It was probably inevitable that Tumua Tuinei would play football. His father, Tom Tuinei, and uncles, Van and Mark, all played in the NFL — Mark Tuinei played 15 seasons with Dallas Cowboys and helped them win three Super Bowls.

Tuinei played football for Punahou School and then at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He graduated in December with a degree in communicology and a minor in theater.

It was while he was at UH that Tuinei took a theater class and discovered he enjoyed doing stand-up comedy. Performing for the class led to a public performance at a local bar, a meeting with comedian/promoter Jose Dynamite and working around town with Dynamite, Augie T. and Andy Bumatai.

Last weekend, Tuinei, 23, distinguished himself as one of Pauly Shore’s warm-up acts at the Blue Note Hawaii. His animated delivery of a character sketch built around the pidgin terms “can,” “no can” and “da kine” connected with visitors as well as residents. So did his stories about being about a foot shorter than his loving-but-strict, NFL-veteran father.

When did you start playing football?

Ever since I was small. My uncle (Mark) went to Punahou which is why I went to Punahou. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and be just like him, so football was always pushing me from a young age. Unfortunately I never got the size of my uncle and my dad — they’re both 6-foot-5 giants — but football was always in the family and I always loved playing it.

What are your plans now that you have your degree and aren’t playing football?

I want to be an actor, or maybe a television news anchor. But when I picked up stand-up comedy at UH, a whole new career opened up for me that I never even imagined.

Taking something from what you said onstage at the Blue Note, do you really say to your father, “When you gon’ learn?” after you help him with his cellphone?

Yes, sometimes, in a respectful way, because he used to say that to me when I was growing up, but my dad is a funny man too. I think that’s where I get my comedy from. He’s a hard guy to make laugh, so I usually try to pitch some jokes to him before I try them onstage. If I can make him laugh I can make anybody in Hawaii laugh.

What is something about you that might surprise people?

The tattoo on my arm is a Samoan design and on the inside (of my arm) I have “III” because I’m the third Tumua in the family. My grandpa and my dad have the same name as me — but they call my dad Tom. The tattoo on my calf, I got it tapped — they call it “tatau” — a traditional Samoan tattoo. I got that one in honor of my grandpa — he passed away my freshman year of high school. He was a pure Samoan guy from Samoa, spoke fluent Samoan, and so I wanted some of the traditional culture of tattooing in honor of him.

You’ve played the Blue Note a couple of times, and you’ve played off-island. What’s your next big project?

Last night I headlined a show at Honey’s restaurant. I had it filmed and want to submit it to the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for Comedy Album of the Year. It’ll be my first (recording). I’ve been performing a lot and I want to have something polished up and nice for family and friends.

What would you like to be doing 10 years from now?

Hopefully within 10 years I’ll headline the Blaisdell one time for the people of Hawaii.