CWNews
Two Guys Smokeshop in the Globe
July 1, 2008 Tuesday
THIRD EDITION
NAMES
BYLINE: By Paysha Rhone and Mark Shanahan
SECTION: LIVINGARTS; Pg. B8
LENGTH: 1776 words
It's a guys thing
In 2006, two guys came together to create "The Guy From Boston," a trash-talking, cigar-waving uber-Bostonian who promoted cigars
for the one guy's shop (David Garofalo owns Two Guys Smoke Shop in
Salem, N.H.) and gave local rant-aholic Joe Ligotti an outlet for his
outrageous spewings. Fast-forward two years: Ligotti's a local celeb, a
regular on Fox 25 who's appeared on "The Tonight Show," and Garofalo,
who says he didn't want to pay Ligotti's manager, is out. Now a New
Hampshire federal court judge has ruled that only Ligotti can use "The
Guy From Boston" name, although Garofalo can keep his website,
theguyfromboston.com. A "disappointed" Garofalo said he simply hired
Ligotti to play a role, and that he should be allowed to use his
creation to promote his 23-year-old cigar shop. Garofalo said he probably won't fight the judge's preliminary injunction, but he might create a new cigar-puffing dude to push his smokes.
Two Guys Smoke Shop, Salem, NH
"I'm a guy who sells cigars," he sighed. "You have to be a lawyer to figure this all out. I don't like the way it ended, but it was fun while it lasted." Ligotti couldn't be reached yesterday, but in a statement his manager Frederick J. Balboni said Ligotti is The Guy From Boston: "Make no mistake about it, Joe Ligotti is no actor." And now, in a case of dueling websites, Ligotti can be found at theguyfromboston.net.