Santa Monican has dreams of making it
In addition to writing questions for his guest, Kerwin works with two-time Emmy nominee Tony Desena ( “Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson”“Sesame Street”) on skits, including his popular series “Meet Your Favorite Star,” in which he pretends to be a famous celebrity handing out autographs on the street.
Seated in Tom Hanks’ favorite cramped booth at Patrick’s Roadhouse, a sponsor of the show, Kerwin described how he grew to love late night, abandoning a potentially lucrative law career for the unpredictable and often cruel world of entertainment.
It all started with the cemetery across the street from his boyhood home in the Queens, New York suburb of Briarwood. The street Kerwin lived on was known around town as “Death Boulevard,” and not just because bodies were laid to rest next door. The street was dangerous. Many people were killed while crossing it, Kerwin said, which sort of soured any desire to want to play street hockey.
“It made me want to stay inside and watch television,” Kerwin said, as he sipped on some lemonade.“Now I’m interviewing a lot of the people I grew up with.”
Kerwin’s parents got divorced when he was young, and with a single mother preoccupied with work and keeping the house in order, Kerwin found himself watching television whenever he liked and he never seemed to miss an episode of “The Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson, who would later become one of Kerwin’s idols.
“I did his material in the third grade sometimes. I didn’t seem to go over very well, all the monologue jokes about Jimmy Carter,” Kerwin said. “It never worked. The teachers were laughing though.”
Soon, watching late night talk shows became an obsession for Kerwin. He learned that when he found himself sneaking out of his dorm room at Cornell University — where televisions were banned to help students focus — to watch his heroes of the small screen.
“It just seemed like the best job in the world,”Kerwin said of hosting a late-night gab fest. “Looking at Merv Griffin, Letterman, I was almost religious in how I studied it. It was more than just watching it. I would almost escape into it.I would just wait for these shows and loved every minute of them.”
After Cornell, Kerwin tried his luck at stand-up, becoming a regular at New York’s legendary comedy club Catch a Rising Star, where he did material alongside some of the most famous names in the business, from Jerry Seinfeld and Dennis Leary to Janeane Garofalo and Ray Romano. After awhile, Kerwin transition from jokester to emcee, warming up crowds and introducing talent.
One night, when introducing Seinfeld, Kerwin noticed the watch Seinfeld had on. It was an “enormous Rolex,” whereas Kerwin believes he was sporting a $20 Timex.
Kerwin drew attention to it, and he and Seinfeld began to riff. Eventually the two exchanged watches for the night as part of the banter. The moment got great laughs.
“That’s when I realized that I could play around with celebrities and not be fearful or intimidated of them,” Kerwin said. “I could actually have a lot of fun with them. Before that, I was intimidated by every comedian that walked out there.”
After that, Kerwin packed his bags and did what everyone does when they want to make it big in show business, he moved to Hollywood. There, he emceed at the Improv, where he began to hone his skills. A producer there suggested Kerwin become a talk show host and that’s how “The John Kerwin Show”began.
Of course, Kerwin had to start small. He couldn’t go after A-list talent, so he settled for D-listers. The idea was to invite those who did cameos and work his way up the publicist food-chain. His first guest was to be the Gimp from “Pulp Fiction,” but, in what must have been a disheartening first step, the Gimp must have still been sleeping (that’s a play on the film for those who don’t know) because he canceled.
Not one to give up easily, Kerwin improvised. He bought a volley ball and painted it to look like the character Wilson from Hanks’ “Cast Away,” where a man on a deserted island creates a best friend by decorating a volley ball that washed ashore.
Kerwin’s big break came when former “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Dallas” star Larry Hagman wanted to “warm up” on his show in advance of an appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” After that, Kerwin started to get noticed. VHI called him in for a pilot. The premise of the show was for Kerwin to interview celebrities of yesterday, including Dick Cavett, Dick Van Patten, Donny Most, Barry Williams, and Kerwin’s favorite, David Carradine.
While the pilot wasn’t picked up, Kerwin got the chance to work with quality producers and helped his stock rise in value. Now he has to keep the momentum going and see if he can land his dream job.
“I’m like a little worker ant,” he said. “All I can do is continue to write shows just like I did before the pilot and continue to make it better. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 2, 2007. Read the original PDF.