Basile may be Greek to you but he understands comedy

"COMIC CAPERS"
By RODNEY BENGSTON

Dec. 9, 1999

Ever see a show and say, "That's all Greek to me"?

With Basile, that literally can be true.

Basile storms into town Monday to start one of his usual week-long headlining stints at Hilarities in Cuyahoga Falls, but at 6 p.m. Dec. 18 he'll also perform his special show, "Growing up Greek in America," at the nightclub. (Call Hilarities for details.)

While growing up, Basile says, his relatives taught him there were two types of people -- Greeks and Americans. His Greek heritage meant his Easter was celebrated a week later.

"The candy was so much cheaper," he says. "But it wasn't until I was a lot older that I learned chocolate bunnies do have ears."

Lunchtime at school was another unique experience: "I was the kid with goat and lamb's heads in my lunch. No one wanted to trade with me."

But the trials and tribulations of his youth have translated into a comedy career in which he headlines throughout the country. And he's gained enough status that he has released his first CD, "Basile Unleashed," which features his usual blend of jokes, impersonations and music.

Basile, who launched his comedy career on the Hilarities stage, says most of the CD was recorded at shows in Atlanta, St. Louis and Detroit. It is available nationally at Borders Books & Music and Tower Records on the Holographic Records Diversity label.

The latest update on Basile's life also can be found on his Web site at www.4Basile.com.

Basile says he knows some will give him grief because his CD does not have a strong Cleveland tie: "I can't do everything in Cleveland, and when I do something there I want it to be unique."

Cleveland still has a good chance of being featured in the future because Basile inked a four-CD deal with the Diversity label. That next CD, he adds, will be his Greek album while the next two will be more American comedy.

Though he was raised in Long Island, N.Y., Basile spent many summers in Cleveland visiting relatives. He liked the North Coast well enough to come back and attend Cleveland State University. Then he started working for a Cleveland law firm and gave the comedy world a whirl at night.

It was short time later that someone suggested he take to the stage since his courtroom arguments were like performances.

Those coming to his Hilarities shows will see a lot of the new material from the CD. But while the material may be updated, audience members can count on hearing plenty of his old favorite voices -- and not the ones in their heads.

If you heard soul singer James Brown giving imcomprehensible radio updates during the O.J. Simpson trial, that was actually Basile. He also is Universal Studios' voice of Bullwinkle J. Moose and has lent his many voices to Japanese Anime series such as "Bubble Gum Crash Crisis" and "UY/Urusci Yatsura."

Basile is well known on the club circuit, and he's hoping the upcoming CDs help him take it to the next level: "It's well worth it. You always have to take a chance."

ON STAGE: Todd Glass, who has appeared on "A&E's Evening at the Improv" and on Comedy Central, headlines through Sunday at the Cleveland Improv.

Russ Nagel headlines and John Floyd is the feature act through Saturday at Hilarities in Cuyahoga Falls.

Rodney Bengston, an editor in Sun Newspapers' Metro office, covers northeastern Ohio's comedy scene.