Come to Papa

Tom Papa is one busy guy.

He's a successful stand-up comic. An actor whose filmography includes both a recurring gig on CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and co-starring in Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant!" A voice-over artist whose work includes "Bee Movie," for which he also wrote.

Most recently, Papa has added to his resume by serving as host of NBC's "The Marriage Ref."

But, this weekend, Papa returns to his stand-up roots when he visits Las Vegas for the first of four summertime dates as host of The Orleans Summer Comedy Series.

Papa is no stranger to Las Vegas. He has worked local venues that include the Comedy Stop at the Tropicana, and recently opened for pal and fellow "Marriage Ref" producer Jerry Seinfeld at Caesars Palace.

"For me, (Las Vegas) always felt like a mix of everywhere in the country," he says. "And my stuff is kind of universal. It's not like it's only going to play on the Lower East Side (of New York City)."

While here, Papa may even enjoy a temporary respite from a career that has taken a decidedly hectic turn lately.

"There's lots going on," Papa agrees, fighting a balky cell phone connection. ("The iPhone. The greatest device in the world unless you want to talk to somebody.")

Already, Papa, after catching an early morning train to New York City, had spent the morning doing press for "The Marriage Ref," and that after having spent the previous day wrapping up post-production on the season finale of the show.

He's pleased with the way the show -- which NBC last week renewed for a second season -- has been embraced by audiences.

"It's kind of interesting, the way it's been picking up slowly," he says, while, personally, "it's almost like it's the right time. I'm more prepared for it all now."

Papa had studied acting and always figured playing roles would make up a part of his career. But, he says, "the only reason I do the TV and the movies is so more people know me and so people can come and see my live shows."

"With everything else, you don't really experience a real result," Papa explains. "You do a movie and you hear people like it but you don't hear the applause, and you do a TV show and it's a hit but, other than taping night, you don't really get to feel what it means to have all these people really like it.

"But you go and do stand-up, and you're in front of a theater filled with 900 people, and you know exactly how it's going joke to joke. There's nothing more live than a stand-up act in front of real people."

In addition, "you live and die on your own in stand-up," Papa notes. He laughs. "It's like if something goes wrong in the (TV) show, 'Well, that was the editor.' "

At each of his Orleans dates -- others are scheduled for June 25 and 26, July 31 and Aug. 1, and Aug. 27 and 28 -- Papa will share the bill with fellow comedians, including Ben Bailey, host of Discovery Channel's "Cash Cab," this weekend, and Bill Burr and Greg Giraldo later on.

All just happen to be friends.

"We all started out at the same time, and everyone is now doing specials and all this other stuff," Papa says. "For me, it's just the perfect celebration."

Also upcoming for Papa is a new season of "The Marriage Ref," in which couples present gripes, grievances and annoyances to a panel of celebrity "experts." They, in turn, advise Papa who, as the title character, then decides which spouse is right and which is wrong.

It's mostly unscripted and "all riffing," says Papa, who has a chance on the show to put his comedic skills to work in a format that, he admits, viewers at first couldn't quite "get their head around."

"In the beginning, people were saying: 'What is this? Who are they to give advice?' They were taking it seriously," Papa says. "I always believed that once people understood it's a comedy show, they would be turned on by it, and it seems we've gotten to that point."

Now, fans are familiar enough with the show to ask Papa how it's affecting his own home life.

Papa jokes that, while his ostensible role on the show is ending others' arguments, "it's starting a lot of arguments for me in my marriage, everything from my wife not agreeing with some of the calls I've made to what she calls unnecessary flirting with Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart."

"To me, it's what all late night shows ought to be," Papa says. "You get cool celebrities who aren't promoting anything and are just there having a good time, being funny."

Also on Papa's to-do list is filming his third comedy special this summer. The special will be directed by Soderbergh, who "came to see me perform in New York one night and afterwards said, 'I've got to film that.' "

He laughs. "I'm like, 'All right, sure, Mr. Academy Award Winner.' "

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.