You may know Chuck Nice from the "Star Talk" podcast alongside astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, or maybe truTV's "The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest." Or even his hysterical standup. See "North Philly Crackhead." But I know him from his days doing karaoke at "The Bank" in Philly. I hadn't realized how many times our paths have crossed and this Tuesday night they come together when I open for Chuck Nice at the Playground Pier in Atlantic City.

When Chuck called the show Wednesday night (video above), we talked about how he got that job at "The Bank." He said, "Stephen (Starr) was actually the first guy who gave me a start in show business. He was a cool dude. I went into his office with a video camera and he looked through the viewfinder as I played back some stuff of mine, which was awful. I mean I can't tell you how bad it was, and he went, 'okay.' And that was it, that's how I got the job," Chuck laughs. "It was the most unremarkable interview ever."

I asked him about the dumbest criminals he's talked about, who they were. "Pretty much all I can say is walk out the door and take a look to the left and right, and you have the world's dumbest," he joked. "No, the show is still on. It is no longer in production which means anything that you see is a re-run, but it was a hugely popular show for truTV. What we did was basically make fun of criminals because everyone knows that when you say 'criminal mastermind,' pretty much what you're saying is 'idiot.' Its an oxymoron if you've ever heard one. So that was the whole premise on the show... It was really a lot of fun."

We also talked about the origins of the Philly Crackhead. "It's based on a true story." Having driven in North Philly, I can definitely relate.

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