Magician/comic Michael Finney and
headliner/comedian Louie Anderson
perform at Forgotten Harvest's Comedy
Night V for Action Against Hunger.
SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
M
agician and comic
Michael Finney
stays very closed-
mouth about the
tricks in his act, but he keeps
very open about how Jewish hu-
morists taught him to do it all
with "chutzpah."
The guarded funnyman, often
seen on TV's Comic Strip Live
and Comedy on the Road, will
perform that show biz lesson
when he opens for fellow come-
dian Louie Anderson in a bene-
fit for Forgotten Harvest.
Comedy Night V for Action
Against Hunger starts at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Music
Hall. Proceeds will support the
collection of surplus perishable
food for distribution to soup
kitchens and shelters.
"I've opened for Henny Young-
man, Marty Allen and many oth-
ers, and I picked up on their
timing and delivery," said
Finney, 42, who has performed
at the Comedy Castle in Royal
Oak.
"When I worked with these en-
tertainers, I learned to look
around me because that's where
the ideas come from. They didn't
pick on people; they were the butt
of their own jokes. In that way,
they taught me how to work off
myself.
"They knew how
to use their intelli-
gence and creativi-
ty and didn't have to
attract attention by
being dirty."
Finney, who will
be sharing the stage
with Anderson for
the first time, plans
to put his emphasis
on magic for this
event, so his routine
will be very differ-
ent from Ander-
son's.
"I start off with a
few minutes of
standup to develop
rapport with the au-
dience and then go
into the magic," he
explained. "The
tricks pretty much
are there, but I try
to make them fun-
ny and enjoyable for
everybody.
"At one point, I
bring up a lady from
the audience to help
me with a rope
trick, and at another time, I bring
up a man to help me with a mon-
ey and card trick."
Finney got his show business
start while he was a bartender.
He noticed that another bar-
tender got a lot of laughs and
some pretty good tips while do-
ing magic tricks for the cus-
and beverage business,
which instills him with a
special appreciation for
Forgotten Harvest. His
brother is a chef, and his
sister is a hotel catering
director.
"There's so much food
that's left over at the end
of any night, and it can't
be served the next day,"
he said. "But it is good for
a short time period, so
why not give it away?
"It takes a lot of effort
at the end of a busy night
to organize the food and
then package it up, but
there are so many people
Michael Finney will open for
who need those meals."
headliner Louie Anderson (inset) at
Finney and his wife,
Forgotten Harvest's Comedy Night V.
Lori, his agent and man-
tomers.
ager, have a special appreciation
"I began hounding for Detroit. They enjoy the Mo-
him to teach me how to town sounds and recently made
do magic, and he did," a point of seeing the Temptations
Finney recalled. `Then and the Four Tops when they en-
I found a magic shop, tertained in Phoenix, their own
got an instructor and
took lessons. My first
job was in Las Vegas
Michael Finney will entertain
in 1980. People saw
at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12,
me and gave me
at Detroit's Music Hall. For
work."
information, call (810) 350-
Finney, who had his own
FOOD (3663). Tickets are
nightclub for a while, comes from
priced $25 and up.
a family that works in the food
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