s t a g e l i f e Raynor giggles and blushes. “I think it took about a week [to clarify the relationship] — he wouldn’t ask me to be his girlfriend. I think he was trying to needle at me. He’s a teacher, so he knows how to ask leading questions.” “I choose the Socratic method in my approach to dating. Would you want to date me?” Corvino grins at Raynor. “And we were both sober at the time, so we knew it had to stick.” Though Corvino was over the moon about Raynor’s place in his life, and things were moving along with his acting career, his first passion was floundering: his stand-up comedy work. He sighs looking back on it. “I was thinking, ‘I’m struggling right now. I can’t get a laugh.’ I’m trying to figure out who I am. If I’m going to go up and bomb, then she’s going to have to learn to do this, too.” Raynor would come see him perform and be as supportive as she could, but it wasn’t enough. “I was going to have to quit soon.” Corvino explains that, in an act of desperation, he signed her up for open mic one night. “So that I would get better.” Raynor was mortified. In retaliation, she did a solid four-minute set poking fun at him. “Beth got the biggest laughs that evening,” says Corvino. “It just made my uphill battle that much worse.” Or so he thought. Until they found a groove working off each other back to
back on stage. They both spend a lot of time writing for their acts and working on it. “When I started out, I was told it would take two years to have six minutes of good material,” Corvino points out. “It’s tough, you’ve got to see what works in front of an audience.” He also points out that at open mic you might see nine comedians with cat jokes “because it’s relatable. You start with a cat idea, then eventually you find a way to bring in lasers — how much further can I take it?” Both are focused right now writing new material and tightening up what they have. The Cape Fear Comedy Festival has started accepting submissions. “It’s the World Series of comedy right now,” Corvino explains. For both, it is a good networking event to check in with other comics, see what people are working on and find out about what’s going on venue-wise in other places. The pair hopes to move to New York in the next five years, so events like this are fertile training ground for that big leap. Though both are talented, together they have something stronger than they do apart. b Gwenyfar Rohler fell in love with theater at Thalian Hall on her sixth birthday. She spends her days managing her family’s bookstore on Front Street.
When you’re looking for that perfect waterfront home, you need an agent who’s not just getting his feet wet. As a native son of the area, Broker/Realtor, Lee Crouch has been exploring the unique surroundings of Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach and the Intracoastal Waterway since childhood. For 26 years, he has put that local knowledge into listing, marketing and selling beach and waterfront properties. Lee has built his reputation on a lifetime of experience and years of customer satisfaction.
110 Skystasail Drive Walter Sprunt Home - Shandy Point - circa 1920 “Greenville Manor” $1,695,000
101 Edgewater Lane Gorgeous Home with boat slip. Edgewater $1,350,000
6400 Westport Drive Wilmington Fabulous custom traditional home Boat slip in protected marina $995,000
316 Beach Road North Figure Eight island Ocean Front, open floor plan, private lot $2,295,000
4-- +:7=+0 Lee Crouch as a young boy preparing for a sailboat race. Wrightsville Beach, circa 1968
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523 Causeway Drive, Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina 28480 www.leecrouch.com 800.533.1840 or 910.512.4533 leecrouch@intracoastalrealty.com The Art & Soul of Wilmington
Februar y 2014 •
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