Arts &Entertainment
Satiric Standup
Up-and-coming comedian Nate Fridson goes
for laughs at Meadow Brook Music Festival.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
N
ate Fridson, as a youngster, spent
a lot of time in the halls of local
public schools, sent out of class-
rooms when his clowning became a little
distracting.
Now, at 27, he's spending increasing time
in local and distant performance halls of
various types, invited to entertain as a
standup comic.
Fridson soon joins a group of comedians
outside any hall, booked for an annual event
in the open-air space of the Meadow Brook
Music Festival, where he will be part of
Laugh-A-Palooza at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27.
"My act consists of jokes about the
world and my life in it," says Fridson, who
works days maintaining a business' web-
site. "I talk about my relationship with my
girlfriend and my family, and I talk about
my upbringing.
"I also bring in any random thoughts I
might have. Who knows where the night
may take us? My friends say I can come
across as sarcastic when the topics seem
right for that!"
Fridson, who lives in Detroit, didn't think
about joking around as a future job while
attending Burton Elementary School in
Huntington Woods, Norup Middle School
in Oak Park and Berkley High School.
The idea came when he decided to
take part in the Last Spartan Standing
humor competition during his senior year
at Michigan State University, where he
majored in English literature and minored
in art history and communications.
"My earliest memories are of watching
comedy': says Fridson, the son of Howard
and Catherine Fridson of Huntington Woods.
"I'm a big fan of so many comedians, includ-
ing Chris Rock, George Carlin and Louis C.K.
"After college I performed at local open
mike nights and then started working in
clubs and bars in and out of Michigan. I've
done standup at Mark Ridley's Comedy
Castle in Royal Oak, Joey's Comedy Club in
Livonia and Connections in Lansing."
Fridson went on to travel to other clubs
— from Connections in Toledo, Ohio, to
the Funny Bone in Baton Rouge, La. — and
bars, where he occasionally finds it tough as
people have too much to drink and want to
impose their own takes into his routine.
Fridson develops his act by writing down
notes and revising them.
A semifinalist at the New York Comedy
Contest, he recently traveled to Japan to
perform for the U.S. troops stationed on
Okinawa.
"I found out about entertaining troops by
networking with other comedians': he says.
"One comic booked me to go, and it was a
great experience at the military base. The
audience could relate to my stuff, and it was
the most appreciative group I've ever seen.
After the show, they wanted to hang out."
Although Fridson has not worked with
Kyle Dunnigan, the featured comic in the
sixth Meadow Brook Laugh-A-Palooza, he
does know Martin Butler, a good friend,
and Gary George.
Dunnigan has had his own half-hour
special on Comedy Central and has
appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the Late
Late Show With Craig Ferguson and Late
"If someone else is having
a bad day, I can quickly see
the funny side of it. My ad
days are not that hilarwit
Night With Conan O'Brien.
Besides standup,
Dunnigan is known for
the recurring role of Craig
in the Comedy Central
series Reno 911! and
also has appeared in the
movie Reno 911! Miami.
Other Dunnigan TV series credits include
NBC's Howie Do It and Fox's Cedric the
Entertainer Presents.
Butler has been associated with Motor
City Improv. In 2008, he was picked by Bill
Bellamy and the producer of NBC's Last
Comic Standing to represent Detroit and
has appeared with Lewis Black and Doug
Stanhope.
George has been writing comedy and
entertaining audiences for more than 18
years. Besides appearing with Tim Allen
and Drew Carey, he has written humor-
ous articles published in newspapers and
magazines and on the Internet.
"There's so much to learn from watching
other comedians," Fridson says. "I notice
how they approach different subjects, han-
dle timing and put together sentences."
Fridson, who believes he has a way
of seeing the world that turns out to be
funny, thinks of himself as taking after his
namesake great-grandfather, who was a
singing waiter and owned a Detroit deli,
the Esquire Grill.
The comic's brothers, Blake and Russell,
do not share his career interests although
he thinks they're both very funny. While
Blake is an emergency medical technician
in the Lansing area, Russell is a student at
the University of Michigan.
ews
+a Nate Bloom
Own
Special to the Jewish News
aa Major League
1611
On Aug. 9, former Major League out-
fielder Elliot Maddox, 62, celebrated
min his bar mitzvah at a Jewish sum-
di mer camp run by the New Jersey
"Y" organization. The camp direc-
tor invited Maddox
to celebrate his
bar mitzvah there
after learning
that Maddox, who
had converted to
Judaism in 1975,
never had a bar
Elliot Maddox
mitzvah ceremony.
52
August 19 • 2010
iN
For the last five years, Maddox has
helped his former New York Yankee
teammate Ron Bloomberg run base-
ball clinics at the camp.
Maddox, who is African-American,
grew up in Union, N.J.; many of his
friends and Little League teammates
were Jewish. His interest in Judaism
began at an early age and continued
as he went off to the University of
Michigan, where he took some courses
in Judaic studies. He left the University
after two years, in 1968, when the
Detroit Tigers drafted him. He eventu-
ally earned his U-M degree, in 1976, by
taking courses in the off season.
Maddox played one season (1970)
with the Tigers before being traded.
New Flicks
The Switch, opening Friday, Aug. 20,
stars Jennifer Aniston as Kassie, a
smart, single woman who is determined
to have a baby, even if it means using
a sperm donor. Her best friend, Wally
(Jason Bateman), objects when told of
the plan. Wally's objection is partially
based on the fact that he harbors
romantic feelings for
Kassie - but, as his
best friend, Leonard
(Jeff Goldblum), tells
him: "You waited too
long to make your
move, and now she's
put you in the friend
category."
Jeff Goldblum
- Nate F
"If someone else is having a bad day, I
can quickly see the funny side of it," Fridson
jokes. "My bad days are not that hilarious."
Fridson, who had his bar mitzvah at
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park and
occasionally goes to services with his dad,
believes he comes across as being Jewish
and brings Jewish material into his act.
His Jewish connections are further
enhanced as his mom relates her impres-
sions doing administrative work at Hillel
Day School in Farmington Hills.
Although Fridson has learned instru-
mental music and enjoys playing bas-
ketball to get some intense workouts, his
goals have to do with comedy.
"I'm very fortunate that both my parents
have been very supportive of my going into
comedy': Fridson says. "Because my dad is
a visual artist, he understands my interest
in the performing arts.
"I've always loved the feeling of making
people laugh, and I hope to do comedy
for TV, whether performing or writing.
In the meantime, I keep developing as a
comedian." 0
Laugh-A-Palooza comes to Meadow
Brook Music Festival on the grounds
of Oakland University in Rochester
8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27. $10-$19.50.
(800) 745-3000; www.palacenet.com .
A series of almost-slapstick events
results in Kassie unknowingly carry-
ing Wally's baby.
Emma Thompson plays the title
role in Nancy McPhee Returns, also
opening Aug. 20. McPhee is a magi-
cal nanny who comes to the aid of
Mrs. Green, a harried young mother
r
Maggie
Gyllenhaal
(Maggie Gyllenhaal)
whose husband is off
fighting in World War
II, leaving her to run
the family farm, take
care of their children
and cope with some
bratty city cousins
living with her for
"the duration." _I