When you turn on a Martin Scorsese movie featuring Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent, one thing is guaranteed: There’s gonna be some kind of physical altercation involving their characters eventually. From Raging Bull to Casino, the pair just can’t seem to keep from butting heads with each other while the cameras are rolling. One of their more unforgettable encounters, of course, came during the classic “shinebox” scene from 1990’s Goodfellas. Familiarize yourself with it below, if you must.
These guys have such great chemistry as adversaries that you can’t help believing they really do dislike each other. However, the fact of the matter is, Pesci and Vincent were good friends in real life and got their start in entertainment together. In 1969, Vincent had his own jazz band, Frank Vincent and the Aristocrats, but was in desperate need of a pianist. Pesci answered the call, though his involvement didn’t do much to raise the group’s profile.
Shortly after linking up, the two formed a comedy team called Vincent and Pesci, described as a combination of Abbott and Costello and Don Rickles. “I would abuse the audience,” Vincent told The New York Times in 1996. “And Joe would abuse me.” Vincent played the role of the straight man in their sketches, while Pesci would serve as the “nuisance” of the act.
They quickly worked their way up from performing in tiny nightclubs to headlining in 400-seat theaters. Vincent and Pesci spent six years on the road, developing what was said to have been a love-hate relationship with one another. And while they never hit it big as comedians, they did release a comedy song called “Can You Fix the Way I Talk for Christmas” in 1972:
The duo decided to call it quits in 1975, but when Pesci was cast in The Death Collector the following year, he recommended his former partner for a role. It would be the first of several films in which Pesci and Vincent would appear together.
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