comedienne. She believes every
realm of theater is "amazing,"
and is interested in trying them
all. She just happens to find ab-
solutely everything very, very
funny.
"Drama makes me laugh,"
Nikki says, recalling her per-
formance in a Chekhov tragedy
that required every character to
cry. Every character, except
hers.
"I went the comedy route,"
Nikki recalls. "It seemed more
natural."

Nikki Fayne
fends off fake

—

-

Homegrown Humor

.immi he first time Nikki

Fayne saw a show at
Chicago's Second City
was on a Temple Israel
field trip. She was only
ot, 10 but knew even then
she'd be back.
Now, at age 21, she has re-
turned — and not as a member
of the audience.
"I'm just a 21-year-old girl
who had this handed to me on
a silver platter," says the Farm-
ington Hills native, currently a
theater major in her senior year
at Columbia College in Chica-
go.
That platter is one which

From Farmington
Hills to the Chicago
stage, Nikki Fayne
has people
laughing in the
\:--) aisles.

1411150K KAPLAN'
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

many actors three times her age
would envy. Nikki has landed
herself a role in Social Lubri-
cant, which is making its debut
this month at Second City
E.T.C., one of the theater's side
stages.
The show is a collection of
comedy skits written and per-
formed by what Nikki describes
as a "United Colors of Benetton
cast" that includes "five Jews,
one black, one Hispanic and an
exhausted Republican." Thrown
together earlier this year in a
comedy cabaret class at Co-
lumbia, this eclectic group of
young hopefuls created the
show as a class project.
Social Lubricant has far ex-
ceeded expectations, even of the
many Columbia teachers who

themselves frequent Second
City's stage.
Of course, it helps to have the
assistance of Sheldon- Patinkin.
Chairman of the Columbia Col-
lege theater department, he
founded Second City and was
once an active participant in the
now-defunct National Jewish
Theater. Thanks to his support,
Nikki's show is scheduled to
begin a four-week run this
month.
"It's just good comedy — all
of our experiences, rolled into
one," says Nikki of the show.
Her favorite skit in the show
is "The Call," in which she plays
an incompetent counselor an-
swering calls on a suicide hot-
line. In a flurry of words and
gestures, Nikki sets the stage

for the scene, which has her re-
sponding to cries for help with
questions like, "Do you prefer
assistance in Spanish or Eng-
lish?" She laughs.
"I'm not like a normal per-
son," she explains, wide-eyed.
It all began in ninth grade
when Nikki landed the role of
Belle Malibu in North Farm-
ington High School's production
of It Was a Dark and Stormy
Night. In one scene, Belle was
to fall and hit her head — only
when Nikki did it, she hit a lit-
tle harder than expected and
lost her place in the script.
"I hit my head and ad-libbed
four lines," she said. 'The crowd
went up in hysterics. I knew
right then I had a gift."
Nikki doesn't call herself a

And it comes as

no surprise to her
papparazzi
friends and fami-
not a far off
ly that Nikki is
possibility for
this Detroit-born finding her niche
in comedy.
comedienne.
"At Sweet 16
parties, everyone would say Do
something funny, Nikki."' And
she always obliged.
"I know when I laugh, noth-
ing is better," she says. "It's
thrilling to be able to make
someone else crack up."
Since enrolling at Columbia
College, Nikki has acted in sev-
eral school shows and directed
numerous projects. She's per-
formed her own original routine
at a few Chicago benefits and
spent one summer doing improi.
at Not Another Cafe in Ann Ar-
bor.
Nikki has developed a reper-
toire of 10 characters but says
her favorite is still the Southern
belle she first found in high
school. In that high-pitched
twang, Nikki says, you can get
away with saying things that
would otherwise raise eyebrows.
Scheduled to graduate in
January, Nikki expects her
bachelor's degree in fine arts
will take her straight to a job at
the nearest Big Boy. When she
was 16, her plans for her future
involved starring in a Broadway
show by 21. She has since re-
vised that plan slightly, but says
she still expects to end up in
New York. If her show at Sec-
ond City is a hit, though, she
just might be convinced to hang
around the Midwest a while
longer.
Nikki would do a one-woman
show, should someone ask, but
says being able to play off oth-
ers in an ensemble is really the
key to humor.
Whatever happens, she's not
going to stress out.
"I'm about: pass the ball, be
in the moment, 'role' with it,"
she says.
What matters is that some
day, some way, she will succeed
in show biz. About that, Nikki
has no doubts. [71