I ENTERTAINMENT I
I
Dennis Wolfberg: I'm just a sweet little fellow.
Just Joking
Comedian Dennis Wolfberg hopes
to take his act from the stage to
the big screen
LILA ORBACH
Special to The Jewish News
I t's not what he says, it's how he
says it.
It's the way his eyes bulge,
his cheeks puff and his tongue
rattles as he prances across the
stage telling stories that turn his au-
dience upside down.
Fresh from appearances on the
Carson and Letterman shows, Dennis
Wolfberg made a brief stop in Ann Ar-
bor last month, bulging his eyes for
five sold-out shows at the Main Street
Comedy Showcase, including a benefit
FRIDAY._ DECEMBER 4.1987
I
GOING PLACES
that's so funny, so earth-shattering, so
rib-cracking? No, it's not that his
jokes are so funny, it's that he is so
funny. A normally amiable and good-
WEEK OF DEC. 4-10
looking man, put him on stage and
he's pathetic, hysterical, a mieskeit
and adorable at the same time.
MUSIC
And it's not that his upbringing
MICHIGAN OPERA
was so outlandish, but he is able to
THEATRE
twist it or flavor it just enough to
Fisher Theatre, Detroit, Kismet,
bring the house down.
8 p.m. now through Sunday,
Born and raised in Forest Hills, N.
admission, 874-SING.
Y., Wolfberg's parents owned a liquor
POWER SERIES
store and later a duty-free shop on the
University
of Michigan, Power
Canadian border. "My parents were
Center, Ann Arbor, The Skin Of
right out of a Jewish text book," he
Our Teeth, 8 p.m. today and
beamed. "They raised me with all the
Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday,
accoutrements of American Jewish
admission, 764-0450.
heritage from bagels and lox every
BRUNCH
WITH BACH
Sunday to plastic vinyl slip covers on
Detroit Institute of Arts,
the furniture."
recorder music, 10 and 11:30
Wolfberg proudly describes his
a.m. Sunday, admission,
mother as "The greatest consumer in
832-2730.
the history of consumerism!'
DETROIT CIVIC
He says his parents raised his
ORCHESTRA
Reform, "so Reform," he jokes, "our
Orchestra Hall, concert, 8 p.m.
synagogue was called 'Jews 'R.' Us"'.
today, free, 559-1987.
Not a memory from Wolfberg's
FOLKTOWN COFFEEHOUSE
childhood is without some sort of pun-
Southfield Civic Center, 26000
chline. "I never played football in high
Evergreen, Parks and Recreation
school. I'm Jewish and Jews don't play
building, The Chenille Sisters, 8
p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday,
with pig skin!'
admission, 855-9848.
After high school, Wolfberg went
on to Queens College ("a school which
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
academically ranks up there with
GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
bartender school") where he began
SOCIETY
Michigan League Building, Lydia
pre-med. But he flunked organic
Mendelssohn Theatre, Ann
chemistry . . . twice. ("A stroke of con-
Arbor, Patience, 8 p.m. Thursday
sistency if not brilliance!') The last
through Dec. 13, admission,
time he took an organic chemistry
763-1085.
final he received a 15 percent — and
FARMINGTON COMMUNITY
that was after cheating. "My luck!"
CENTER
he laments. "I got stuck next to a
24705 Farmington Rd.,
dumbbell and I can't become a doctor
Renaisance Woodwind Quartet,
because he didn't study. What an in-
7:30 p.m. Sunday, admission,
justice!'
477-8404.
Thinking that medicine might
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL
not suit him, Wolfberg switched to
SOCIETY
psychology. He received a master's
University of Michigan, Hill
degree after completion of his thesis
Auditorium, Ann Arbor, The
entitled, "Pavlov: A Name That Rings
Swingle Singers, 8 p.m.
a Bell!' Then he spent the next 12
Thursday, admission, 764-2538.
years teaching in the South Bronx,
AMERICAN ARTIST SERIES
("an area that socio-economically
Kingswood Cranbrook
ranks under Calcutta!')
auditorium, 500 Lone Pine Rd.,
A large portion of Wolfberg's
Bloomfield Hills, Chamber
routine is dedicated to his time in the
Players, 3 p.m. Sunday,
Bronx public school system, a time
admission, 851-5044.
which he continues to talk about but
MEADOW BROOK ESTATE
Varner Recital Hall, Oakland
performance for the Hillel foundation would never go back to.
Unversity, Rochester, commercial
By age 30, he was looking for a
at the University of Michigan.
music ensemble, 8 p.m. today
new
career
but
unable
to
get
into
a
Actually, his sell-out here came as
and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday,
little surprise to anyone. Wolfberg and Ph.D. program, he decided on a fling
admission, 370-3013.
with
comedy.
His
first
performance
his facial contortions have become one
SOUTHFIELD SYMPHONY
was
at
Catch
a
Rising
Star
in
of the hottest items on the national
Southfield-Lathrup High School,
Manhattan.
("I
bombed.
It
was
a
comedy circuit, appearing on cable
19301 W. 12 Mile, concert, 8 p.m.
comedy specials both here and bomb that would have made
today,
admission, 535-6928.
Hiroshima proud!')
abroad.
Discouraged,
Wolfberg
decided
to
In England, where Wolfberg has
CHILDREN
appeared on TV but not in person, try music, playing guitar and singing
he's become a comic cult figure. In pop tunes, telling jokes in between
PEANUT BUTTER
local clubs in Detroit and Ann Arbor, songs. Little by little, his jokes
PLAYERS
became
more
popular
than
his
music
the New York native is consistantly
Continued on Page 79
and
the
audience
couldn't
get
enough.
billed as the most popular attraction.
But what is it about this guy Before long, Wolfberg dumped his