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The Restaurant
of the '90s
Quality Food, Simple
Setting, Reasonable Prices
Le Metro
"Main courses are studies in creativity."
Sandra Silfven — Detroit News
29855 Northwestern Hwy. • Applegate Square • Southfield • 353-2757
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FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 1990
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Parking
ENTERTAINMENT
833-9425
Richard Belzer, A Comic
Who's Worn Many Hats
RITA CHARLESTON
Special to The Jewish News
F
ellow comic Robin
Williams once de-
scribed Richard Belzer
as "the Marquis de Sade as a
game show host." Richard
Pryor added that "his comedy
is honest."
Accolades indeed from his
peers for the man widely
known for his astute political
observations. With an in-
satiable appetite for the news
(he claims to read about five
newspapers a day) Belzer
began his career as a reporter
for the Bridgeport Post in
Connecticut. But he also calls
upon his life experiences as a
former teacher, census taker,
jewelry salesman, dock-
worker and several other oc-
cupations to spice up his com-
edy delivery.
It's not that Belzer couldn't
stick to any one job. It's just
that his sense of humor
always seemed to get in the
way. A self-admitted class
clown, Belzer says he was
thrown out of, or asked to
leave, every school he attend-
ed "due to uncontrollable
wit" and a "reflex action that
made me unable to resist be-
ing funny."
He says he knew he was a
grownup "when I had my bar
mitzvah," even though it took
him a little longer to reach
his full adult potential.
Once he did, however, he
began parlaying his talents in
the classroom into a new
career, getting his first big
break in something called
Groove Tube, a counter-
culture film that went on to
become a cult classic. Since
then, his comedic talents
have been featured in every
show business medium from
off-Broadway, to radio, to ma-
jor Hollywood movies.
But Belzer's big break-
through has been on televi-
sion, including appearances
on "Saturday Night Live,"
"The Tonight Show," "Late
Night With David Letter-
man," his own six-part corn-
edy series "The Richard
Belzer Show," and as host of
the live national talk show
"Hot Properties" on the
Lifetime Cable Network.
In fact, it was while hosting
"Hot Properties" in 1985 that
Belzer had a run-in with
World Wrestling Federation
champion Hulk Hogan, a run-
in that included a front-face-
lock on the unsuspecting
Belzer from Hogan which
resulted in Belzer receiving
Richard Belzer:
From journalist to stand-up comic.
eight stitches to the back of
his head and instituting a
multi-million dollar law suit
that was just recently settled
in Belzer's favor.
Meanwhile, back on the
stage in front of live au-
diences, where Belzer loves
performing his own special
brand of comedy, the audience
is never quite sure what
Belzer will do next. But
neither, for that matter, is he.
"When I get up on stage I
have a lot of set material
which I sometimes do and
sometimes don't. It all
depends on my mood and the
mood of the audience. I love to
improvise, but improvising is
tricky, so you never know
from one night to the next
how well it's going to do or
how disasterous it's going to
be. I rely on the prepared stuff
and then I just go from there."
Often asked about the
world of comedy, Belzer decid-
ed to write a tongue-in-cheek
book about it. Titled Belzer's
Guide: How To Be A Standup
Comic, the book is meant to
be a guide for the neophyte
comedian, presenting Belzer's
method of joke-telling and of-
fering tips on such topics as
how to dress on stage and
handle hecklers.
On the serious side, Belzer
suggests that young comics
go on stage as often as
possible.
"It's one thing to make your
friends and family laugh," he
concedes, "but it's another
thing to make strangers
laugh. So I always tell young
comics to get up in front of an
audience full of strangers as
often as possible. After all,
there are no short-cuts in this
business."
Belzer also says you can't
really teach people to be fun-
ny, "but you can teach them
how to find out what's funny
within themselves. Then it's
up to them to see if they can
turn that into something that
works on stage. Let's face it,
there's enough humor in the
world today that, if you have
half a brain, you should be
able to do something with the
wealth of material out there."
Next up for Belzer is a
visiting artist fellowship from
Berkeley University.
"I'll be going up there and
developing a one-man show
for its theater department,"
he explains. "After that? Who
knows. I don't like to make
definite plans or wish for too
many things or make predic-
tions. I just like working. I'm
happy to be able to answer
the call."
❑