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ENTERTAINMENT

BIG

I GOING PLACES

I

WEEK OF SEPT. 9 15

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SPECIAL EVENTS

RENAISSANCE FESTIVA
Hollygrove, Holly, 10 a.m. to 7
p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and
Labor Day through Sept. 25, 150
entertainers on four stages,
admission.
STAR TREK FEST
University of Michigan-
Dearborn, 138 C.A.B.
Auditorium, two-hour show
featuring film clips and bloopers,
today and Saturday, admission.
593-5000.
ART IN THE PARK
Shain Park, Birmingham, 152
artists, food booths,
entertainment, Saturday and
Sunday. 645-1173.
FASHION SHOW
Don Thomas Sporthaus,
Bloomfield Plaza, "The Best of
the Best;' sportswear for fall,
1:30 p.m. Thursday.
PAINT CREEK CENTER FOR
THE ARTS
Rochester Municipal Park, Art'N
Apples Festival, over 250 artists,
plus entertainment, Saturday
and Sunday. 651-4110.

LAUGHS
H

RITA CHARLESTON

Special to The Jewish News

e's a big talent. A really big
talent. In fact, at 6'9", Brad
Garrett just may be one of
the biggest talents in the
comedy business today.
Garrett was already big in Oc-
tober of 1976 when he was 16 years
old and 6'6". However, he was short on
the kind of talent everyone hoped he
possessed.
He was in high school just three
weeks and the athletic coach along
with the principal, four shop teachers,
the nurse and about 200 students
were waiting with baited breath to
witness the physical prowess of what
they hoped would be the next Kareem
Abdul Jab aar.
Hopes faded quickly after the
lanky Garrett was on the basketball
court for less than five minutes and
his fervent fans realized that Gary
Coleman could beat Garrett in a
game of one-on-one.
Although he never earned a
school letterman's jacket, in his senior
year of high school he was voted class
clown. "When you're 6'9" tall, Jewish
and can't dribble, you'd better learn
to be funny," Garrett quipped recent-
ly from his home in Los Angeles. "In
fact, everyone knows Jews don't drib-
ble — until they're about 70. But
everyone assumes that because of
your size you can play professional
sports. That's silly. Would you go up
to a midget and ask if he's good at
miniature golf?"
Born in Oxnard, Calif., Garrett
moved with his family 60 miles south
to Los Angeles when he was 2 1/2. He
discovered at an early age just how
vital humor can be while trying to get
through life.
"I came from your typical Califor-
nia household," he recalled, "where
your parents are divorced, but they're
living together. My mom's date book
actually says "Weddings-at-a-Glance."
You know how peple celebrate a gold
or silver anniversary? Well, this year
for a gift she got shelving papery'
Garrett's early show business
studies ranged from playing Mayor

COMEDY

Brad Garrett finds Jewish comedy redundant.

Comedian Brad Garrett is really big, in
more ways than one

Shinn in his high school's version of
The Music Man to the U.C.L.A.
theater department. His in-depth col-
lege experience only lasted five
weeks. It was then that his instincts
told him to hang up the books for a
while in order to pursue a lifelong
dream of stand-up comedy.
Garrett started working on his
craft in the privacy of his manager's
living room, doing one-liners for
whomever and whatever would pop
up, getting the feel of having to create
humor on the spot. After months of
drastic rewrites and two living room
performances a day, he started to
seriously hit some of the out-lying
clubs in pursuit of fine tuning his
craft. Not only was he the tallest com-
edian around, he was also one of the
youngest.

,

He soon made his national televi-
sion debut on the "Norm Crosby Com-
edy Shop" and then went on to do the
"Laff-a-Thon" on ShOwtime.
But he said his really big break
came in February of 1984 when he
became the first $100,000 Grand
Champion as "Best Comedian of
1984" on "Star Search?' That ex-
perience, he said, "gave me national
exposure, got me lots of personal ap-
pearances and booked as the opening
for many major acts throughout the
country?'
Today, television looks promising
as Garrett stars in his first series titl-
ed "First Impressions" on CBS.
"First Impressions" is the story of
a young single parent (Garrett) run-
ning a company specializing in the
production of voice-over commercials

BERKLEY COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley, Jay
Johnson, today and Saturday;
Kip Addotta, Tuesday through
Sept. 17, admission. 542-9900.
THE EARLY MONDAY
MORNING SHOW
21728 Grand River, Redford,
comedy-variety with Bob Keller,
Greg Hall, Robin Brant and Tim
Spriggs, today and Saturday,
admission. 537-7716 or 532-4010.

THEATER

SHAW FESTIVAL

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario,
You Never Can Tell and
Dangerous Corner, through Oct.
15, Hit the Deck, Peter Pan and
Once in a Lifetime, through Oct.
16; Geneva, through Sept. 24;
The Voysey inheritance, through
Sept. 25; 416-468-2172.

GREENFIELD VILLAGE

Dearborn, The Man Who Came
to Dinner, Friday and Saturday,
admission. 271-1620.

RUSSIAN AMERICAN
STUDIO THEATER
Groves High School Little
Theater, 13 Mile and Evergreen,
Birmingham, A Blok Engraving,
Friday through Sunday and
Sept. 16-18, admission. 354 4717.

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