ENTER AINME Carol Siskind: "I'm so neurotic." MISS NEUROSIS! This Cornell graduate in psychology suffers from an acute case of the giggles. STEVEN M. HARTZ Jewish News Intern I f there was a Miss Neuro- sis pageant, Carol Sis- kind thinks that she'd capture the winning trophy, which would pro- bably be a bottle of Thorazine. "I'm so neurotic," joked Siskind. My hobbies are .. . Stewing in my own juices, making mountains out of molehills and blowing things completely out of proportion. And for the talent portion, I'd like to jump to the wrong con- clusions." Siskind, a native New Yorker who lives in Los Angeles, wasn't even out of nursery school when she cracked her first joke. "When ` I was 4, I remember making my family laugh," noted Siskind. "And my family is very funny, so I thought that was quite a feat!' As she got older, Siskind, the teenager, liked to collect and memorize many comedy albums. Through the '70s, she took an interest in acting which eventually led to her present career. "At an acting audition in 1979, I met someone who said he was a comedian, and a lightbulb suddenly went off in my head," said Siskind. "I just knew that I should be do- ing it. That was literally how it all started!' For the first 61/2 years, Siskind worked every night, except for about 30, doing three shows a night and 12 shows on weekends. lbday, this queen of comedy headlines at some classy corn- edy clubs, including The Im- provisation in L.A., Catch A Rising Star (all over the coun- try) and Mark Ridley's Com- edy Castle in Berkley. "The audience at Ridley's is fan- tastic," she said. "They are so sophisticated!' But there was a time, however, when the clubs at which she performed were not as glamourous. "When I first started doing stand-up, I per- formed at every toilet bar in New York City," noted Siskind. "That is, any place there was a microphone and had anyone sitting there." Over the past decade, she has appeared on Mery Griffin, Tonight Show, Evening at the Improv, Brothers ( a syn- dicated comedy on Showtime) and different HBO and Showtime specials. She has also toured with Ben Vereen. Tomorrow evening, Siskind will star in the Showtime Comedy special, Jimmy Walker and Friends II. It will be aired frequently throughout the month. Besides acting and perform- ing stand-up, she also enjoys writing her own material. "I always write with myself in my mind," said Siskind. "I like to joke about things that have an essence of truth in them. I like talking about relationships because I think so much of human behavior comes down to that. I also try to find something with psychlogical insight. Siskind doesn't model herself after any other stand- ups. She does, however, respect many of her peers. "I like different comedians for different things," said Siskind. "I like Woody Allen, Lily Tomlin , and some of my friends, who you haven't heard of yet but definitely will?' As a child, Siskind grew up in a Conservative Jewish home. "We observed all of the Jewish holidays," she noted. "I make it a point to go back home to my family in New York for the holidays." Siskind admitted that she first learned a lot about public speaking from her father. "My parents have always been active in the United Jewish Appeal, and my dad gave many speeches to raise money for_UJA," she said. "From watching him give speeches, I learned a great deal about public speak- ing." In the future, Siskind said she would love to appear on the silver screen and has even written a movie script ("more are on the way") that she hopes to sell. Siskind would also like to have her own television show "just like Cosby and Roseanne Barr!' Regardless of these desires, stand-up comedy will always have a part in Siskind's future. "Well, the beauty of being a comedian is, that, unlike sports or dancing, you can do it until you're George Burns' age," she noted. "What's great about stand-up is, that, you write, direct, pro- duce and act in it. So, if it goes well, it's because of you, and if it doesn't go well it's because of you. There's something about having that kind of control in your life which is great!' ❑ THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 61