Stand-up Comedy Career
Collins' stand-up career peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he performed in most of the major comedy venues in the United States and Canada. In 1990, he won the prestigious San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition.
At the beginning of his act, he would enter in a black trench coat and order the audience to applaud the person who introduced him. Afterwards, he would pick out an audience member who failed to applaud and tell him he had to "clap alone". He later told the audience he was not a comedian, but a "psychotic who learned to market his problem." Collins' comic persona was a loud, angry, mentally unstable man who liked to intimidate the audience. This image suited him well in his many bit roles in films and television, where he often played mobsters and hit men. He was a frequent featured performer on An Evening at the Improv and Caroline's Comedy Hour.
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