a tribute to her late mother, at an off-Broadway theater.