INTERVIEW: Jimmy Tingle gives confession

Jimmy Tingle is all fired up. And no, it has nothing to do with the war in Iraq, the race for the White House or even Paris Hilton’s short stint in prison. For this 52-year-old political satirist and film actor, it’s the smaller things that get his Irish-Catholic blood boiling.

Tonight, it’s all about reserved parking.

"I’ve wanted to do this for three years," he says with a manic enthusiasm he usually reserves for the stage. His face lights up when he unveils a sandwich board offering parking directions to and from his Davis Square theater. "I get so excited about the silliest of things. But it drives me crazy when something needs to be improved and it’s not, for whatever reason."

Tingle, who’s hashing out a performance for the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival called "Jimmy Tingle for President," has a way of weaving comedy, politics and commentary into everything he does.

In other words, don’t be surprised if he works in his three-year quest for reserved parking into the act.

In a candid interview with Loaded Gun, the master of social and political humor weighs in the obstacles he faces as an independent theater owner, his stint with "60 Minutes II" and more important national and international issues … like his career.

Q: What’s the biggest hurdle you’ve had to overcome to keep the theater running?
TINGLE: My heroin and crack habit. (Laughs) I’m kidding. The biggest thing is learning how to be organized as a business. I can perform in my sleep. The most difficult and challenging thing is to get the business element together and tighten it up.

Q: Isn’t it difficult for someone who’s creative to run his own theater?
TINGLE: I don’t know anybody creative. (Laughs) Are you referring to me?

Q: It must be hard to do both, right?
TINGLE: I’m told it is. I would say with me, it’s definitely been a learning curve. You can have good business instincts and vision, but it’s the tediousness of the nuts and bolts that’s the hardest part for me. And yes, to answer your question, most creative people aren’t in business for themselves. But from time to time, you’ll see people who are and I happen to be one of those people.

Q: Do you try to keep your show topical—or do you refuse to chime in on events like whether or not Paris Hilton is feigning a medical condition to get out of prison?
TINGLE: I try to keep it as topical as I can but I’m more focused on politics than pop culture. Paris Hilton has enough problems. She doesn’t need me. She never sent an entire nation to war. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t recognize Paris Hilton if she walked into the theater.

Q: Do you intentionally keep away from pop culture?
TINGLE: Yeah, I kinda do. But with Paris Hilton, it’s not about the length of her prison stay but the amount of inordinate attention to things that really don’t matter at the end of the day that’s driving the media and the cultural conversation. There are so many things happening in the world that are way more significant and don’t get that kind of attention.

Q: What’s being swept under the rug?
TINGLE: On a national and international level?

Q: Yes.
TINGLE: My career. (Laughs) Forget Paris. What about Tingle Hilton? What about the Tingle Hotel right here in Davis Square. Let’s get to some serious issues.

Q: What was it like working with producer Larry Arrick?
TINGLE: It was great. It’s a lot of fun having someone who cares about the show and about you as an individual. He’s very blunt. He’s a hardcore, no nonsense kind of guy and you need that.

Q: So, what really happened at ‘60 Minutes II’—was it an amicable breakup?
TINGLE: They really loved what I did half the time. The other half, it was a struggle for my material to fit into that format and into the parameters of national television. It was a difficult transition from performing live, unedited and raw to a national audience that isn’t live. It’s hard to go from a theatrical and comedic medium to a journalistic realm. There was always that fight for me to convey the national political sentiment and not put my own personal sentiment or spin on things.

Q: Could you ever imagine that your small, non-speaking part in ‘The Boondock Saints’ would get so much attention?
TINGLE: Nobody knew it would have a cult following. People stop me on the streets and ask me about the movie all the time.

Q: Did you ever think you would play a Catholic priest on film?
TINGLE: No, but now that I’ve played a priest in the movie, I’m qualified to hear confessions. I’m also qualified to marry people.

Q: The Ding Ho in Inman Square is an important part of your career arch. Do you find that a lot of things in your life and career relate to that era?
TINGLE: Yeah, the Ding Ho was a formative period in my life. Starting the theater here, it brings me back to my roots and the excitement of starting a new room. It reminds me that these are great days we’re living in right now, with this theater. This is the beginning of something great. These are the good ol’ days we’ll look back on in the future. We’re developing something new, unique and original here and anything that falls into that category takes a lot of work. Sometimes I get discouraged and I want things to be easier. Most of the time it comes down to hard work, having the vision and finding the right people to make it a reality.

Q: If you had a motto, what would it be?
TINGLE: Like a Boy Scout, always be prepared.

Sam Baltrusis has worked for MTV, VH1, Seventeen, Newsweek and as a regional stringer for The New York Times. He's currently an online journalist with WHDH-TV, Channel 7 News in Boston.