Grant Baciocco Grant Baciocco is a self-confessed dork.

In some lines of work, that might be considered a handicap. For someone who patterns himself after Weird Al Yankovic and Dr. Demento, it’s an asset.

The 36-year-old Burbank resident fell in love with comedy music while listening to Dr. Demento’s long-running radio show in the 1980s. A decade later, not long after he graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a theater degree, Baciocco knew he needed to differentiate himself from the cattle call of wannabe actors lining up for auditions throughout the Southland.

“I wanted to perform right now,” Baciocco said. “I just started teaching myself songs off the Internet, and I started reworking the chords.”

The result is a 13-year standup act that will come to Conejo Valley next month when Baciocco takes the stage as one of the featured performers at “Comedy in the Conejo IV.”

The event, presented by the Kiwanis of Thousand Oaks Charitable Foundation, will be at 6 p.m. Sun., Aug. 8 at The Canyon in Agoura Hills and serves as a fundraiser for local charities.

While four other featured acts and a humorous master of ceremonies will perform traditional stand-up comedy, Baciocco will deliver his own brand of humor. Appearing under the stage name “Throwing Toasters,” Baciocco takes the mike as a one-man rock ’n’ roll band. Instead of firing off one-liners, it’s just him, his guitar and his collection of original comedy songs, with the occasionaparody thrown in for good measure.

“I kind of live in that in-between world. can call myself a musician, or I can call myself a comedian,” Baciocco said. “I’m kind of lucky to be able to walk between two worlds.”

That world included years of fine-tuning his act during “open mike” nights at small venues. In 2003 he hired a manager to oversee his affairs, and his first gig came as part of a National Football League event at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

“I always joke that I played for 50,000 people who had no idea what I was singing about,” Baciocco said.

While that professional breakthrough allowed him access to better clubs and performances on college campuses, it wasn’t until four years later that one of Baciocco’s dreams was fulfulled when he opened for Yankovic at a 2007 concert in Marysville, Calif.

“I found out three days before I was going to do it,” Baciocco said. “It came totally out of the blue. It was good because I didn’t have too much time to get nervous.

“I did 15 or 20 minutes, and as I went backstage, this trailer door opened and Weird Al gave me a thumbs-up and said, ‘Good job, Grant.’ I can just picture that moment in my mind. . . . That was really my rock ’n’ roll dream come true.”

On a smaller scale, Baciocco has always wanted to perform at The Canyon. So it was a fortunate coincidence when, at the last minute, the Comedy in the Conejo chair, Thousand Oaks resident and comedian Louis Ashamallah, had to find one more comedian to fill out the bill for the Kiwanis fundraiser.

“I needed to sort of step in and arrange one of the acts, and at that point Grant came immediately to mind,” said Ashamallah, who’d crossed paths with Baciocco on the Southern California comedy circuit. “The variety he brings to the show with his musical comedy, his energy, and he’s also very service-oriented . . . I knew he would be receptive to the idea of being part of a fundraiser to benefit the community. Not all comedians are willing to donate their time like that.”

“Louis always puts on a great show that’s class all the way,” Baciocco said. “So I don’t have any problem with saying I’ll do it.

“It’s a fantastic lineup. The only weak link is me.”

Tickets for the show are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. The doors open at 6 p.m., with a live auction at 7:15 p.m. and the show at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, log on to www.tokiwanis.org or call (805) 496-1904.