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Why Pete Davidson Cast Me in Bupkis
June 27, 2023
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At the age of 58, I have finally gotten my big break in showbiz. Pete Davidson has cast me in Bupkis.
Bupkis is the name of Davidson’s new sitcom on Peacock, also starring Joe Pesci and Edie Falco, so getting a shot at Bupkis from Pete Davidson still seems like a fairytale. People I’ve shared this news with immediately want to know how I landed Bupkis, and I don’t mind telling them the back story.
It was 12 years ago, before Pete Davidson was known by anybody, he and I were walking in Manhattan on our way to the Broadway Comedy Club where Pete had earned 10 minutes of stage time for the early show. It was at that time that I had informed him that since he did so well at the Gotham Comedy Fresh Faces showcase; a show that I had booked hosted by my morning guy Nick Cannon, that I was going to showcase Pete on ALL the Fresh Faces shows throughout New Jersey, Long Island and all the Boroughs.
He was ecstatic, and he stopped and said with the greatest sincerity, “Rob, what can I do for you?” I answered, “Nothing, you’ve earned this.” He came back stronger, “No Rob, seriously, what can I do for you?”
The Root Word of Encouragement is Courage
I said, “I tell you what. When you make your first million dollars, I want 10 percent, 100 thousand.” He said, “You got it.” And he reached out his hand to shake on it, but before we shook hands, I threw in this quip, which has now turned into the most serendipitous addendum to any deal I have ever made. I said, “And I want a recurring role on your sitcom.” He smiled like a sixteen-year-old kid dreaming of the big time would; and he grabbed my hand and shook it to seal the deal.
I didn’t ask for those things from Pete because I wanted something, but instead because I wanted him to believe in himself as much as I believed in him. I believed he’d make millions of dollars and do movies and sitcoms and all the rest. I was simply encouraging his road, calming any of his fears and doubts with a good, sincere word and if you would’ve seen his debut at the Gotham Comedy Club that night where he slayed so hard, the 300+ people at the sold out show rose to their feet after his set and gave him a standing ovation, then you would have been building up his confidence too.
What prompted us to put Davidson on this showcase in the first place was that Nick Cannon’s co-host Sarah Lee and I went to a comedy show in Staten Island a few months earlier and saw Pete perform before a sparse crowd. Sarah Lee who hates comedy could not stop laughing. When it came to assembling Nick Cannon’s first showcase, months later, Sarah Lee said, “You gotta get that kid.” We did. The rest as they say, is history.
Circa 2011And that’s how I got cast in Bupkis.
The first eight episodes are in the bag and now on demand on Peacock, having aired at the strangest of times on NBC, but whatever, they’ve aired, and I’m looking forward to this next season, because that’s where my character gets introduced.
Cutting Deals with A Machete
I landed a powerful agent in Hollywood in 2001, Gloria Hinojosa, who also reps Danny Trejo, yet except for some VO work and a couple of cable commercials, I wasn’t helping to fill her bank account like Trejo was, but despite what I thought was small potatoes, she has kept me on as a client through these years, so now finally I’ll be able to fill her bank account with Bupkis.
So the point of this story is this, a good deed never goes unpunished, and a simple act of believing in Pete’s talent by showcasing him on the most legit comedy stages throughout NYC; the very act that got him noticed and discovered, has not gone unpunished, but instead, because I know Pete’s word is good, I am now repaid in full.
Thank you Pete. Thank you for Bupkis.
Rob Wagman and WKKT 96.9 The Kat Morning Talent Sarah Lee pose in front of Danny Trejo Mural – Charlotte NC -
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