Feature: Musical chairs

Joseph Boo

Calvin Coker is a billiards player who happens to sing. Or he could

be described as a singer who plays a mean game of billiards.

It doesn’t matter how he’s defined. For Coker, a 45-year-old resident

of Costa Mesa, the most important thing is he makes a living doing the

two things he loves most, playing billiards and singing.

“I’m kind of lucky I guess,” he said. “I get a chance to do both.”

Coker, who has performed in several musicals, is in the midst of

launching Caroling Connections, a group that sings at parties and

functions. But around Orange County, Coker’s name is synonymous with

billiards. He spends about 10 to 15 hours a week giving customers private

billiard lessons. Coker is often seen in some of the bigger pool halls in

the Orange County, such as Diamonds in Brea and the Shark Club in Costa

Mesa.

Ever since he was an 11-year-old pool whiz, Coker has built a

reputation as one of the best billiards players in the nation. He has won

countless tournaments, “a couple of hundred, at least,” Coker said. Two

moments he’s fond of includes a U.S. Open title in 1992 and the Arizona

State championship he won in college.

Two of Coker’s former pupils are now top billiards players. Robin

Dodson is one of only two players in Women’s Professional Billiards

Association history to win consecutive World Championships. Darlene

Stinson is currently ranked No. 26 on the WPBA circuit.

Coker still enters a tournament here and there and expects to

participate in six this year. But most of his time in billiards is

devoted to teaching and running a league at the Q. Club in Costa Mesa.

Coker’s clients include a lot of women and people in wheelchairs.

“I really enjoy watching people improve,” Coker said.

Coker picked up his first billiards cue when he was 11 years old from his father, who was “a real good player,” according to Coker. He also

entered his first tournament that year and finished second.

“I won three dollars for finishing second,” Coker said. “Those three

dollars are mounted on a wall at my mother’s house.”

Ever since he found himself three dollars richer, Coker played in tons

of tournaments and frequented many pool halls. Except for his stint at

Arizona State University, Coker resided in Southern California, settling

in Costa Mesa for the last 20 years. He didn’t immerse himself into the

seedy atmosphere made famous by 1961’s “The Hustler” with Paul Newman and

George C. Scott.

Instead, he frequented pool halls owned by another Hollywood figure,

Doris Day. One of them was the Garden Grove Billiards Club, close to

where Coker grew up. Like the wholesome leading lady of the ‘60s, her

billiards clubs were nice places, but that’s not to say that Coker stayed

completely out of the tank with the pool sharks.

“I went to a couple of the seedier places to go against some of the

better players,” Coker said. “But I can’t say too much about that.”

“I can safely say that I saw some games for $20,000 and up at Las

Vegas with some very powerful people. But that’s all I want to say. I

don’t want to end up at the bottom of Lake Mead,” Coker said with a

laugh.

Ironically, while “The Hustler” made thumb-breaking thugs and smoky

underground parlors synonymous with billiards, it was its 1986 sequel,

“The Color of Money” with Newman and Tom Cruise, which brought billiards

into the mainstream.

“After ‘The Color of Money’ came out, there was a resurgence in

billiards,” Coker said. “A lot of upscale places opened up. A lot of

people who never played billiards before came in. And that drove the

seedier elements away.”

Ever since “The Color of Money,” Coker’s 20-year investment in the

teaching business has grown.

He also saw an increasing demand for his skills with trick shots. That

has led Coker to several high-profile gigs. He performed at Arnold

Schwarzenegger’s 50th birthday party and did the tricks in Budweiser’s

“Ladies Night” commercial and an upcoming Playboy Playmate video with

Miss September.

But Coker’s favorite performances are not in a billiards hall, but in

a concert hall. He has pursued his passion for singing as fervently as

billiards, with Caroling Connections soon to be launched.

Coker picked up singing before billiards. He started when he was 4

years old. He attended college at Arizona State, Redlands and Citrus

College on a music scholarship.

Coker has appeared in some musicals, including “Forever Plaid” at the

Pacific Coast Theater and “Jubilee” at Las Vegas. He then brought his

musical experience to teaching and currently teaches an acting class,

auditioning techniques, at Golden West College.

“I love them both equally,” Coker said. “If I had to give one up, I

would miss one just as much as the other.”

With acting and billiards classes to teach, leagues to run and

Caroling Connections starting up, Coker continues to enjoy doing what he

loves most, playing billiards and singing.

“I got to say I’m pretty lucky,” Coker said. “I’m pretty lucky that I

can play billiards and have music to fall back on.”