NJ cruise comedian ‘In unchartered waters here’ with shutdowns

Gary Delena has been performing on cruises since 1998. The Point Pleasant comedian has worked for Carnival, NCL Holland, Disney Cruise Line, currently Princess, Crystal, and Royal Caribbean. Now he's out of work because on the Covid-19 shutdowns. But he's ok with it.

"They’re necessary," Delena told me in an email. "We’re in uncharted waters here and are grossly unprepared for the sheer speed and increasing numbers of cases. We should all just stay home and have sex."

Actually, this shutdown is costing Delena a lot of money: "I have lost contracts with three different cruise lines for the next two months. Thousands of dollars I can do nothing about. Seriously, I’m screwed."

He's not the only one:

"The entertainment industry is crippled," he said. "Not only cruises, but concerts, theaters, clubs as well as restaurants and your local pizza joint. The trickle down effect is enormous, and many service workers are totally screwed. The scary part is we don’t know how long it’s gonna last. The news changes every day, sometimes every hour. We could be in for a freewill of biblical proportions."

Let's hope not. I jokingly asked Gary why the coronavirus wouldn't last in New Jersey:

"Two words - 'Tolls and Taxes.' Even Tony Soprano couldn’t survive here. Hey, we survived Sandy. We could easily deal with some virus. Scientists would discover Snooki is the cure."

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