ENTERTA

GOING PLACES

WEEK OF
AUG. 11-17

SPECIAL EVENTS

PALACE OF AUBURN
HILLS
Isiah's Summer Classic
All-Star Game, 8 p.m.
today; Pro Boxing,
Stanley Longstreet vs.
Harry Arroyo, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, admission,
377-8200.
HENRY FORD
MUSEUM AND
GREENFIELD
VILLAGE
Dearborn, Susquehanna
Plantation Weekend,
Saturday and Sunday,
admission, 271-1620.
DETROIT INSTITUTE
OF ARTS
5200 Woodward, Fash
Bash, 7 p.m. Tuesday;
silent auction and hors
d'oeuvres, 5 p.m.,
admission, 832-2730.
MICHIGAN
RENAISSANCE
FESTIVAL
Hollygrove, Holly,
Sunday through Sept.
24, weekends and Labor
Day, 10 a.m. -7 p.m.,
admission, 645-9640.

Norm Crosby attributes his success to having a clean comedy act.

MASTER OF MALAPROP

nown as the "master
of malaprops," come-
dian Norm Crosby
has made a career
out of fracturing the
English language.
Although he studied to be
an artist, Crosby enlisted iri
the Coast Guard before com-
pleting art school and was
assigned as a radar operator
in the North Atlantic on anti-
submarine patrol. Unfor-
tunately, he developed a hear-
ing problem caused by con-
cussions from depth charges.
But, returning to civilian
life and living at home with
his parents in Massachusetts,
receiving a disability check
from the government because
of his - service-related ear in-
juries, Crosby decided to
abandon his art career and
try a career in comedy.
"I was the funny kid in
school and around the
neighborhood, and I really en-
joyed making people laugh,"
Crosby says. "And, at the
time, I felt I was young

Norm Crosby gets lots of laughs
by butchering the English
language in his comedy routine.

RITA CHARLESTON

Special to The JeWish News

enough to give it a try. I was
single, has no responsibilities,
and I gave my disability
check every month to my
mother, so I was off the hook
with financial obligations. I
felt that I could always go
back to drawing pictures, so
while I was still young and
foolish I decided to take a
shot."
Gradually working his way
into better local clubs, Crosby
eventually began making a
reputation for himself in the
Boston area. His local ap-
pearances brought him to the
attention of E.M. Loewe who
owned New York's famed
Latin Quarter, and Crosby

was offered an engagement
there.
"At the time, like any begin-
ning comedian, I was doing
material I had taken from
other comedy stars. You're
not a threat to them. Certain-
ly you're not working in corn-
petition with them. So taking
their material was fairly safe
and it was allowed. But here
I was, about to go into the
Latin Quarter, a big time club
right in the heart of New York
City. I knew I couldn't get
away with doing Milton
Berle's or Buddy Hackett's
material. So I was trying to
find something that was my
very own."

While working in Spring-
field, Mass., a club owner
gave Crosby that "some-
thing" he was looking for.
"The club owner and I
became good friends. He was
a kind of ladies' man and,
naturally, liked the girls who
came up to appear in the
various shows. One night
there was this cute young girl
dancer on the bill with me. So
the owner called me into the
kitchen and said, 'Find out if
she's staying over or if she
communicates.'
"I heard that remark and it
struck me that this could be
what I was looking for. So I
started to misuse words and
mispronounce phonetically. I
also mixed up the historical
and geographical data. And
that's how it all began."
In the beginning, audiences
liked the routine but weren't
quite sure if Crosby had
a real problem or not. "I used
to get some very .embarassed
silences because people
thought this poor guy didn't

COMEDY

COMEDY CASTLE
2593 Woodward, Berkley,
Dana Gould, today and
Saturday; Kozak,
Tuesday through Aug.
19, 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, Dennis Butler,
Saturday through
Monday; Bud Dingman,
Thursday, admission,
628-6500.

THEATER

FISHER THEATER
Fisher Building, Detroit,
A Chorus Line, Tuesday
through Aug. 20,
admission, 872-1000.

Continued on Page 69

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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