Bizarre Pro-Wrestling Story from Comedian Jim Florentine’s New Show

Credit: Mike Johnson and PWInsider

– Last night here in NYC, I caught a performance of comedian Jim Florentine (Crank Yankers, That Metal Show) in “I’m Your Savior”, a new one man show he is developing to eventually take on the road and perform as a potential cable television special.

During the performance, Florentine goes into a bit telling a true story of a pro wrestling fan he befriends while growing up going to WWF shows that would shoot photos from the front row. The photographer would offer photos in exchange for hugs, Florentine sitting on his lap, etc.

Obviously, the photographer (who’s now a registered sex offender and incarcerated) was preying on Florentine, who would tell the story and whip out punchlines like, “But how cool was it to get….” and then have a photo of a different wrestler from that era pop up on the screen behind him, including shots of Ernie Ladd, Bruno Sammartino, Fred Blassie and both Stan Stasiak and Ivan Koloff as WWWF champions.

I won’t spoil the whole bit, but in recounting a story about how he was lured from his seats far back at the Asbury Park Convention Hall to the front row by the photographer, Florentine then pops up a photo from a TNA show at the venue from a year or so back and mocks himself, noting, “It’s not that far from where I was sitting. What was I thinking?”

The entire bit climaxes with the story of what happened when the photographer visited Florentine at home.

During a post-show Q&A, Florentine noted that all the photos he used in the production were actually given to him by that photographer and that his favorite wrestler as a kid was Ernie Ladd. He also noted that a shot of the man who preyed on him used in the show was a legitimate one taken from a sex offenders website and that after telling the story on the radio (I believe Howard Stern), he’s heard from lots of others who were also preyed upon by the man.

The show is being performed next weekend at the Producers Club in New York City. Florentine hopes to eventually develop the show into a HBO special.