My, Howie Laugh!

Comedian Howie Mandel's special brand of improvisational humor
keeps his audiences coming back for more.

MICHAEL FREEDMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

owie Mandel has always
wanted to be the center of at-
tention.
It's how he managed to get
kicked out of
high school, and
it's also the se-
cret to the 41-
year-old comedian's success
in comedy and show busi-
ness.
"It's just a party," he says
of his off-the-wall adult corn-
edy act, "and I'm the center
of attention."
Since starting in show
business in 1979, when
friends dared him to get on
stage and perform at a Los
Angeles comedy club, the
Comedy Store, he has per-
formed at such venues as
Carnegie Hall and Caesar's
Paiace. Mandel will perform
7:30 Friday, August 1, at
Pine Knob.
The improvisational abili-
ty that helped at the Come-
dy Store has carried through
to his fast-paced and some-
times irreverent humor.
"I don't play on any one
certain thing," he said. "If I
had to do any one thing, I'd
get bored. The better time I
have, the better tine the au-
dience has. It's fresh and new
and people want to come
back."
Born in Toronto, Mandel,
now in his early 40s, grew up
in a Conservative Jewish
home. "I had a terrible tefill-
in accident when I was 6," he
said. His family didn't keep
kosher, but Mandell had a
bar mitzvah.
"I sang like a bird," he not-
ed.
He didn't always want to
be a comedian — he just kind
of liked being in the middle
of things.
What did he want to be when he was
a kid?
"Bigger," he replied.

Michael Freedman is a staff writer for our
sister publications the Palm Beach
Jewish Times and the Boca I Delray
Jewish Times.

Although he doesn't specifically use Ju-
daism in his act, he said it probably does
lend itself to comedy.
"I would imagine that as a race we are

self-deprecating, and we take things less
seriously than others." he said. "We can
see humor in ourselves."
He also notes that there are great non-
Jewish comedians, such as Bill Cosby and
his own greatest influence, Steve Martin.
"I enjoy everything he [does]," he said.
Like Martin, whose show business ca-

er CD ROMs. They include "Tuneland,"
"Lil' Howie's Great Word Adventure," "LP
Howie's Great Math Adventure" and "Lil'
Howie's Great Reading Adventure."
The executive producer
and the high-pitched voice
behind Bobby in the FOX
network cartoon "Bobby's
World," Mandel is cur-
rently developing a second
animated series, "Ernest."
He is also in negotiations
with Paramount for his
very own talk show.
"My goal is to stay
busy," Mandel said.
Busy as he is, the come-
dian said he spends much
of his time
Howie Mandel:
writing
"I had a terrible new ma-
tefillin accident ,,
terial. He
when.' was 6.
tests new
ideas by performing at Los
Angeles comedy clubs late
in the evening for an au-
dience that has had too
many drinks and too much
comedy. If he can get a
laugh there, he said, he
knows his material works.
But even when per-
forming in larger arenas,
he may never use the test-
ed material.
"I do have a set," he
said; but my biggest plea-
sure is meandering away.
The farther away from my
set, the better I am."
It's also better for the
audience, he said, because
they want to come back for
more shows.
Of course, sometimes a
joke flops. But even there,
he said, there's a certain
entertainment value.
"People see you get into
trouble, and they enjoy
that," he said.
But he doesn't analyze
his jokes to figure out why
He spent six years as Dr. Wayne Ficus they don't work. "It's either funny or it's
on the award-winning television series not," he said. "It's very natural; it's just
"St. Elsewhere." He does specials for ca- me." ❑
ble; his latest, "HBO Comedy Hour:
Howie Mandell performs 7:30 p.m. Fri-
Howie Mandell On Ice," aired in April.
day, Aug. 1, at Pine Knob. Tickets
In addition, Mandel, married and the
father of three children, has developed a :range from $12.50-$22:50. Call (248)
'1645-6666.
series of educational interactive comput-

reer has included writing plays, per-
forming standup comedy and starring in
hit motion pictures, Mandel has tackled
a range of show business ventures.