# Comedian John Caponera joins host Rich Stein

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/catching-up-with-comedians-7071369/comedian-john-caponera-joins-host-rich-stein
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/catching-up-with-comedians-7071369/comedian-john-caponera-joins-host-rich-stein.md
Podcast: [Catching Up With Comedians](https://stenobird.com/podcast/catching-up-with-comedians-7071369)
Published: 2025-10-12T23:06:36+00:00
Episode link: https://richscomedy.podbean.com/e/comedian-john-caponera-joins-host-rich-stein/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/779jxzdzryt6836f/ep45_John_Caponera8551o.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/catching-up-with-comedians-7071369/episodes/comedian-john-caponera-joins-host-rich-stein
Duration seconds: 3792

## Resource

John Caponera grew up in a large family on the south side of Chicago. The family home sat just across the street from a large park which became a playground for him and his friends. No matter what season, they played baseball in the warm months and when the pond froze over in winter they played hockey and fit in every other sport in between.John went to college wanting only to play baseball but he felt he wasn’t getting enough playing time so he took his English Professor's request and auditioned for a main stage production of “ One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”He not only was cast but he was bitten by the acting bug.He would act in all the MainStage theater productions until his graduation. When he couldn’t afford to move to New York where he could study acting at the level he wanted to, he moved back to his hometown and started tending bar.Once again providence kicked in and he was coaxed by friends to enter a comedy contest for $500 prize money. He won first place and took the laughs and the cash!His final exam in acting was to perform a ten minute comedy act and he had not only gotten an A+ and the reward of honest laughter and applause from his teammates but an additional spark went off in his head that he was getting laughs and encouragement from classmates and teachers who are not always an ideal audience and will be the first ones to tell you if you are barking up the wrong tree. John's journey from this point parallels what every person who ever decides to do stand up for a living should and must do! Get stage time as much as possible even 4-5 sets a night which is why the early stand ups from cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco and others got better faster because in their formative years they are going up five times a night to different crowds and gr…

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