Come To (Tom) Papa: Comedian Headlines Homes With Hope Benefit

Come To (Tom) Papa: Comedian Headlines Homes With Hope Benefit

Tom Papa’s debut as a comedian was at a small New York club. There were 10 people in the 5 p.m. audience. Five were his friends. He told a few jokes he’d written. The tiny crowd laughed. Papa was filled with intensity and excitement. He said to himself, “I belong here!” Recently, he sold out the historic Beacon Theater. “It was not lost on me that it took 30 years to go 5 blocks, from that first set to the Beacon,” he says. Next month, Papa — wh…