Let me ask you about the Reebok commercial… how did that come about?

That was kind of unusual. I got a call for a print ad actually. My agent told me to get test shots with the sumo outfit. My sister made the outfit and we took the shots down here at my studio. I went up there, and I went on location to where they were filming another commercial. And I just gave them the test shots and they just hired me on the spot for a print ad. And then they asked, “Can you breakdance?”. And I said, “Boy, my generation invented that stuff.” So, I started breakdancing in front of this video camera and then, I guess a day later, Jason called me and said that they were thinking about making another commercial and I went “wow”. And then I just showed up on a Saturday when were shooting this thing in L.A. The next thing I know they’re telling me it’s going to be a print shot and a commercial shot.

Did you know it was going to be this popular? Have people reacted to it?

Actually, believe it or not, this is amazing. I don know how people knew it was me, but the day after the commercial aired… it debuted on Survivor…

Right.

…which was a huge thing. It was on the Early Show and everything. I got 24,000 hits on my website the next morning. I got something like 2,500 e-mails. I got an e-mail from some guy in Pennsylvania who works for some Reebok place, I guess Reebok’s gotten a ton of letters. So, I’ve gotten a lot of good reaction to it.

Now, you’re a football guy. It looks as though you played in high school. Was that the goal? Is that what you wanted to do as a kid?

Actually, when I was a little kid… when I was twelve years old, I was fast. I could jump as high as most of the varsity track guys. I mean, people thought I was going to be the next Eric Dickerson when I was twelve years old. I mean, I was like a monster at that age. I was All-Conference Running Back and then highly recruited in High School. Then I was first team All-Conference in Junior College.

You worked for the Raiders, too I see. You were a cameraman?

Yeah, my sister, Roxanne, she’s the head attorney for the Oakland Raiders, and umm, I worked for them for a couple seasons doing all their in house sound boards, instant replay inside and outside the locker room. I did the same thing for the L.A. Clippers.

Was that a dream job for you?

It was at first. I went to school, I have a degree in broadcast journalism and that’s really what I wanted to do was be in sports broadcasting. At first it was and then it was just so much compromise and ethics that I just couldn’t handle.

This is called the “brilliant seque”… I want to compare football with being a stand-up comedian. Is there any difference in your approach to stand-up as opposed to football? You seem to just slice through things just like slicing through a defense. Is it the same thrill?

I’m glad you said the word “thrill”. Stand-up is the first thing that I’ve had in my life besides football that’s given me the same energy and the same thrill. The approach is frightingly similar. Winning in football is all about preparation. It’s all about game planning and preparation. Stand-up is about writing and, you know, re-writing, and getting stage time and perfecting things. Then, when you perform, you’re ready to win onstage.

Now, there is a softer side to you. I going to mention the poetry and show it’s not all rough and tough football. Deep down, are you just a pussycat? Are you just a hopeless romantic?

Yeah, I am.

Let me ask you about television. What is that you watch? What is it you like to see?

Wow, what do I like to see? Umm, I really like to watch sitcoms and some of the top hour long dramas on T.V. because, in my training, it’s so good to see the tempo of them doing their lines. So I watch a lot of sitcoms. Friends is my favorite show.

Let’s go the opposite direction here. What’s the dumbest thing on television?

The dumbest thing on TV right now, in my opinion, is this reality based TV. Not Survivor so much but some of these spy-camera-tv, oh God, I just wanna puke every time I see that.

I’m going to give you the final word. I want you to tell me about you. I want you to shamelessly promote yourself. What do you want them to know about Pat Leborio?

I believe that I’m one of the best up and coming comedians around. I’m a really hard-working guy who wants to make it in this business. I don’t really have a choice. This is what I want to do and I’m not going to stop until I get where I want to be.

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