ENTERTAINMENT

But Seriously Folks..,

Comedian Jackie Gayle has come
up through the comedy ranks and
is trying his hand in film

RITA CHARLESTON

Special to The Jewish News

V

eteran performer Jackie
Gayle takes center stage
at the Atlantis Casino
Hotel in Atlantic City
and proceeds to poke fun
at his audience.
"I don't understand gamblers," he
begins. "A guy will play with $10,000
at a blackjack table and then wait for
hours in the $2 buffet line. And I
know one guy who said that gambling
actually brought his family closer
together. He lost the house and now
they all live in one room!"
These lines may work well in an
Atlantic City room filled with would-

be gamblers. But they might not work
as well somewhere else. That's why
Gayle insists that in order to be fun-
ny a comedian has to know his au-
dience. "The idea is to entertain
them, to know what will make them
laugh. But you also have to be aware
of what will offend them. You have to
know just how far you can go with any
given audience."
For example, Gayle continues,
"when I play for the condominium
crowd in Florida, Raunchy langauge
is definitely out. What's in are stories
about Russia and the Jews. In my act
there I thank the Cossacks. I say we
owe them everything. If those
Cossacks hadn't kicked my grand-
father out, I wouldn't be here today.

I'd be in Russia somewhere freezing,
trying to explain to them what I do
for a living?'
Gayle might have had a hard time
explaining stand-up comedy. But
anyone who has seen last year's
smash hit, Tin Men, would require no
further explanations.
Tin Men is a comedy about
aluminum-siding salesmen. And
though the film starred top-rank ac-
tors Danny DeVito and Richard
Dreyfuss, it was Gayle who stole the
show.
Playing DeVito's partner, wearing
a panama hat and obsessed with
Bonanza ("How does a 50-year-old
father have three 47-year-old sons?"),
it was Gayle who became the critics'
favorite.
"Working with Barry Levinson
(who wrote the script) had special
meaning to the whole cast," Gayle
says. "Richard, Danny — we were all
excited when we read the script. We
knew we were all going to be in
something special. We agreed it was
the greatest comedy script we'd every
read?'
Gayle believes another reason the
movie had such tremendous accep-
tance was the fact that "people were
laughing at everyday situations
blown way out of proportion so they
became funny — very, very funny."
Jackie Gayle is no stranger to
film-making, and for that matter, no
stranger to struggling to make it in
show business. Although he appeared
in other films like Tempest and
Broadway Danny Rose, ran the gamut
of TV talk shows, did TV specials and
so on, it is his latest venture that has
finally made his star shine.
Born Jack Potovsky in the Flat-
bush section of Brooklyn 57 years ago,
Gayle says he learned about humor
early. "We were one of those families
who were always starving but always
laughing."
He lost his mother when he was
very young, and his father, a
milkman, never forced any particular
career choices on him. "I always had
my dad's support no matter what I
wanted to do — when I first decided
to be a drummer and later on when
I decided to move into comedy. My
father was never one of those you're-
going-to-be-a-doctor type fathers, so I
had no problem with him that way at
all. He didn't care what I did as long
as what I did made me happy. In fact,
when I went into comedy, he laughed
harder than anybody else."
When Gayle was growing up he
says he'd haunt the local theaters and
see the old comics playing out the
string in vaudeville houses. "Willie
Howard was hilarious — very hip,
very ahead of his time. I also loved
Pigmeat' Markham and 'Tommy
`Moe' Raft. Of the radio comedians,
Fred Allen was my favorite. He came
up with lines so great that comics are

GOING PLACES

WEEK OF JAN. 22-28

COMEDY

DUFFY'S ON THE LAKE
3133 Union Lake Rd., Union
Lake, Bob Posch and John
Cionca, throughout January,
9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, admission,
reservations, 363-9469.
ROOM COMEDY CLUB
Holly Hotel, Holly, Tim
Butterfield, David Price, Friday
and Saturday, Mark Hamilton,
Steve Iott, Craig Mc Cart,
Thursday through Jan. 30,
admission, 634-5208.
COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley, Shirley
Hemphill, Saturday, Bobby
Slatyon, Tuesday through
Jan.30, admission, 542-9900.

THEATER

VILLAGE PLAYERS
Village Players Playhouse,
Birmingham, Picnic today
through Jan. 30, admission,
644-2075.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
Hilberry Theater, Detroit, Mame
8 p.m. today, Thursday, Jan.30,
admission, 557-2972.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
Hilberry Theater, Detroit,
Tartuffe Wednesday through Feb.
25, admission, 557-2972.
ATTIC THEATER
Attic Theater, Detroit, Tamer of
Horses now through Feb. 14
admission, 875-8284.
MEADOW BROOK THEATER
Oakland University, Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof Thursday through
Feb. 21, admission, 377-3300.
RIDGEDALE PLAYERS
Crimes of the Heart now through
Sunday, admission, 644-8328.
THE AVON PLAYERS
Avon Playhouse, 1185
Washington Rd. Rochester Hills,
Night Must Fall 8 p.m. (except
Sundays 7:30 p.m.) now through
Jan. 30, admission, 656-1130.
BIRMINGHAM THEATRE
211 S. Woodward, Promises,
Promises, now through Jan. 31,
admission. 644-3533.
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE
Oakland University Rochester,
Educating Rita, 8 p.m. now
through Sunday, admission.
377-3300.
GREAT LAKES DINNER
PLAYHOUSE
31 N. Walnut, Mt. Clemens,
Showboat, now through Jan. 30,
admission, 463-0340.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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