ENTERTAINMENT
Comedian
Henny Youngman
has spent
a lifetime
entertaining
with his
one-liners,
So This Guy
Walks Into a Bar
RITA CHARLESTON
Special to The Jewish News
onsider this. Please.
There have been
many comics in the
annals of show busi-
ness, but perhaps
none more lasting than Hen-
ny Youngman. His one liners
have been quoted so often that
his classic comment, "Take
my wife, please," has made it
into common, everyday usage.
Youngman's mental backlog
of thousands of jokes (he tells
between 200 and 250 in 45
minutes) could probably be in
contention for some sort of
world record in the Guinness
Book.
But Youngman never had
any intention of breaking
records — or going into show
business. His long career
began simply because he was
funny, knew a lot of jokes and
knew how to play the violin.
Born in London in 1906,
Youngman came with his Rus-
sian immigrant parents to
New York when he was just
six months old. His father,
once a hatmaker, worked as a
sign painter and show-card
writer. He was also an opera
buff, so when the young Hen-
ny received a violin from an
aunt, the eight-year-old boy
was forced to take violin
lessons.
Although the violin remains
a prop in his rapid-fire
monologue act, it was also his
entry into show business.
Always a class clown,
Youngman was constantly be-
ing suspended from school.
That gave him a lot of time to
.
spend in vaudeville houses,
compiling a tremendous col-
lection of jokes which he told
everywhere and to everyone
he would meet.
"Everyone I met thought I
was funny — that is, everyone
except my parents," Young-
man recalls. "Even after I was
a big success, my mother
couldn't understand it. My
folks never knew I had any
sense of humor."
But the rest of the world
didn't seem to agree. So after
Youngman was suspended
from school once too often for
telling one too many of his
jokes, he found work in his
new career playing in a band.
"Some guys asked me if I
wanted to play in a band," he
says. "For five bucks a night
I said yes. I used to play the
violin and tell some of the
jokes I knew. It was nothing
planned. I had jokes and so I
told them."
One night, the dance team
failed to show up for the
engagement at the Nut Club
where Youngman's band was
appearing. His backstage cut-
ting up made him an obvious
replacement, so Youngman
was asked to fill in. He told
jokes. He remembers that not
long afterward, "the band was
let go but the owner decided to
keep me on. So that's it. I
became a comic."
Youngman continued in the
business, sometimes working,
sometimes starving. He work-
ed as a social director at a Cat-
skills hotel and performed in
local synagogues to gain ex-
perience. But his big break
came in 1937 when a booking
agent for Kate Smith heard
him and booked him on her
show. In fact, it was while he
was with Smith that his most
famous joke evolved. Instead
of a punch-line, it had a
punch-word: "Please."
Youngman tells the story of
being in the writer's room
backstage at the "Kate Smith
Show" when his wife entered
and said she needed eight
tickets for friends. He had
only 30 minutes to prepare for
his act and get Sadie eight
tickets, which he obtained
from friendly ushers.
"I used to slip them a cou-
ple of bucks to save tickets for
me," Youngman recalls. Han-
ding over the tickets and feel-
ing totally and completely
harrassed, he blurted, "Take
my wife. Please."
People overheard his com-
ment and the gag caught on
immediately. It didn't take
long before the gag and
Youngman were forever con-
nected. In fact, it became the
title of his authorized 1973
biography.
Youngman's wife of 58 years
died two years ago, and he sad-
ly admits he misses her great-
ly. But he continues with his
work as much as he can. To-
day he says he spends about
10 days a month on the road.
But when he's back in his
hometown of New York, you
can usually spot Youngman in
one of his favorite hangouts:
The Friar's Club or the
Carnegie Deli, talking on the
telephone or gathering new
jokes.
Or, you might find him at
his little temple on 47th St.
Youngman, who had his bar
mitzvah at Resorts Interna-
tional Hotel and Casino in
Atlantic City a decade ago
because he never had one as
a boy, says his roots are still
very important to him.
"I believe there is a God and
I'm seeing the results of it
every day," Youngman smiles.
-
I GOING PLACES I-
WEEK OF
JULY 28-AUG. 3
SPECIAL EVENTS
MEADOW BROOK
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Shotwell-Gustafson
Pavilion, Oakland
University, Rochester,
Festival Women's
Fashion Show, 12 p.m.
Wednesday, admission,
370-3316.
COMEDY
COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley,
O'Brien and Valdez,
today and Saturday; Bill
Scheft, Tuesday through
Aug. 5, admission,
542-9900.
PROCK'S COMEDY
SHOWROOM
1019 W. Maple, Clawson,
Bob Posch, performs
downstairs; Ron Coden,
performs upstairs,
Fridays and Saturdays,
through August,
admission, 280-2626.
MISS KITTY'S
COMEDY CLUB
Long Branch Restaurant,
595 N. Lapeer Rd.,
Oxford, Steve Iott and
Joe Dunckel, today and
Saturday; Jim Wiggins,
Thursday through Aug.
5, admission, 628-6500.
THEATER
PERFORMANCE
NETWORK
408 W. Washington, Ann
Arbor, Pantomime, now
through Aug. 6,
admission, 663-0681.
MUSIC
GAZEBO CONCERTS
Burgh Site, Berg Rd. and
Civic Center Dr.,
Southfield, Bob DuRant
Combo, 7 p.m. Wednesday,
free, 354-4717.
PRUDENTIAL TOWN
CENTER
Sunbowl, Southfield,
"Splash of Jazz Concerts,"
The Balalaika Orchestra, 7
p.m. Sunday; Swingland, 12
p.m. Thursday, free,
354-4717.
NORTHLAND
CONCERTS
Northland Center, JL
Hudson Dr., parking lot C,
Southfield, "Putting It
Together," 12 p.m. Monday,
free, 354-4717.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
61