Al Ducharme, Cranston native and proud Falcon (Class of 1981), had the honor of being only the 10th inductee into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame on July 23 at the Comedy Park in Cranston.

Ducharme is only the second Cranston native to receive the honor alongside John Perrotta.

Rhode Island comedy icon, Charlie Hall, who is also Ducharme’s friend and mentor, acted as Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

“Al is a great guy. I’ve known him since his very first time on stage. I am very proud of the comedian he has become,” said Hall before the ceremony.

Hall performed, Ducharme’s wife comedian Bernadette Pauley and Ducharme all took to the stage to entertain the packed room.

The Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame is the brainchild of “Rockin” Joe Hebert.

“I was lying in bed, watching TV, many years ago, and a commercial for the Emmy awards came on. And, I thought to myself, why aren’t there any kind of award ceremonies for local comics, that have contributed to the state they live in? And I decided to change it,” Hebert said, telling the crowd the history behind the Hall of Fame.

“I got right on the phone to my friend Frank O’Donnell, and I said ‘let’s do something’, and we kind of fleshed it out on the phone. And, decided the first inductee had to be Charlie Hall,” he said.

Hall was inducted on March 31, 2012.

“Now, if you ask, ‘why Al Ducharrme?’ you just saw why,” Hebert said to the crowd after Ducharme blew the room away with his comedy and impressions.

Hebert went on to tell about the beginning of his comedy career.

“I started in June of 1985. Al was one of the first comedians I ever met. There weren’t a lot of Rhode Island comics around at the time, not professionals anyway. So, you would have guys come in from Boston and New York. Al was like the real first professional comic, cause he was doing it since high school,” Hebert said.

Other Hall of Fame inductee, Ace Aceto gave his respect and kudos to Ducharme.

“Like Joe, I started at Periwinkle’s in 1989. The first time I walked on stage, I saw guys like Al Ducharme, Joe Rogan, Greg Fitzsimmons (other inductee), Tom Cotter. They were the upperclassmen to guys like me. They set the bar for what we wanted to be. I couldn’t think of a huger honor than to be here tonight to induct Al into the Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame,” said Aceto.

At the close of the ceremony, Hall presented Ducharme with his official induction caricature that will hang proudly with the other nine inductees.

For more information about the RI Comedy Hall of Fame, go to RICHOF.ORG, and for details about The Comedy Park, go to TheComedyPark.com.