Sarge!

CHANGE IN SCHEDULE

The biracial Jewish
comedian adds author
to his resume.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he comedian known as Sarge
takes to the stage playing piano in
addition to telling jokes. His stage
name isn’t one he picked; it’s a nickname
he got in college.
To this day, Steven Charles Pickman
doesn’t know how he came to be called
Sarge, but he doesn’t mind because that
name, expressed good-naturedly, makes
him feel like an insider.
Born of a Jewish mother in a rela-
tionship with a black man, he had been
adopted by a Jewish couple and experi-
enced early taunting by schoolkids who
made him feel like an outsider because of
the color of his skin and his religion.
After his schooling, Sarge continued
to wonder about his origins while find-
ing work in sports broadcasting before
making comedy his profession. Along
the way, he fought addiction and now
reaches out to help others overcome sub-
stance abuse.
Now in his 50s, settled down with a
wife and son and free of the substances
that left him homeless for a time, Sarge
decided to document his experiences for
his son. Garry Marshall, the late director
and a good friend, encouraged the proj-
ect that became a book for the public.
Black Boychik (Zanboban Publishing)
brings the entertainer to this year’s
Jewish Book Fair to open the event Nov.
3 with a fresh routine.
“I can’t say what my presentation will
be because it’s kind of like a first date,”
says Sarge, whose wide-ranging appear-
ances have included touring Michigan as
the opening act for Aretha Franklin and
joining Freddie Roman and Dick Capri
in an updated version of Catskills on
Broadway.
“I’m looking forward to the Book
Fair, and I’m sure it’s going to be great. I
don’t do a lot of pre-thinking. I show up
and organically create what I do in the
moment.
“I’m a comedian so being humorous

is a given. That’s why many of the peo-
ple involved in the Jewish Community
Center decision-making are bringing me
there. I did a show in Florida and was
seen by people from Metro Detroit.”
Sarge’s son was only 8 when the book
was started.
“The goal was to give my son a living
document that would let him know who
his dad was in every detail from birth to
the time he’s aware of,” Sarge says. “He’d
be able to read it, look back on it and
have a cool perspective of who I am.
I’m proud that I’ve done so much, been
involved in so many things and traveled
the world. I have a lot of experience and
a lot of perspective.”
The Jewish cultural perspective includ-
ed his bar mitzvah preparations and
visits to resorts in the Catskills, where
Jewish entertainers served as motivation
for his later appearances before Jewish
audiences, some in Israel.
“I’m not a regular attendee at shul,
but I spend more time in synagogues
than most people I know because I’m
entertaining or speaking,” the comedi-
an-author says. “I’m on more bimahs
with more rabbis. It doesn’t matter what
kind. The currency of my existence is
that I bring joy and humor. I don’t bring
misery.”
Sarge doesn’t feel that his bent toward
humor comes from his Jewish genes.
“Jews invented the art, and now lots
of different people are taking to it,” he
says. “In the 27 years I’ve been doing
comedy, it’s changed. Women and men
of all different origins and backgrounds
are making strides in it. There are many
more voices now because there is much
more media.
“A lot of people are funny, but a lot
of people aren’t good comedians. It’s a
confluence of many different skills — a
quick mind, a large vocabulary, a certain
amount of drive and the determination
to try different things, fail and try again.”
On late night television, Sarge has

quipped about linking racial makeup to
coffee varieties: “I’m not really all the way
black; I’m more like mocha.”
Unlike his approach to comedy, Sarge
associates addiction with inherent ten-
dencies. He wanted his son to know
about that so the youngster can be
mindful of addiction dangers and avoid
substance problems.
“I’ve been clean for 28 years,” says
Sarge, thankful for the help of a friend
described in the book. “I’ve accom-
plished something a lot of people have a
hard time accomplishing.”
Sarge explains part of the fun of
entertaining as being recognized and
complimented by people from his past
— either in person after a show or on
social media.
“I think biracial people have an eas-
ier time now than when I was growing
up,” he says. “I was constantly having to
answer the question ‘What are you?’”
Sarge is raising his son to identify as
Jewish.
“I was raised Reform,” he says. “For
me, spirituality is more indicative of my
existence than religiosity. I’m deeply
spiritual, God-centered, prayerful and
meditative.” ■

Since the printing of the original
Jewish Book Fair brochure,
there has been one program-
ming change. Appearing at
7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, will
be Rick Richman, who wrote
Racing Against History: The
1940 Campaign for a Jewish
Army to Fight Hitler.
The book is a stunning story
of three powerful personalities
who sought to turn the tide
of history. David Ben-Gurion,
Vladimir Jabotinsky and Chaim
Weizmann – leaders of the left,
right and center of Zionism –
undertook separate missions in
America, then frozen in isola-
tionism, to seek support for a
Jewish army.
The author explains how their
efforts were heroic and tragic
as he points out divisions in the
Jewish community. Based on
previously unpublished materi-
als, the book calls attention to
Zionism in America and aims to
stimulate discussions about the
evolving relationship between
Israel and American Jews.
A book for general readers,
history buffs and academics, it
includes 75 pages of endnotes
that enable readers to pursue
the story in further depth. ■

details

Sarge will perform for Opening Comedy
Night at the Jewish Book Fair. His program
starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. $25
for the show and dessert reception. (248)
661-1900; theberman.org

jn

November 1 • 2018

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