Harriet and Jack Goldberg
Sheila and Barry Levine
and the staff of
don't need a President who
speaks Spanish. We need a
President who speaks gib-
berish, and I am that man."
Sprinking his impressions
with malapropisms, such as
calling the PLO the Palesti-
nian Light Orchestra, Morris
calls Hispanics "Hispaniels."
Or refers to the Supreme
Court's Miranda ruling as
that "Carmen Miranda
thing." Or describes problems
in the Middle East by ex-
plaining "they're all insane
over there. Except 'for the
King of Jordan. He's Hussein.
I know that."
Last year, at the White
House Correspondent's din-
ner, Morris did his impres-
sions while Bush and wife
Barbara looked on.
"It was a real kick doing an
impression of someone to his
face; especially when that
face belongs to the
"It was a real kick
doing an
impression of
someone to his
face, especially
when that face
belongs to the
Commander-in-
Chief of the
country."
Jim Morris
Commander-in-Chief of the
country. After the perfor-
mance, this official-looking
fellow walked up to me and
said the President wanted to
see me. I figured, uh oh, there
goes my citizenship. But
when they brought me back
to meet him, the President
said he just wanted to chat
with me. He said my impres-
sion was wonderful and that
he'd like to follow my career.
I said that with his
background in the C.I.A., he
shouldn't have any problem
doing that."
In addition to Bush and
Reagan, Morris does a whole
slew of impersonations, in-
cluding newscasters and
famous celebrities. Some of
his favorites, however, are the
people of politics who tend to
dominate the news and our
lives. His Jewish heritage, as
well as the environment in
which he was raised, may
have influenced his career
choice.
"I always had an interest in
politics," he explains.
"Whether tht's because of
growing up in the Boston
area, which is very politically
charged, or whether it was
just growing up in an age of
disillusionment, I'm not sure.
I grew up during the Viet
Nam War. Watching the news
as a kid, I discovered they lied
to us. In grade school I was
taught to revere the flag and
the Constitution, and it was
very disheartening and con-
fusing to me when our
highest elected officials
subverted the Constitution
and lied to the American peo-
ple. That makes me wonder if
they're still lying to us today.
"So I like the idea of wat-
chdogs," he continues. "Peo-
ple in all walks of life do that:
journalists, political activists,
songwriters, artists. And
maybe my Jewish heritage
has something to do with
playing that role in society of
observer and critic of our
times because Jews have
always had to be on the run
and watch out for the
authorities, so to speak, for
centuries. So I've just got my
eyes and ears open all the
time."
For the future, Morris ad-
mits he'd like to someday pur-
sue his original goal of acting.
"I'd also like to have
somebody really responsible
in office. Someone that I lik-
ed. It's just a pipe dream, I
know, but someday, I'd like to
see somebody in office I felt
secure enough with that I
could leave this political
humor for a while and really
enjoy myself acting. Will that
day ever come? Who
knows?"
❑
mmil LOCAL NEWS j
Aish HaTorah Plans
Crash Courses
Aish HaTorah/Aleynu in
conjunction with the National
Jewish Outreach Program
will offer crash courses in
basic Jewish concepts.
Hebrew Crash Course Level
II and The Crash Course in
Basic Judaism will be offered
in May. The Level II Hebrew
Crash Course is for people
with a basic level of Hebrew
reading but wish to improve
their skills. There is a
materials fee.
The Crash Course in Basic
Judaism will consist of five
sessions dealing with belief in
God, prayer, the Sabbath,
Jewish observance and sex-
uality. There is no charge for
this class.
For information, call
Michelle at the Aish HaTorah
office, 948-6900.
STAGE
&Co.
very warmly extend
a 6
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
93