Comedy for a Cause

VH1 star Bobby Collins cuts up in downtown Hollywood to benefit at-risk youth

By Lee Molloy

Bobby Collins

Bobby Collins, the former host of VH1’s Stand-Up Spotlight, will perform two shows next week as part of the Downtown Comedy Fest in Hollywood.

The first show will be a charity event for STAR (Supporters to Aid Runaways), with the proceeds going to Covenant House in Fort Lauderdale, an organization that helps homeless and at-risk youth.

The STAR show and the Downtown Comedy Fest are both the brainchildren of local funnyman Randy Singer, who was himself a homeless teenager. “At 17 years old, I was living on a park bench,” he recalls. And it took several years of struggling against substance abuse to get his life back together.

Singer started out by “selling used cars out of my driveway,” followed by “purchasing all the real estate around my business” and going into real estate full-time. Then, after years of growing the business, he decided, at age 43, to join Toastmasters International to overcome his fear of speaking in public. It was a fellow Toastmaster member who told him, “You’re really funny and should go onstage.” And Singer did just that, even though he says, “I never saw myself as a funny person.” Now he uses his business skills to host, organize and markets events — and, perhaps, a new career. “I’m leaning towards doing this as a business; the real estate market is kinda slow,” he says.

Singer became friendly with Bobby Collins while working briefly as his driver. “During the time I spent with him, taking him from radio station to radio station, we became friends,” he says. “I asked him to do a fundraiser, and we started booking other shows.”

Collins also has a desire to give back, since his own life is defined, in part, by a daughter with special needs “When God gives you an angel with a clipped wing, it’s pretty much an honor,” he says. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the heart. If your heart’s in the right place, your wallet is full.”

But this is about the funny.

Collins was born to be a comedian. He remembers asking his mother as she cut up french fries, “Why Bobby?” And her reply was simple: “Your father liked Bob Hope.” On growing up in Queens, N.Y., he says, “We were so poor that other people used to come over to feel better about themselves.” By the time he was 26, Collins was already a vice president at Calvin Klein, but a trip to a comedy club changed all that, as he soon found himself onstage at New York’s legendary comedy venue Catch A Rising Star. Six weeks later, he quit Calvin Klein to become a full-time comedian. “This is what I have to do in life,” he remembers thinking. “This is my need. I need to do this.”

And 27 years later, he still does.

Bobby Collins will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, July 11, at the Hollywood Central Performing Arts Center, 1770 Monroe St., Hollywood, for the STAR Comedy Night and at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 12, for the Downtown Comedy Fest. For more information, visit www.lowbrowentertainmentco.com. Tickets are available at www.lowbrowtickets.com or by calling 954-241-0131.