Andiamo Italia
is pulling back
the curtain...

* to let the *
Stars Shine!

The Best Of Everything

Insult King

Veteran comic Don Rickles bringing
show to Andiamo Italia in Warren.

,
a big
bia issue of his age,
e but
it's somethi n g n
I do. My claim to fame is that I'm dif-
he fellow in a nearby front
of
a
bragging
right
...
"If
you're not
ferent. I've always prided myself in
sector at the Sheraton Desert
funny,
age
has
got
to
come
up. Say hey,
being a different kind of guy as a per-
Inn in Las Vegas, obviously
and
walk
away,
but
if you're
former. That's the only thing
was a bit in his cups too
still
funny,
look
at
the
track
that keeps my success going."
much ... and yelled out a zinger.
record.
How
many
guys
in
At Andiamo Celebrity
Nobody in their right mind trades
comedy are still showing up?
Showroom,
Rickles
is
liable
to
barbs with the Sultan of Insult or
Drew Carey — God bless
break into a patter-song like
Merchant of Venom, Don Rickles,
him, but he's still to be
"I'm
a
Nice
Guy,"
or
a
skit
or
who will appear Sept. 15 and 16 at
proven. I wish him luck, but
two involving audience "volun-
Andiamo Italia's Celebrity Showroom
we
gotta wait and see if they
teers" and, of course, the end-
... 7096 E. 1,4 Mile Road, between
last,
as I have, over 40 years.
less onslaught of ethnic jokes ...
Mound and Van Dyke, Warren.
I
think
that's pretty damn
If there isn't a Jew, a Chinese
That's like using a plastic blade in a
good."
DA
NNY
guy, an Italian, a Pole or a
dueling match or throwing a cotton
He was born Donald Jay
RA SKIN
black gent in the audience,
ball and having it come back at you as
01U771nist Rickles in 1926 in New
Local
C
he'll
make
one
up
...
Rickles
a cannon shot.
York ... and married the for-
does a lot of his own material
But on stage, it's all an act ... as
mer Barbara Sklar in 1965
and is great at ad-libbing.
Rickles targets audience members ...
...
The
attractive
Barbara Rickles is
They always say, 'Call my wife an
To him its all in fun ... "Insult to me
still
the
butt
of
many
of his jokes ...
idiot.' 'Tell my father he's a moron.'
is something that's out to hurt some-
His
mother
was
the
late
Etta Feldman
They think that's what I do all day
one," he says, "I'm not out to hurt
Rickles ... and his father, Max Rickles,
long.
I'm
just
a
guy,
a
normal
guy.
I'm
anyone" ... Rickles is a man who does-
sold clothes and insurance.
n't need binoculars to spot weak-
Don Rickles attended Newton
nesses, and he plays them in such a
High School in Elmhurst, Long
way that everyone laughs ... Even
Island ... and was shy as a young
the target ... His quick wit can be
child. He says his dad "was a great
deadlier than a guillotine, but he
`kibitzer' who loved to kid people
swears he's not a mean man, not
about themselves. I loved him and
even an angry one ... "If I were to
adapted his approach. I began to c\
insult people and mean it, that
make friends by making people
wouldn't be funny," he says.
laugh."
"There's a difference between an
Rickles performed in high
actual insult and a friendly jab. I
school plays and at neighborhood
like to think I'm like the guy who
dances before starting to work in
goes to the office party Friday
small nightclubs ... At first, Rickles
night, insults some people, but still
did routine stand-up comedy,
has his job Monday morning."
impressions, jokes, etc.
Nontheless, it takes a brave heart
-_\
According to stories, his "insult'
to sit in the front row when Rickles
style just happened ... Two years
is on stage ... Someone who doesn't
after his discharge from the U.S.
mind a little public humiliation, for
Navy in 1946, he was working in
example ... "I think the majority of
nightclubs ... Never a great joke-
people who come to see me know
teller in the traditional sense,
what to expect," he says. "They cer-
Rickles suddenly found himself
tainly don't look to see Lawrence
talking directly to the audience
Welk — plus, he's dead — but they
and throwing "off the.tur lines at
know what Don Rickles does.
Don Rickles will needle them next month at the
them ... The laughs came and the _ (7' 1
They're in for a couple of shots at
Andiamo Celebrity Showroom.
--\
rest, as they say, is history.
them.
As Rickles tells it, he had just
His biting, in-your-face style is
gotten out of the war against Japan
a
very
basic
guy,"
he
says.
"It's
two
dif-
reflected in some of today's comic per-
and went to the American Academy of
ferent lives. When I get out there
sonalities, including Howard Stern ...
Dramatic Arts ... "Jason Robards,
onstage
or
when
I'm
at
a
big
party
"They cross the line," he says. "They
Grace Kelly and Anne Bancroft were
with
celebrities,
I
become
that
charac-
took a flavor of Don Rickles, and then
my classmates. In the '50s, I got a job
ter that I do onstage."
they cross the line. Whatever they do,
telling jokes in a strip club. Think that
Rickles doesn't want writers to make
more power to them, but it's not what

k
Selected "Best Italian Restaurant" by
Gourmet Magazine '96.'97, and '98
visit us at: www.andiamoitalia.com

106 Detroit Jewish News