arts & entertainment A Standup Guy Brad Wollack joins his Chelsea Lately compatriots in a comedy tour coming to Royal Oak Music Theatre. Suzanne Chessler Contributing Writer W hat a difference a letter of the alphabet can make. In the case of comedian Brad Wollack of the late-night TV show Chelsea Lately, switching the "double-1" with an "m" can be worth a laugh. A lot of people hear his name and think they're hearing "Brad Womack," who has looked for romance on the primetime TV show The Bachelor. But "we don't have a lot in common:' says Wollack, 33, married and the father of 3-month-old Spencer. "I have the person- ality, but he has the look." Local audiences will experience that personality up close when Wollack appears Saturday evening, Dec. 3, at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in The Comedians of Chelsea Lately. He will be joined by Sarah Colonna, Jen Kirkman and Chris Franjola, all roundtable regulars working with the late-night TV comedian and author Chelsea Handler on her show, which airs 11 p.m. Mondays-Fridays on E! "We each do 25 minutes of comedy with a mix of topics — marriage, alcohol, sex, whatever:' he says. "We hope we're covering a range of topics on people's minds. "It's a good opportunity for fans of Chelsea Lately to see their favorite round- table regulars live. It's a fuller experience because the audience gets a new perspec- tive of us:" The new perspective of Wollack is new dad, a subject he brings into his act. "This is my first kid, and he's at the forefront of my mind:' the humorist says in a conversation from his L.A. home while holding his son. "I'll talk about being a father. I want him to be a cool kid, have friends and choose whatever career he wants." Wollack describes his humor as obser- vational, which means it can be political. "I always try to bring in something local;' says Wollack, who appeared in Detroit earlier this year. "It makes people know I appreciate where I am, and there's a relatability factor when I can talk about going into an area." Judaism also enters his stage. "The thing about Jewish humor depends on where I am in the country:' explains Wollack, whose earlier material was more ethnic. "If I'm in Texas, audiences are not gen- erally hip to Jewish culture. In that area, talking about Judaism would be more to illustrate who I am. "Chelsea and I connect through our Jewish backgrounds. She had a bat mitz- vah, and I had a bar mitzvah (Handler is the daughter of a Jewish father and a Mormon mother.) There are customs that we knew growing up. "I think there's something about the Jewish faith that's so cultural that auto- yalial I Nate Bloom as Special to the Jewish News All Grown Up Remember Jonathan Lipnicki, the incredibly cute little boy who co- starred in Jerry McGuire (1996) and the Stuart Little movies? I knew that Lipnicki had been a bar mitzvah and had recently started acting again after a hiatus of about a decade. But I had no idea that he had grown up to be a hunk. Last month, a set of publicity pho- _ tos of Lipnicki, now 21, appeared that showed him shirt- less and working out. A serious martial arts student, he is incredibly ripped, with six-pack-plus I age abs. He has one of Jonathan those bodies that Lipnicki 68 December 1 a 2011 are usually seen only in Calvin Klein underwear ads. He also has one tattoo – a large Star of David to the side of his stom- ach. While he is no longer "cute," he is unquestionably handsome (to see pics, just google "Lipnicki shirtless"). I can imagine Lipnicki working out shirtless at a Jewish community cen- ter gym, walking over to a girl and saying, "Shalom, want to go out with me?" I imagine her response might be: "You didn't have to ask. You had me at 'Shalom." Basketball Diaries The NBA lockout has seen some play- ers scrambling for other paying jobs. As you might have heard, New Jersey Nets guard Jordan Farmar, 24, one of two active Jewish NBA players, traveled to Israel in August to play with the top Israeli team, matically relates one Jew to another. When I went back to Brad Wollack: "The thing about Jewish humor college several years ago to get a depends on where I am in the country." master's in business, I thought of that as something a good Jewish boy would do. My first Groupon coupon clubs and on TV shows. was for a Jewish deli; I eat a lot of corned "Viewers will hear stories about events beef." in our lives and behind the scenes at Wollack's early interests were not nec- Chelsea Lately. We'll have lots of big essarily comedic although he thought of guest stars — Jennifer Aniston, Reese himself as a class clown. His studies at the Witherspoon, Jay Leno and Jane Fonda." University of Southern California, where Wollack likes writing as part of a team. he majored in political science and jour- Asked to submit a chapter for Handler's nalism, placed him in work with student last book, Lies That Chelsea Handler Told TV. Me, he hid himself away at his parents' "From there, I got a job on the local home to avoid distractions for a few days. FOX sports affiliate," he recalls. "I found "I'm a very social person and like to an agent who told me I should do standup, interact with people he explains. "That and that took off. makes me more of a collaborative writer, "When I started working with Chelsea, and I think that gets far more ideas out I figured I should do standup and tour the there." country with visibility from the show. I got With so much work time spent on comfortable on stage, but it's been a long humor, relaxation gets serious. process. I like to juggle a lot of different "I watch dramas on TV and in movies things." when I get a chance says the husband of Wollack, a full-time writer for Handler an interior decorator. "I'm reading Dennis who appears about once every two weeks Lehane's Sacred; it's the third book in a on Chelsea Lately, has taken on another series." I I television commitment. The show After Lately, whose second season premiered See The Comedians of Chelsea Lately Nov. 27, airs 11 p.m. Sundays on E! and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Royal repeats during the week. Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth, "It's a scripted comedy series about Royal Oak. $37.50. (248) 399-2980; the regulars on Chelsea's show:' explains royaloakmusictheatre.com . Wollack, who has appeared in numerous Maccabi Tel Aviv. Farmar was recently profiled by the excellent Public Radio International program The World. The son of an African-American father and a Jewish mother, Farmar, who had a bar mitzvah, was raised by his Israeli stepfather, a Tel Aviv native. He has recently applied for Israeli citizenship. As The World profile began, Farmar had been something of a disappoint- ment to the notoriously demanding Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, and he was still getting used to the somewhat differ- ent style of play in the Euroleague. But the same fans who were kvetch- ing were singing his praises when he came out smoking Jordan Farmar in a big home game on Nov. 6 against Real Madrid, a top Spanish team, and scored three quick baskets. He had a brilliant game overall, and his team won. After the game, Farmar said with a chuckle, "Gotta make some more free throws. But other than that, it was really a good performance all the way around." The reporter from The World then said: "Farmar's coach at Maccabi is a fellow American, David Blatt. At one point, Blatt vowed not to sign any NBA players during the lockout, fearing it would be too disruptive for team building. But now that his start- ing point guard is coming into his own, Blatt is glowing." To read or hear the report, with vid- eos, log on to theworld.org and search for Farmar. Contact Nate Bloom at middleoftheroadl@aol.com .