Mo Rocca visits to add punch to 'Piece of Cake'

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Sunday, June 25, 2006
BOB CARLTON
News staff writer
Comedian Mo Rocca, all dressed up in his groomsman's tux, walked up to the bridesmaid and pulled up a chair.
'You're a knockout,' he told actress Alison Britt. 'Would a really hot chick want to dance with a dork?'
She said yes, and they hit the dance floor while the Birmingham band Silk E Smooth and a couple of dozen extras swayed to a disco beat in the background.
The bespectacled Rocca, formerly of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' and currently a correspondent on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,' is in Birmingham this weekend shooting scenes for the independent short film 'Piece of Cake.'
It's a comedy about the events leading up to and surrounding a wedding, and Rocca plays Gordon Stints, the brother of the bride. Friday, he filmed the wedding reception scene at Park Lane in Mountain Brook.
'I'm a lawyer with the social limitations that oftentimes come with being a lawyer,' Rocca said between takes. 'I know a lot of unhappy lawyers. Any story involving a lawyer with a happy ending is very special.'
Birmingham filmmaker Jennifer West, the film's writer-director, said she wanted Rocca to appear in her picture after seeing him perform earlier this year at the Alys Stephens Center.
'I've always been a fan of Mo's,' West said. 'I went to see his show to see if he would be approachable. I definitely wanted a name actor to kind of propel this for (film) festivals.'
Rocca - who's also a panelist on the National Public Radio quiz show 'Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!' - joked that he must have impressed"