Pete Barbutti (born May 4, 1934) is an American

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and musician. He made about 15 appearances on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

,'' from 1971 through 1992. In the early 1980s Barbutti also hosted a short-lived variety show called Pete's Place.

Early life

Barbutti was born in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Career

Barbutti is known for often incorporating his musicianship into his comedy routines. He plays

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

. Among his better-known routines are "Cordeen School," about an

teacher who sells a lot of accordions, but whose students never seem to learn much, "The Mustang Ranch," about legalized prostitution in Nevada, and a number of piano-based gags (such as "tuning the piano stool," and using the business-end of a plumber's helper, stuck to the side of the piano, as a cigar holder). Among his better known jokes is the story of the pig with the wooden leg. Among his better known television works are "Celebrity Microwaves" as the host, and '' The New Liars Club'' and ''The Next Line'' as a regular panelist. He performed on many talk show/variety shows in the late 1960s through 1980s, including ''

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'', '' The Alan Hamel Show'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' The Joey Bishop Show'', ''

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'', ''

The John Davidson Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', and ''

The Steve Allen Playhouse The Steve Allen Playhouse was a vaudeville and film theater in Hollywood, California. Located at 1228 North Vine Street, on the corner of La Mirada, it was originally named the La Mirada Theatre, and later the Filmarte Theatre. History The buil ...

''. In 1985, guest starred on season 6 episode 17 "solid gold" of ''

Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

'' playing Pete (a card dealer)

Notes

External links

*
Interview with Pete Barbutti on ''Talktails''
January 2012, VegasVideoNetwork.com

September 2011, ''Classic Showbiz'' blog 1934 births Living people American male comedians 21st-century American comedians People from Scranton, Pennsylvania Comedians from Pennsylvania {{US-entertainer-stub