Joe was born in Chicago and raised in Virginia Beach. He graduated from Norfolk State University with a B.A. Degree in Sociology. Joe moved to Washington DC and started working as a case worker in a halfway house and later as a probation counselor. While working there Joe would perform stand up comedy at the Comedy Cafe. One of Joe’s fellow comedians was a young Dave Chappelle. Joe moved to the New York area to pursue comedy fulltime. Shortly after moving there, he was booked to do Showtime at the Apollo. I was scared to death because the Apollo was a rough audience and you better entertain them. Sinbad introduced me and then it was on. I went out there and tore the Apollo up! After that, I appeared on a lot of other shows and toured up and down the east coast.
Dave (Chappelle) and I would sit in the back of the club waiting to do our five minutes. Sometimes I would give Dave a ride home and we would talk about how our shows went. ~ Joe Recca
I was scared to death because the Apollo was a rough audience and you better entertain them. Sinbad introduced me and then it was on. I went out there and tore the Apollo up! ~ Joe Recca