44 | MARCH 12 • 2020
J
on Lovitz is having a ban-
ner first few months of
2020. He returned to his
home turf of Saturday Night
Live to play Alan Dershowitz
Jan. 25. He’
s the wise-crack-
ing voice behind a new game,
Little Diablo, and he returns to
Mark Ridley’
s Comedy Castle
in Royal Oak to perform his
stand-up act on Sunday, March
22.
JN: A few weeks ago, the world
was introduced to Little Diablo,
a built-in sequence memory
game marketed as “un-shut-
up-able.
” It features your voice.
How did that come about?
Jon Lovitz: Andy Breckman,
who I worked with on Saturday
Night Live and who created the
TV series Monk and wrote the
movie Rat Race that I was in,
developed it when he started a
toy company. He’
s very inven-
tive. You play it like the game
Simon with the colored lights.
And, as you’
re playing it, you
hear my voice heckling you
and you can’
t shut it off. It’
s
very funny. It’
s pretty dirty and
extremely annoying.
JN: That’
s really cool. How
many people can say they’
ve
had a toy created for them?
Lovitz: I know. It’
s very
exciting. I’
ve had figures made
of some of my characters from
the Simpsons, but this is so fun.
It makes me laugh; it’
s so ridic-
ulous. And it’
s definitely for
adults only.
JN: Like the two shows you will
be performing at Mark Ridley’
s
Comedy Castle? They’
re being
advertised as for the 18-plus
crowd.
Lovitz: Yes, It’
s rated R for
adults. It’
s not like it’
s filthy-
dirty or anything; it’
s just that
the audience is coming to hear
my sense of humor, so that’
s
what I’
m presenting.
JN: Would you say you have a
particular style of comedy?
Lovitz: I just decided I
didn’
t want to limit myself to
one genre, so I do a little bit
of everything. My act ends up
being more about me and my
opinions. I talk about what’
s
going on in the election and
being Jewish. I feel like we’
re
going through a huge social
change again in society, like
the hippies in the ’
60s. So
now I talk about what we’
re
going through — and trying to
understand it all — from my
perspective at age 62.
JN: When did you start doing
stand-up?
Lovitz: I left Saturday Night
Live when I was 32 and start-
ed doing stand-up 14 years
later. I would get onstage
and be so nervous. It was so
nerve-wracking. I started at the
Laugh Factory once a week for
three months, but I stopped
because it was very difficult.
Then the next year, I started
up again and I stuck with it. At
age 46, it was really like starting
over. It was tough, but I did it.
It was really hard. It was like
learning a whole other craft.
JN: Who gave you tricks of the
trade?
Lovitz: Dana Carvey is one
of my best friends. He’
s a great
stand-up. He said the most
important thing for being on
stage is to have fun and set up
the topic in as few words as
possible. Then stay on topic
and do a lot of jokes before you
switch to another topic. Those
tips made a giant difference —
they literally saved me years
because, otherwise, you’
d have
to figure that out on your own.
JN: How many shows do you
do a year?
Lovitz: Usually two to three
weekends a month.
Arts&Life
comedy
An interview with the wise-
cracking comedian who got
his break on SNL.
Lovitz on
JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER
details
To read more from Jon
Lovitz, especially about his
recent return to SNL as Alan
Dershowitz, go to the full
version of this story at
thejewishnews.com.
COURTESY JON LOVITZ
A
c
h
Lovitz