WHAT: Nick Di Paolo

WHEN: July 30-Aug. 1

WHERE: Skyline Comedy Café, Appleton

INFO: nickdip.com, skylinecomedy.com

Take, for example, comedian Nick Di Paolo, who returns to Skyline Comedy Café July 30-Aug. 1 after an absence so long he can’t remember how long it’s been.

“I have a soft spot for Skyline,” he said recently by telephone from his home in New York City. “I’m from Boston originally and I’m a big Red Sox fan. I don’t know if you’re aware of it. David ‘Big Poppy’ Ortiz met his wife at Skyline. He was playing for a triple A team for the Twins and they were playing somewhere in the area and he met his wife at the Skyline Comedy Cafe.”

Who but a Red Sox fan would know that?

While he doesn’t recall when he was last at the Skyline, Di Paolo remembers it was cold.

“At least this time it’s going to be July,” he said. “I’ve probably been there four times. It’s never been above 11 degrees. I look forward to being there when it’s above 11 degrees. Might even wander outside of the hotel without losing a finger.”

Recognizing the tough economic times, Skyline announced this spring that the unemployed and military members could attend shows Wednesday through Friday for free through the summer, which makes you wonder if comedy is taking a hit during the economic downturn?

“Not yet. Not that I can see,” Di Paolo said. “I’ve always heard there are a couple of businesses that are recession-proof. One is La Cosa Nostra and the other is live forms of nightclub entertainment. Nowadays, a lot of comedy clubs paper the room, as they say, give away tickets and make money on the booze, so it’s hard to get a barometer. But the places I’ve been at have been pretty full.”

And then he adds a line that he realizes puts him in the minority in show biz: “If people are hurting economically and need a laugh, they should just stay home and watch the Obama speech.”

Nick Di Paolo is proud to be a conservative comedian. “I’m an oddity in the business, to be right of center. I don’t try to hide that,” he said.

In fact, it’s gotten him some face time on TV. He’s appeared on several national news programs to comment on the paucity of jokes about the Obama Administration by the nation’s comedians. Just last month he appeared on a morning Fox show to comment on the David Letterman joke that referenced Alex Rodriguez and Sarah Palin’s daughter and the media-fueled furor that surrounded it.

“Here’s this quote, unquote controversy about Letterman making fun of Sarah Palin. They want to know my view on all that,” he said. “I just said, you know, as a comic there is no line. I think you should be able to make fun of anyone or anything. That’s how I live my life. But I’d like to see a little more balance on Letterman’s part. I want to see him go after Michelle Obama. It seems like he attacks conservative women, which is kind of an easy target, you know.”

But Di Paola also realizes that being a conservative in a business traditionally known for its liberal leanings has probably hampered his career.

“The problem with show business is that it’s run by people who lean left. I’ve been doing it 20 years. It’s not a myth,” he said. “I still believe the majority of people believe like I do. Most of them in the middle of the country believe as I do, and I’m hoping they’ll be there for me when everybody else turns their back. It’s a risk that I’m willing to take. It’s kind of fun to go against the grain.”

And going against the grain in this instance means venturing into comedic territory that others are tiptoeing around.

“In my opinion standup comedy should not be adulterated,” he said. “That’s the problem to me today doing standup comedy, you don’t see enough people trying to do socially relevant bits. We’ve got two wars going on and we’re on the verge of depression in this country. You can stick your head into a comedy club and nobody’s talking about it, which to me is kind of sad. I still take it as an art form. I like to be socially relevant. To me, that’s what separates a good comic from an interchangeable one.”

Check him out and his latest CD, Funny How, at nickdip.com.

If you’re a fan of Comedy Central, you’ve probably caught Di Paolo’s politically incorrect comedy when he was a regular guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (2004-04) or one of the various roasts he’s been part of over the years. The most recent was a roast of Larry the Cable Guy, in which Di Paola was introduced by Lisa Lampanelli as the “guinea grease ball,” and he proceeded to roast everyone in the house, including the audience.

“I lashed out at the liberal audience, which, again, probably doesn’t help,” he said.

Di Paolo has also become an audience favorite on Tru TV’s The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest, where comedians and celebrities with questionable pasts (Tonya Hardin, Todd Bridges) comment on videotapes of people doing stupid things in various circumstances. Di Paolo’s one liners are often the smartest and funniest.

“I keep hearing that. I’ve been getting e-mails on Facebook saying they love me on that show. I’m like, how the hell? I’m only on for a split second,” he said. “But you know what, I have so much fun doing that show. You go in this room with no ventilation. It must cost them 10 cents to make this show, but it gets huge ratings. They send you a couple clips a couple days before on DVD. I watch them at home. Then you sit in a chair the next day and there’s this person interviewing you going, ‘How about this guy that broke into the Sunoco station?’ And you just kind of say stuff off the top of your head. I riff. Believe me, you’re not seeing the funniest stuff either. I’m saying stuff that if it ever leaks out, I’m finished, but the people in the room, the cameraman, the sound guy and makeup woman, they’re on the floor crying. And I say, please, folks, if you ever release this stuff, I’m finished. I really have a good time doing it. Apparently it shows on the end product because I do get a lot of compliments.”