CELEBRITY JOURNAL
CELEBRITY PICTURES CONTACT
In Jack's words...
CELEBRITY JOURNAL
CELEBRITY PICTURES CONTACT
In Jack's words...
A short time later, at the same Atlanta nightclub, I opened a couple of concerts for Canada's greatest singer-songwriter, BRUCE COCKBURN. Bruce has been around for many years, never quite reaching huge stardom in the United States. I guess he's considered a Christian/ Environmental/Political singer and his biggest hit song a couple of years after I worked with him was "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" which took a cynical look at war-torn Central America. When I worked with him he was touring to promote his new album "Inner City Front". I met Bruce backstage before the show and he was a friendly guy. He was very concerned that I work clean and I obliged him. His show was terrific and I recall that my show went very well also
I got to know comedian and magician HARRY ANDERSON
who, a number of years later, went on to star in the television situation comedy
"Night Court" for a decade and after that, "Dave's World". I worked with him March 10-14, 1982 in Atlanta, Georgia at one of the
country's premier comedy nightclubs named The Punch Line. By 1982 he was already
making strides towards his stardom by having appeared on "The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson" and "The Merv Griffin Show", among many other
well known television talk shows. The week that I worked with him he was polishing his hilariously bizarre ‘needle through the arm’ routine for his upcoming
performance on N.B.C.'s Saturday Night
Live.
What a class act this guy was. A polished
performer. He had wit, charm, character and everything else needed to become a
huge success in show business. And he was real down to earth. No
pretensions. He was just a regular guy. I spent some time with him, driving him to and from the club and
hanging out with him before and after our shows. It was enough time spent
together for him to remember me some years later when we ran
into each other in Pittsburgh.
He was having a drink at the hotel bar following a show he did
at the hotel I happened to be staying at. I had done a couple of shows at a
comedy club
somewhere nearby. When I saw him he said, "Hey, Jugglin' Jack!".
(That was my stage name early in my career.) We spoke for a
while, mostly about our careers. He was pretty excited that his show was #1 in the ratings.
I was ho-hum about having worked another crummy comedy club but happy that I was
making a living doing what I enjoyed. I mentioned to him that I had seen the
episode of "Tales From The Dark Side" that he had recently
starred in and that I thought he was terrific in it. He seemed especially proud
of that show.
I was pretty excited that a guy, who’s television show was #1 in the ratings, would
remember me by name and was spending time talking to me!
It was around the time I worked with Harry Anderson (1982, give or take a year) that I had the chance to see
JERRY SEINFELD at The Punch Line in Atlanta. I did not get to meet him but I watched his show and he was smooth. He was only on his way to stardom at that time. He didn't get his television show until years later. But, he had made numerous Tonight Show appearances by then and was building a terrific reputation and a large following. He's the first comedian I ever saw who made me realize the importance of "polishing your act". His act was so well polished. Smooth as silk. He was a master showman, even back then! There was
another comedy club in Atlanta during the early 1980's and I believe it was
called The Comedy Spot. It was in Buckhead, an affluent suburb of Atlanta. It
opened a year or so after The Punch Line and never achieved the success of the
premier Atlanta comedy club. I worked there a couple of times before it's
doors closed for good, unable to compete against the best.
It was at The Comedy Spot that I watched SANDRA
BERNHARD work. (She was in Atlanta
filming scenes for that strange movie she made with Jerry
Lewis. Lewis played a
talk-show host who was kidnapped by Sandra's character. I don't remember the
name of the movie but I do remember it being a perfect vehicle for the wacky
Bernhard.) Sandra visited the club one night while I was performing there with two
other comedians and was asked, by management, to perform after our show ended.
She accepted and performed for about 20 minutes.
I got a
kick out of her. The audience didn't quite understand her humor or character
and was, I guess, a little stunned by her uniqueness. They were pretty quiet for
her, in fact they stared at her with that 'what the Hell is that?' look
on their faces. Us comedians were laughing our asses off backstage!
We thought she was hilarious. I didn't get a chance to meet her and I wish I
did. I think she's very talented. One of a kind.
"Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire" was probably the dumbest show that has ever been shown on television and I was a little surprised when I realized that the "Multi-Millionaire" who became somewhat of a national joke was none other than
RICK ROCKWELL who I had the pleasure of working with in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1985. It was at a comedy club called "Crackers". He was the headline act and I was the featured performer.EARTHA KITT has an interesting background. Not only is she a fine singer but she's an accomplished dramatic actress as well. Most of us remember her as Catwoman in the 1960's television series, Batman. She's also made many film and stage appearances. In the late1960's she offended Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of the President, regarding the Vietnam War and this got her blacklisted from show business for many years. In the 1970's her career got back on track after it was discovered that she had been the subject of U.S. Secret Service surveillance. Eartha presented her talents to about 200 people on the evening of February 2, 1984 in a Long Island high school auditorium. She was quite gracious to me and my parents, who I brought backstage to meet her after the show.
What nice can be said about JIMMY ‘J.J.’ WALKER from that horrible old television sitcom, "Good Times"? He was not a very friendly man. He stayed to himself. He was not a DY-NO-MITE act. In fact, he had a real hard time following me and Rosie O’Donnel at Chuckles Comedy Club in Mineola, N.Y. in 1984. Rosie was emcee and I was the middle-act. By the time we were done with our shows the audience was pretty laughed out and poor J.J. couldn't keep up the pace. At the end of his show he had a 'Question/Answer' period with the audience. Someone in the audience asked him about Marvin Gaye who was recently murdered by his own father. J.J. was acquainted with Marvin and had terrible things to say about him. About how nasty a man Marvin was. I got the feeling that J.J. felt that Marvin got what he deserved. It was strange listening to this. Anyway, getting back to the evening at Chuckles Comedy Club, as I recall, Rosie and I were pretty mad that J.J. wouldn't even say hello to us.
ROSIE O’DONNEL
was
a young girl
who knew she was going to be a big star and has surely proven herself correct.
In the early 1980's when she was in her late teens she use to meet me at my apartment in Elmont, N.Y. and we’d drive three hours
to these sleazy $50 nightclub gigs in upstate New York, New Jersey or Connecticut.
Back then there were hundreds and hundreds of nightclub owners who realized they
could make a few bucks without spending too much money simply by creating a "Comedy
Night". Place a microphone in the middle of the dance
floor, maybe put a light bulb above the stage area, fill the room with drunk
kids and call it a "Comedy Night". It was as simple as that! And
although a lot of those clubs were barely a step above a war-zone, it created a great
place for young comics like Rosie and myself to hone our craft. Hell, if we
could successfully perform there, we could work anywhere!
As I mentioned, Rosie always knew that she'd be a star someday. She'd tell me that she didn't care
if she got booked on the Tonight Show or David Letterman's show, that she'd do
those shows when she became a star. It's that kind of blind ambition that is necessary
to reach the height of show business that she has reached. I'm told by other
comics who knew Eddie Murphy in his early career that he was
that way also. Young. Ambitious. Determined. Ignorant of the
possibility of failure. That's what it takes. I wish I had that ignorance. I didn't.
I still don't.
When Rosie started seeing some
professional successes other
Long Island comics started bad-mouthing her. They said she stole her jokes from
other comics. Sour
grapes, if you ask me. She was a terrific stand-up comic with an honest and real
point of view and has become a great actress and
a wonderful personality,
starring in such movies as Sleepless in Seattle and the Flintstones and now
starring on her own talk show. Smart girl!
She knew what she wanted, worked hard at it, and got it. More power to her! I'm
proud of her and happy for her! She's a constant reminder to me that, in this tough business, there are those
who were meant to rise to the top of the industry and those who (like myself)
were meant to merely make a nice living doing what we love to do!
Jazz singer and recording artist MARGARET WHITING quite popular during the 1940's and 50's, was very endearing. I really had little contact with her the night I worked with her in a high school auditorium on Long Island during the middle 1980's but I do remember meeting her and she being very sweet. She filled the auditorium with about 200 devoted fans and her show was very well received.
SHIRLEY HEMPHILL was the star of her own television shows "What’s Happening" and, a couple of years later, "What’s Happening Now" (the remake of the sit-com, starring all the original cast members who couldn’t get work once the original series went off the air). Shirley was great fun to work with at the Laff Stop Comedy & Magic Club in Houston TX. July 2-7 1985. She did keep to herself when not at the club because, as she explained to me, she had a hard time feeling comfortable with fans approaching her in public. In the club she was very personable and quite funny. All of the employees just loved her. She was very easy to work with. Also, very sure of herself. When I asked her how long of a show I should do she told me to do as much as I wanted, that the more time I did, the less time she’d have to do. Totally unthreatened. I like that. Most comics I worked with on the Comedy Club circuit felt threatened having a guy who was funny (and juggled as well) opening the show for them. She was very secure with her talents and talent is just what she showed the audience that week keeping them laughing for 45 minutes each night. A classy lady! I really liked her.
In
1976 AL STEWART had an unqualified hit of an album, "Year of the Cat", which
sold over a million copies and spawned the Top Ten single of the same name. The
album "Time Passages" later duplicated this success. He was not at his career peak when I worked with him at the Bottom Line in
New York City in 1985 but this certainly wasn't indicative of his talent. He was great! I was a
huge fan of the song "Year of the Cat" so it was quite exciting to see
him perform it live.
I did learn an important lesson that
night...Until you know somebody really well, and they know you just as well, don’t try to be funny.
They may not understand your humor. When I first met Al, I said "Hi, I’m
Jack Swersie and I’m a real big fan of your music. I especially like Maggie
May." Well, as you may know, "Maggie May" was an early
1970's Rod Stewart song. At the time I didn’t think that
he realized I was kidding. He seemed insulted. But years later I decided that
he'd probably heard that comment over and over
again from jerks like me and was just sick and tired of it! I can't blame him. I never worked with
Al Stewart again.
I don't have any record of the date or year that I worked with
JUDY TENUTA but I believe it to be sometime during the mid-1980's. It was at a big rock club in (I believe) Buffalo, New York. I remember that it was primarily a concert room but they did an evening of comedy once a week. I can't remember the name of the club. Sorry.Internationally renowned big band leader, MAYNARD FERGUSON, made his musical debut with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1950 and was known to play higher notes than any other Jazz trumpeter of that era. In 1985 I worked with him in New York City at the legendary concert club, The Bottom Line. He was the first act who I worked with in concert who acknowledged my performance when he appeared on stage. A nice word about the opening act from the headliner to the audience is always a plus. It makes the opening act feel appreciated. It shows just how gracious the celebrity headliner is. And Maynard Ferguson was most gracious, on stage and off. His daughter stopped by that evening to see the show and he introduced her to me. She, too, was very nice. It was very interesting to see that he is a deeply spiritual man. He had a shrine of some sort set up in his dressing room, complete with incense.
"Grace Under Fire" star BRETT BUTLER
began her career as a stand-up comedienne in Atlanta, Georgia. She actually
began a year or so after I moved from Atlanta to New York and I never met her
until a few years later when we were both scheduled to perform on the same show at Emory
University in Atlanta. I believe the year was 1985. When I worked with her she had not yet experienced the
degree of success that she was to see a number of years later.
Right along side of her emerging success was her growing reputation as (to put it nicely)
someone who was extremely hard to work with. It's no secret that she had
"personal issues", threw temper tantrums on the set of her television
show and caused her show to be cancelled because of her unprofessional behavior. Many of us in the
business, who crossed paths with her over the years, were not surprised to see
her life and career fall apart as it did. I know that I certainly wasn't.
The agent who booked her and me on the same show at Emory University set the
show up so that Brett would perform first and I would close out the show. When I
got to the college and met Brett she rudely told me that there was "no
way in Hell that" she "would open a show for a f__ing
juggler"! (That was the term she used, except that she didn't omit the "uck".) I really didn't care whether I opened or closed the show and didn't feel as though it was worthy
of an argument
so I performed first and let her close out the show. That night I had a great
show. She had a rough show. Poetic justice!
Years
later, when her television show was #1 in the ratings, I read an Associated
Press interview with her and she made some disparaging remark about
"jugglers" that sounded very much like she was referring to that night
at Emory University. Now that's flattering!.
BUDDY RICH is known as having been "the world's greatest drummer." He began playing drums in vaudeville as "Traps, the Drum Wonder" at the age of 18 months and had a career that lasted for over 50 years. He was known to be quite the perfectionist when it came to his craft and he always expected the same from the people he performed with. As a result he developed a show business reputation among fellow musicians as being a tyrant. There are stories about the existence of an audio tape of him screaming at his band and firing some band members on his tour bus. Knowing all of this as I did at the time I worked with him, I expected a real nasty person, but the Buddy Rich I met at the Bottom Line in New York City in 1985 was a real gentleman. Friendly and respectful. I didn’t talk a whole lot to him, but I do remember him telling me "good show". He was one hell of a drummer and surrounded himself with great musicians. He put on a great show!
It was after his shows at The Bottom Line in
August of 1985 that JAY LENO
skyrocketed to the
top of the business. Never again was he to perform in another small 400-seat concert room
like this New York City club. I like to think that his
rise in the business had something to do with appearing in concert with me but
that would be an exaggeration. Well...it would be a lie actually. A huge
lie! He was well on his way
to stardom when I worked with him. He
had done several appearances on the Tonight Show and was now making regular
appearances on his friend David Letterman’s show.
I met Jay and his wife,
Maven, backstage and after the show I met Paul Shaffer, the humble band leader for
"The Late Show with David Letterman", who was in the audience that
night. Paul was very nice. I told him how funny I thought he was but, in his
publicly shy manner, he turned the compliment around to me and praised my work.
Jay was very personable
also and he and I talked about my attempts to get on
Letterman’s show. I told him that the talent coordinator at the time, Bob Morton, wouldn’t
take a look at my show unless I did straight stand-up comedy as opposed to the
comedy/juggling. Jay asked me why I didn’t do a straight stand-up act and I told him
that what I did was what I did best and that I would stick with it. It was years
later that I found out that Jay doesn’t like juggling acts either. He’s been quoted
as saying (about jugglers in Comedy Clubs), "hey’ I don’t go to the circus and ask to do 10
minutes!" I really think that's a funny joke but I don't appreciate
that line of thinking. Novelty comedy acts like myself (magicians, ventriloquists,
jugglers, etc.) had to deal with that mind-set quite frequently in the comedy club world.
We were looked upon as second-class acts. It's as if the extra talent that we
presented on stage was threatening to the straight stand-up comic. It's bad
enough to them that we were funny, but we juggled too. Or did magic. Or whatever. In
my mind anyone can stand up on stage and tell jokes. That's easy. But just try
talking and juggling! Go on, Jay! Try it! Now that Jay has the Tonight Show it is my understanding that he
won’t even showcase jugglers.
Getting back to the night at the Bottom Line, Jay was
hot. Sold out. Both shows. Great audiences. I also did great.
His audiences were perfect for me. Jay told me "good show". He did over an hour and a half of solid
kick-ass material. He had the crowd laughing non-stop through his entire show! It was no wonder that he would soon be a major star.
A quick word about
the late-magician HARRY BLACKSTONE,
Jr.
who I worked with at the Valley Forge Music Fair on October 23 and
24, 1987:
"See the box! See the woman get into the box! See the woman disappear!
See another woman! See her get into a different box! See her disappear again! See yet another
woman get into yet another box and, yes, see her disappear yet again! See another
woman get into another box! This time let’s cut her in half! Wow! Now lets
make both parts of her disappear! YAWN!"
(Remember one thing...my opinion
doesn't mean a damn thing! He's the guy who was making the big bucks those two
nights that I worked with him, not I. The people came there to see him, not me.
So, he's the one who must have been doing something right, not me! Just who in
the hell do I think I am?)
Four-time Grammy Award nominee LAURA BRANIGAN is mostly known for her chart-topping platinum hit, "Gloria". It stayed on the Billboard's Top Ten chart for 22 weeks! She's also had three other top ten hits; "Self Control", "How Am I Suppose To Live Without You" and "Solitaire". On July 31, 1987 I worked with her for the first time, at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She packed the theater and her audience was great. A year or so later I worked with her again at Trump Regency in Atlantic City when she was filming an episode of the S.R.O. concert series for television. She’s a powerhouse of a performer, a great rock 'n roller and an awfully sweet person.
Italian vocalist SERGIO FRANCHI
died a few years after I worked with him at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was a pleasant man, but I did not feel as though I did all that well with his audience. He was nice to me and did compliment me on my show, however.In September of 1988 I worked with one of New Jersey's finest rock 'n roll bands, SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY AND THE ASBURY JUKES. Southside started his career about the same time in the early 1970's as Bruce Springsteen but never enjoyed the huge popular appeal that Bruce did. From what I've read, he never sought out that kind of world-wide success but, rather, played music for the simple love of it. Whenever Southside's name is mentioned the inevitable career comparison to Springsteen is made and I would imagine that would be an annoyance after a while. In fact, during his concert in a New England rock club when I worked with him he even made a joking comment about Bruce. I don't remember exactly what he said but I remember thinking that at least he had a good sense of humor about that comparison. Southside rocked the club that night and his audience was absolutely crazy for him. He's a Hell of a good rock 'n roller!
I worked with THE DRIFTERS at the Fernwood Resort in the run-down Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. I’m not sure they were the original group because they spelled their name D-R-I-P-H-T-E-R-S. (That's a joke to underscore the fact that there are actually several groups touring as the Drifters. It's my understanding that there are not any original band members left.)
I also worked with the LETTERMEN. Definitely not the original group. Most of them were not old enough to remember the original group.
TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN will forever be remembered by the hit song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around an Old Oak Tree". There were, of course, many other hit songs as well as their 1970's television variety show. On September 7, 1991 I worked them at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. The original Dawn included Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent. When I performed with them Telma was not there because she was working on her television show. Her spot was filled in by a young lady who, I believe, was Joyce's sister. Despite the replacement of Telma, Dawn sounded as good as they did back in the 1970's. The audience size was less than capacity in this 2000-seat theatre. But even though the crowd size was smaller than anticipated, Tony put his heart and sole into his performance. This man is one hell of an entertainer. In fact, there are very few performers who work as hard as he does. He really connects with his audience. There is a lot of love coming from him on stage, that’s for sure. You can tell he loves entertaining and he loves his audience. Tony, Joyce and her sister were all very pleasant to be with.
I have never worked with, and will
probably never again work with, anyone as terrific as PERRY COMO
. When I
was told that I was being submitted for the opening act spot on his annual Christmas tour I
never thought I would get it. I didn't think that the age difference between his
audiences and me would be conducive to successful shows. In short, I didn't
think that his audience would understand my off-beat humor. And I figured that Perry
would come to the same conclusion after seeing my video tape. I couldn't have
been more wrong! As the story goes, Perry looked at ten different
video tapes of performers and when he saw mine he pointed to the television
screen and said "He’s the
one!" So for the next three years (1990-1992) I was Perry Como’s favorite
Comedian/Juggler. And it turned out that his audiences were great for me. I've
performed for many senior citizen groups over the years and Perry's audiences
were, no doubt, the finest!
My association with Perry did more to boost my career
than anything else I had done up to that point. To have been touring with a star
of his stature gave more
credibility to me as an artist than any other successes that had yet come my
way. For that
reason, and because he is probably the nicest man to walk this earth, I love the
guy. Perry is so down to earth. A real person. Not someone caught up in the
trappings of fame and fortune. I remember talking to him on the tour bus regarding his
success and asking him how it felt to be a" living legend". His response
was humble. He acknowledged this fact but with an attitude that showed he was not
overwhelmed or self-impressed by the immensity of his accomplishments.
He treated everyone on the tour with warmth and respect. He joked around a lot.
No one felt any personal distance from the man. He was one of us. When we would
arrive in a new city by way of airplane he would, many times, make one or two of
us get into his limousine while he would jump onto our shuttle bus and travel to
the hotel with the rest of the tour group. One time, on an airplane, he made me
move into his first-class seat while he sat in my coach-class seat joking with the
passengers. Another time he convinced the flight attendant to allow him to speak
over the intercom on the plane. He introduced himself as "this is your
Captain Perry speaking" and proceeded to wish everyone a Merry
Christmas. He was great fun on those tours.
Perry
and I had a couple of slightly off-colored inside jokes that we enjoyed. At the
end of each of his shows he would bring me back out on stage for a curtain call.
At that time we would give each other a nice hug. Each time, one of us would
then whisper the punch line of the joke into the others ear. Inevitably one, or
both, of us would laugh. That was fun. It's like when you would see Johnny
Carson whispering something in a guests ear as the show went to a commercial
break. The audience always wondered what they were talking about. Well,
this was my personal, inside moment with Perry and, to me, it was special.
Perry has brought so much
love to his fans. He showed it on stage and off. I never saw him refuse to
talk to a fan offstage. Whether it was backstage or while we'd be walking around
a shopping center in one of the cities we were working, he was always most accessible
and accommodating
to those who would approach him. His warmth and sincerity touched everyone he
talked to. On our way to a show in Pittsburgh our tour bus broke down on the
highway in the middle of no-where. The local police shuttled us to a small
restaurant off of the nearest exit while arrangements were being made to get us
to our show. We spent about two hours drinking coffee while the employees of the
restaurant were phoning all of their friends to let them know that Perry Como
had made an unscheduled appearance there. Before you knew it the restaurant started
to fill up with friends of the employees, all hoping to meet Perry and, perhaps,
get an autograph. It was fun to watch Perry selflessly oblige them. He really
seemed to enjoy it.
Perry really gave more of himself than anyone I’ve ever worked
with. It takes a very special person to keep his kind of success and popularity
in perspective and to give back to the public as much love as the public has
given him. He was quite successful at that. His love of people and his warmth
towards them was always sincere. It always seemed to come from his heart.
When I worked with Perry, he lived up to his reputation as being a true
gentleman. He’s the greatest and I love him.
On May 18, 1991,
after my first tour with him, Perry had me involved
in a show benefiting Duke University’s Children’s Hospital in North
Carolina. This is a yearly Celebrity Golf Tournament and Show that Perry was
very much involved in and it was an honor to have been asked
on board.
Legendary guitarist
CHET ATKINS
was one of the celebrities on the star-studded show. It was a treat to watch him work.
The late singing star
HELEN O’CONNELL
was there also. She was an elegant,
sweet, and warm woman who was quite the star in her day. I spent some time
talking to her at the party in Perry's hotel suite following the show and she
was one really classy woman.
Big band era recording artist
DON CORNELL was
on the show as well and I spent a lot of time talking to him and his lovely
wife, Iris.
One of the top Jazz pianists and vocalists of our time, BUDDY GRECO was also there. He
was a very nice man. He said he enjoyed my show and
asked for my business card saying he'd like to work with me sometime. Then I never heard from him again.
Comedian FOSTER BROOKS
was pretty nice although he kept to himself. He does that drunk character which, to me,
doesn’t play out that well in this day and age and I really don't think the
audience appreciated him.
BILLY DAVIS Jr.
use to be part of the 5th Dimension. He did a couple of songs and sounded great.
WOODY WOODBURY
emceed the show. Years ago Woody was popular in radio and I know he had
at least one comedy album in his day. He was one of the nicest guys at this
event.
There were a number of other celebrities at the event who were there to
partake in the golf tournament and a highpoint for me was meeting television
and movie actor
DENNIS
FARINA. He's always
been one of my favorite actors and I had no idea that he was going to be at the
event. After my performance, as I was leaving the stage and walking up the aisle
through the audience, a hand reached out to shake mine. Dennis warmly shook my
hand and told me that he enjoyed my show. That made my night! Later at the party
at Perry's, my wife and I got a chance to talk to him and have some photo's taken with him.
Also present at this event, but not performing, were JERRY VAN DYKE
and
PAT HARRINGTON My wife and I had the
pleasure of meeting them at breakfast the morning after the show. They were very
funny. We joked around with them for a few minutes and both seemed very nice. They were eating
breakfast so I didn't want to overstay my introduction. Jerry didn't see the
show the night before but Pat Harrington (from the television show "One Day
At A Time") did and told me he enjoyed my show. I mentioned to Pat that we
had recently run into his former co-star, MACKENZIE
PHILLIPS, who lived
in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania about 15 minutes from
where we live.
Touring with Perry Como was a real
event for me because I got to meet and socialize with famous people who I,
otherwise, would never had gotten to meet. Another case in point was the opportunity to meet
REGIS PHILBIN
and KATHIE LEE GIFFORD in December of
1991.
It was on my second tour with Perry Como and we had two of nights of
concerts at the
Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. We got to our hotel the day before our first
performance because Perry was scheduled to appear on the "Live With
Regis and Kathie Lee" television show the next morning.
We all awoke very early and a limo
picked us up at the hotel. Making the trip into New York City was Perry, Mickey
Glass (his manager), Carl Marlow (his personal assistant), music director Nick
Perito, tour manager Jason Stone and me. Typical of Long Island is the
backed up traffic on the Long Island Expressway and it was no surprise to me (a
native New Yorker) that we would get stuck in traffic. And, we did. In fact we
were stuck in traffic for so long that we were unable to make it to ABC studio's
for his appearance. But Regis and his television audience were in contact with
Perry throughout the whole ordeal by way of cell phone.
Regis is a huge fan of
Perry and for a couple of years was quite obsessed with getting Perry on the
show. In fact, one year Regis did the craziest thing. He went to Florida,
chartered a boat and, with a camera crew, went out looking for Perry by traveling
to Perry's home on the inter-coastal waterway. Plans got confused and Perry was not home
at the time so the bit didn't work out as Regis had wanted it to. But, true
to anything that Regis does, it was funny as all Hell! Regis is really the
funniest of ALL talk-show hosts! He's naturally funny. Not phony. Not dependant on the written joke. His humor stems from his
personality. He's really sharp!
Anyway, getting back to our traffic jam,
we finally made it to the studio but it was too late for that days show. So
Regis and his people kept the studio audience late and Perry shot his segment
that day for the
next day's show.
I was lucky to get introduced to both Regis and Kathie Lee.
Both were extremely nice. I told Regis that I thought he was very funny. He
seemed very warm and somewhat humble. Kathy Lee was real sweet and (it's no
secret) extremely attractive. Quite often I hear people poking fun at Kathie Lee
and I really don't understand it. She seemed so sincere and down to earth. She
was very nice to me and I really like her!
In April of 1992
Perry asked me to appear at another charity event. This time it was a
telethon in St. Louis which raised money for an organization benefiting handicap
children. It was run by ‘Bucky’ Bush former President George Bush’s brother. I met him and
thought that was pretty cool since I once met Jimmy Carter’s brother, Billy.
Now, I can say that I've met the brothers of two United States Presidents! (And
you can say "Big Deal!")
There were many celebrities participating in the show
including singer DIONNE WARWICK who in recent years
had been hawking all that psychic nonsense on television infomercials. She's
a terrific talent and great singer and pretty much carried the show. She was great
to watch up close. (It's always been a mystery to me why, with her talent and
success, she choose to partake in those psychic infomercials.) A couple of years later I was
scheduled to work with her in concert somewhere in the mid-west, but the concert got canceled due to bad ticket sales. I feel that if
she was truly a good psychic she would have known she wouldn’t sell tickets
and not accepted the gig!
ANGIE DICKENSON
hosted the telethon. She
was a great woman to be around. So sweet. Always saying nice things about everyone.
It's like she didn't have a bad bone in her body. She was very uplifting. She’s
also like ‘one of the guys’, telling off-color jokes
to Perry Como and anyone else who would listen. In fact, she told me a funny joke
that I occasionally tell on stage to this day.
JOHN FORSYTHE
was
also one of the hosts. His new situation comedy show on television made its debut that night and I caught
the first episode in my hotel room prior to meeting him. (The short-lived show
also starred the actor who plays the hilarious Niles on Frazier.) I told John
that I thought his new show was pretty good,
but that what it really needed was a part written for a comedian/juggler. He
smiled and looked at me funny as if he didn't know whether I was being serious or
not. Whether I was or not, he should have taken my advice because the show
didn’t last more than one season.
ARTE JOHNSON
of Laugh-In fame ("very
interesting...but stupid!") seemed
a bit full of himself. Not knowing that he had a supporting role on a
television soap opera for the past couple of years, I
asked him if he was working on any show business projects. He seemed offended, like I should
have known he was on a soap opera. Whenever he spoke to me he would refer to me as
"kid" in that
condescending way people talk down to you. I hated that!
THE DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADERS
were also there and they were not so bad on the eyes! Smart girls also. All of
them were in college or employed in professional careers aside from jumping
around and looking sexy.
JIM BYRNES
appeared
on the show as well. He's starred in such television shows as "Wiseguys", and
"Highlander, The
Series". He's also a fine singer and he performed several times over the
course of the evening. He was a very nice man.
"His voice is a national treasure", Ronald Reagan once said about ANDY WILLIAMS If you have problems taking the word of a politician then listen to me! I say that Andy Williams voice most certainly is a national treasure. (A comedian's word is certainly more worthy than a politician's!) I worked with Andy at the State Theater in Easton, PA. on February 15, 1992 and he sounded terrific!. Andy appeared very tanned and physically fit. A short man with a tall stature. His demeanor exudes the kind of self-confidence I wish I could always feel within myself. I spoke to him before the show and he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. We spoke about my association with Perry Como and he had much to say as he knows Perry from years gone by. I really liked Andy and hoped that I would get some more work with him, but that seems unlikely, as he usually uses another act like mine who happens to also be very good. He told me he enjoyed my show That is always nice to hear from a man of his immense talent and success.
; On May 7, 1992 I worked with THE FOUR TOPS for the second time. The prior year I worked with them in Easton, Pennsylvania and now I was with them at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. When I worked with them they were one of the only, if not the only, 1960's groups that still had all of their original members. And what a show they put on! Great sound, lots of energy, and plenty of enthusiasm. Man, they worked hard! And, they didn't disappoint. It's amazing to me just how many great songs these guys sang during their career. You really don't realize it until you watch their whole show. Every time they started a new song I thought, "Oh yea, I remember that one"! It just didn't stop for the entire hour. One great song after another! Hot stuff.MANHATTAN TRANSFER, the most popular jazz vocal group of their era, sing real well but they really didn’t seem to give a hoot about me when I worked with them at a Pennsylvania theater in the early 1990's. They stayed to themselves and I did not meet any of them.
I did two Florida dates with LOU RAWLS in November of 1992, one in Clearwater and the other in Sarasota. I thought he was great and he told me that he liked my show also. He indicated that he would like to work with me again but, unfortunately, that has yet to happen. He was really a terrific guy and, although I didn't spend a whole lot of time talking with him, I felt that he'd be a great guy to work with on a steady basis. Everything I've heard about him from other entertainers supports that notion.
In February of 1993 I worked with Grammy award winning singer/songwriter MELISSA MANCHESTER, at the Scranton Cultural Center in Pennsylvania. She packed the room with a very appreciative audience. I met her prior to my show and when I came off stage after my set she warmly congratulated me. She sincerely and enthusiastically told me that she thought I was great. After she performed I spoke with her some more, thanking her for a terrific evening. She gave me a hug good-bye and thanked me. I got great vibes from her. A very nice woman! Did you ever meet someone who just makes you feel good by being in the same room with them? She's that kind of person. There was a warmth that came from deep within her that you could feel just by being near her. I've only met a few people like that in my life. People like that are precious.I would like to have met CHUBBY CHECKER when I worked with him September 10, 1993, but I had to get to a friends bachelor party right after my show at the State Theater in Easton, Pennsylvania. I was able to see about 20 minutes of his show and I must say that guy really works hard! He was 52 years old when I worked with him and he was dancing around on stage like a teenager! Man, was he good. I wish I could have stayed for his entire show. He’s a true show business legend and the king of the rock & roll dance craze.
One of the most successful female vocalists of the late
1950's & 1960's was CONNIE FRANCIS
I worked with her in 1993 at the trashy Concord Resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Once a thriving resort area, the Catskill Mountains was (in 1993 and now) home
to a dozen or so run-down resort hotels suffering from poor management and
struggling to stay alive. The Concord was one of those hotels well on the way to
it's own demise. Still, those hotels provided a place to perform for people
with legendary names, like Connie Francis, and no-name acts like myself. And, if
you enjoyed performing for audiences of miserable, old people with nasty
attitudes, then the Catskills was, and is, a performers dream. I hated it and no
longer work in the Catskill Mountains.
I met Connie backstage and she was very nice to me. We spoke for a few minutes
and I couldn't help wonder how she felt about performing at this run down venue.
It was difficult enough for me and I have not seen, in my career, the smallest
percentage of Connie's success. She's been everywhere and done everything there
is to do in show business; movies, television, stage and more. She's headlined
the biggest and best theaters in the world. She's a living legend! And now she
was performing at this hell-hole of a resort in the Catskills and I was talking
to her backstage in a filthy dirty dressing room. I always felt demoralized
working there and could only imagine how she must have felt. I should have asked
her. I didn't.>
A couple of months later I was back at the Concord Hotel with crooning 1950's teen idol EDDIE FISHER. No longer a teen idol but still very much the talent, the then 65-year old Eddie seemed displeased with his time backstage at the Concord. And I couldn't blame him. The dressing rooms were a mess. The toilets were backed up. There was no hot water. The stage crew was having technical problems. The show was running late. Business as usual at the Concord Hotel!
On December 4, 1993 I had the gig of a
lifetime. To work with such comedy legends as
MILTON BERLE
and
SID CAESAR
is an opportunity any comedian would kill for. And I didn’t even have to hurt
anyone for it. It was a gift from Jason Stone, the entertainment
director at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island and a man who has done more for me,
professionally, than anyone else in the business! He's the man who connected me
with Perry Como and made it possible for me to tour with Perry for three years!
He's also booked me on many other concerts with many great stars. This concert
was one of the most exciting!
The event was the
MILTON BERLE 80th ANNIVERSARY ROAST,
celebrating Berles 80th year in show business. Also
on the show were comediansNORM CROSBY,
JACK CARTER
and JESSE WHITE.
You probably remember Jesse White as the
original Maytag repairman.
Milton Berle has a backstage reputation,
among stage hands and technical crews, as being tough to work with. He is known
to yell and complain quite a bit and, that night, he did have all the technical people irritated. My
first contact with him was when I was doing my sound and light rehearsal. When I was introduced
to him he asked me if I used taped music in my show. I told him that I have
music that I use when I exit the stage at the end of my show. He asked me what I use
when I enter the stage. I told him
that I just walk out with no music. He started complaining about that to me but
then just said, "I won’t get into that now!"
As the other comedians
entered the theater I introduced myself to them. They were all pretty cordial. Sid
Caesar seemed nervous. Norm Crosby was very warm. Jack Carter and Jesse White
really didn’t seem to care one way or another about me. Among themselves they
were a rather cranky, bickering bunch. In fact there was a
shoving match between Carter and the guy who was emceeing the event, who's name
I do not recall. Lots of
old, fragile ego’s, I guess.
My show went well enough although I don’t feel as though I
brought the house down that night. Norm Crosby did compliment my show. Jack and
Jesse still didn't seem to care and said nothing. Other people backstage were
quite complimentary. When Berle was about to walk out on the
stage I shook his hand and wished him well. He said "I’m sorry I didn’t
get to see your show." Then he started to walk away and turned around kidding,
adding "on purpose!" What a comedian.
The roast was not really a roast in the traditional sense.
Sure, they spent some time putting each other down but it had to be very tame
because there was a public audience. I'm sure that if the roast was held at
their own private function there would have been a lot more risqué things said and done.
They
spent most of the time doing their usual shtick. Jesse White told old jokes. Sid
Caesar did a hilarious Yiddish routine that the audience loved. Crosby stole the
show with the word substitution bit that he does so well. Jack Carter did whatever
it his that he
does. It was a very long night and when Berle got up to do his show the audience was tired and really
didn’t respond to him like as they would have had they not already seen two
hours of comedy. In fact about 150 people left while
he was on stage. That was embarrassing to watch, but Milton Berle is a true professional and he just
kept going.
After the show, Jill and I
were invited into Berle's dressing room where he sat relaxing in his bathrobe. He beckoned
me over to him so he could see the tin windup Milton Berle toy car from my antique
toy collection. I brought it with me with the hopes that he might autograph it. He was thrilled that I had the toy and impressed that I spent
$500 on it. He said it was worth at least
$1000! I didn’t argue about that although I knew that it has a book value of
right around $500. He was kind enough to sign the
plastic hat on this tin toy. He told everyone
that the toy came out in 1949 and sold for a nickel. He seemed rather proud of
it. He said he had one at one time but didn’t know where it was. He asked me
where I got mine and if I could get him another. He gave me his address in L.A.
and asked me to let him know when I found one. I told him I would start looking
around. He posed for some pictures with Jill and I, then we left. He was very
gracious to us in his dressing room. A complete flip-flop from his attitude in
the theater. He was like a different person. Real warm. Very conversational.
Before we left we got pictures of us with the other
comedians on the show. This was a real
evening to remember. How many people get to rub elbows with such legends as
Milton Berle and Sid Caesar?. I’m
so lucky to have had these experiences. If I never find my own fame in the
business, and it doesn't look as though I will, at least I’ve had the opportunity to be near it. It's invigorating.
Incidentally, I did find the toy for Berle and I did write him at his office. I
got a call from Berle's secretary who told me that Berle was sick with the flu
but said he would make a decision as to whether I should buy it for him when he
was feeling better. He said I’d hear from them next week. I never did!
The next night I appeared at Westbury
again this time with
DONNA SOMMER. I never got to meet Donna and I
must tell you that I was really disappointed. One of the perks of being hired as
an opening act is the opportunity to meet the talented people that you get to
work with. An introduction seems to be a courtesy extended to the opener by the
headliner. It's just a nice thing for them to do. Take a few minutes, say hello
and thank the entertainer for their work. After all, the opener is the person
who's job it is to warm-up the headliners audience. Get them ready for the main
attraction. It's not an easy job and, quite frankly, it takes a special talent.
Not every entertainer can do it. Walking out on stage to a room full of thousands of
strangers, all of whom paid big ticket prices to see the headline star and many
of whom have no idea that there is even an opening act, is a huge challenge. The theater lights
dim. The crowd quiets in anticipation of the introduction of the star. The
introduction begins, "Welcome to an evening with Donna Sommer.....and your
opening act tonight is..." The collective sigh that is heard at this
time is enough to put butterflies in the stomachs of the most experienced of opening acts! It's
a credit to an entertainer who can, night after night, face this situation and a
little recognition from the headliner is not too much to expect. Almost all of
the celebrities that I've worked with have been kind enough to extend this
courtesy.
I don’t know if it was because of
her tour manager or her but she was so insulated from everything around her.
So protected. She was constantly surrounded by three or four of her people. There was a mood of urgency
surrounding her that seemed to me to be quite unnecessary. Granted, she is one
heck of an
entertainer (one of the best!) and put on one hell of a show, but I doubt that
she needs three people
escorting her from her dressing room to the stage entrance 30 feet away! And
there didn't appear to be any reason for someone to be waiting with her coat to drape
around her as soon as she left the stage so she could leave the theater immediately, and I mean immediately,
after her performance. The
whole evening was very puzzling to me. The night before I had worked at
the same theater with Milton Berle and Sid Caesar, two of the 20th century's
biggest legendary stars, and there was no where near the amount of intensity
that I felt backstage that night.
PAM TILLIS
is the daughter of renowned country entertainer Mel Tillis
and a country music singer and recording artist in her own right.
She was also one of the first few stars I worked with who were younger than me. It
threw me for a loop that at 36 years old she had accomplished so much and I, 40
years old when I performed with her, was still the opening act. It made be stand
back and re-evaluate my career. It made me realize that the longer I knock
around on the concert circuit, the more I'm going to work with the younger
talented entertainers who
have achieved the success that, in my earlier show business days, I wanted to
achieve. This would really hit home a few years later when I opened two concerts
for Country Music's hottest young star of the times, 17 year old Leanne
Rimes. I'll write more about her later on in this journal.
Things went well. I didn’t have
a killer show, but I did well. Pam watched my act from backstage. She came over
to me after my show, complimented me and shook my hand. She joked with me about
the fire stick I juggle at the end of my show. She said she thought that
she should take it out on stage with
her. I told her it would be a great routine for her to open with. With a laugh
and her cute smile she agreed. She
asked me how to pronounce my name. She planned on acknowledging me when she went
on stage. Apparently she forgot my name when she got out there. She still
acknowledged my performance but referred to me as "that guy spinning the
fire". She said it got her all excited. Later she noticed a piece of
the apple that I juggled on the stage floor. She picked it up, turned to her band asking if anyone was hungry. That got a
nice laugh. I would have preferred if the stage crew wasn’t so careless as to
leave it there. All I would need is to have the headliner slip on remnants of my
show and break a leg! There's a real good career move for me, huh?
Prior to the show I met Pam's son who was about 13 years old at the time. He
expressed an interest in my props and I wound up teaching him how to juggle. I
never saw anyone learn so quickly. I’m either a brilliant teacher or he’s a
great student. All I know is that I can tell people that I taught the son of Pam
Tillis and the grandson of Mel Tillis how to juggle!
Pam’s show was great. She’s got a terrific voice and she's a heck of a
personality. Very likeable, on stage and off stage. Her
band was also great. The crowd loved her. It was a nice evening.
A couple of weeks later I opened
a couple of concerts for vocalist,
guitarist, songwriter and recording artist STEVE WARINER
While he is not become a huge star
he has become a respected name and talent in Country Music circles. We
worked an 800-seat theater at the Host Farms Resort Hotel in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania.
He sold out both shows. I thought he was very good. Not a real
energetic performer, but certainly endearing. Enjoyable music. I met Steve after my
performance and he said he really enjoyed my show, especially the off-color
"They call me half-nuts!" joke I do when I
pass my machete between my legs as I'm juggling. He
was friendly and said he hopes to see me again. (Yea right, that’s what they
all say. But do they ever call?) He and I both had terrific
shows that day.
On Friday, November 12, 1993 I worked with
THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS for
the first time. This was at the State Theater in Easton, Pennsylvania. The following Monday I got a
surprise call from the William
Morris Agency in Los Angeles saying "the boys liked you and want to do another
date with you in April!" What a thrill! I never had so much fun working with anyone
as I did with these two legendary comedians and the prospect of working with
them again paralleled the excitement I felt when I landed the Perry Como
Christmas tour three years earlier. The Smothers Brothers comedy record albums
were in my house when I was a young boy and I always thought that they were
hilarious. And I always watched their 1960's television show. Now I was
their opening act. Life was good!
Both Tom and Dick Smothers were real down to
earth guys. When I met Dick
backstage he asked me
what kind of show I did. When I told him I did a comedy and juggling show he said that that
was one of their favorite kinds of acts when they had their own television shows. What
better way to make me feel welcome as their opening act. When I met Tom it was great to see that
funny smirk that made him popular. My wife Jill and I spent a lot of time talking to the
guys. We swapped dirty jokes, talked about racing cars (Dick raced cars for a
number of years), and talked about
their families. I had a good conversation with Dick about some of the great theaters
we’ve both played over the years. Tom was very concerned
that I got a proper light and sound check, and told me he would be introducing
me from backstage in his announcer voice. I had left a copy of a
newspaper article written about me in my local paper regarding that nights concert
in the Smothers dressing room and
Tom and I talked a little about that. I told Tom that I appreciated his concern
regarding my technical needs, and he said he enjoys the production end of the
business. After my show Dick told me he liked the rapport I have with the
audience. Tom told me I was very funny and engaging. Their music director,
Mike Predde, gave me a warm and sincere congratulations after my show. It’s
one thing when the stars compliment you because you never know whether
they're just being nice. Even if they don't like the opener they might graciously
compliment you. But when the band compliments you, you know you're okay because they've
been around and have seen hundreds of guys open their concerts. If the band
doesn't like you, they just won't say anything.
The
Smothers Brothers were great in concert. The first part of their show was about me. They
started out with a song, then welcomed the audience and then acknowledged me. Tommy starts lying to the audience, insisting that I told him
that I was a pilot and a doctor as well as a comedian and juggler. He carried on about
this for ten minutes when finally Dick asks him why he was lying. Tommy replied,
"National policy!" Very funny bit. They also mentioned my name several
more times throughout the show. Tom ends the show with his yo-yo routine,
showing his talent and character. They were the best. After the show we got some
pictures with them and said good-bye. Three days later I found out they liked me
and wanted me on their April date in Stamford, C
I worked with comedian
ALAN KING on
May 7, 1994 in Rockville, Maryland. The show was part of a fund raising
event for a Temple. I introduced
myself to Alan in his dressing room. He was furiously smoking a cigarette and
seemed quite nervous. He was nice enough and was easy to talk to. I mentioned to
him that we had a mutual friend, Jason Stone (entertainment director at the
Westbury Music Fair on Long Island). Alan then spoke very highly of Jason.
About two weeks before this show I had seen Alan's television talk show that he
had for a year or so on the Comedy Channel. On the show he was talking about an
agent in New York named Einhorn. He referred to him as an agent who never paid
any decent money. I was very familiar with the Einhorn Agency and had worked for
them many times. I told Alan that the comment he made about Einhorn was right on target!
He laughed.
Judging by the audience response during my
show and the terrific comments I received from audience members at the reception
afterwards, I had a great show. Personally I wasn't all that happy with my
performance and I've got a theory about that. After years of being on stage a
performer gets used to a certain high standard of excellence. When that level is
not met, regardless of whether the show went over with the audience or not, the
performer is disappointed. In other words the show could be "okay",
"good", "pretty good" or "very good" but if
it isn't "GREAT", the performer feels as though he or she didn't do
what they were capable of doing. In my case that night, I didn't feel as though
I "kicked-ass" (as we say in the business). Therefore I felt lousy. It
didn't matter that I did "pretty good" and the audience responded
well. I still felt tremendous disappointed in my performance. Perhaps I should
lower my standards!
At the end of the night Alan King
told me that I
did a good show and wished me well.
I did a show with country artist
RICKY
VAN SHELTON
in York, Pennsylvania in early June 1994. I met him
after his show and said a quick hello. He didn’t
see my show but did say that he heard I was very good. His tour manager liked
my show and asked for my business card. He said he would talk to the agent
about my doing some more work with them. Nothing ever became of that but a
couple of years later I would have the opportunity to work with Ricky again,
this time on a T.N.N. television program called "Prime Time Country".
Country Music audiences are always excellent and the crowd this night was no
different. I had a great show and Ricky put on an even greater one!
On August 2,3,&4 of 1994 I had the pleasure of
working with the music group
CHICAGO. The band then consisted of four
of the original members. They were Jimmy, Walt, and Lee who made up the brass
section and Robert who was on keyboards and vocals. There were four newer
musicians as well including Duane (a spirited guitar player), Bill
(keyboards and vocals), Tress (drums) and Jason (guitar and vocals). There are no stars in
Chicago, they function as an ensemble group.
The first night in
concert there were problems with the sound system and they didn't sound great. The second and third night the sound was
better and they were absolutely out of this world. They played all their old
hits as well as some new music. At the time I worked with them they had a new album coming out
soon and
were
working on a big band album.
What really
amazed me was that they had held on to all their old fans, people my age, and
had also attracted a newer audience, evidenced by the amount of high school
kids I saw in the audience.
Everyone in the group was very nice. It’s hard to
really get to know every one in just three days, but I did get
to know them by name and they were all very complimentary to me. Their
production manager, Mark, told me that they hadn’t had such a good laugh in a
long time. Harvey, the tour manager, was complimentary after my first show. He
was hard to read. I felt that he knew I was good, but had other things to worry about
rather than me. Hence, I never got the feeling that I could approach him about doing
more dates with them. All the band expressed a desire to work with me again.
I did have a negative
incident happen. I had some
friends backstage, not thinking that I should have gotten permission from Chicago’s
tour manager. I had worked at this theater so many times in the past that I felt at home
there and didn't think twice about asking my friends to come backstage. Harvey,
the tour
manager, was upset with me about this and told me that it was "Chicago’s party" and not mine! I
apologized and it was all forgotten by the next day. I guess they, rightfully, liked to have
complete control of the backstage environment and I was oblivious to this. I
realized then that I had to be more considerate of the acts I worked with in the
future. Much to my dismay, I learned that things just don't revolve around Jack
Swersie.
I had pretty good shows
with Chicago’s audience but not the best shows that I predicted I would have.
That was more a result of the age mix of the audience than anything else. There
were a lot
of rowdy teenagers and a bit more heckling than I was accustomed to while in
concert. It was nothing I couldn’t handle but distracting enough to take away
from the smooth and steady pace that I like to create with my show. I still did very well
and had a lot of people telling me so afterwards.
The late song-writer and
country singer,
EDDIE RABBIT,
made 17 albums and had 26 Number 1 Country Music hits as well as 8 Top-40 Pop
hits. I met him in 1992
as
I came off stage after my show and he was going on stage to perform his. This was in
Altoona, Pennsylvania at the Jaffe Mosque. It was a benefit show for the Fraternal Order of Police. I shook his hand and introduced myself. I had to get
home because I was flying out of town early the next morning for another gig. I
couldn't stay for his show. He seemed like a nice enough guy.
I
worked with him again a few years later
on October 15, 1994 at the Paramount Theater in Middletown, New York. This time I didn’t
even get to say hello to him. I couldn't stay to the end of the show because I
had to fly to Florida very early the next morning for another concert.
I'm really sorry that I
didn't get to know him. This show was the last that I would work with him on and
he, sadly, passed away a couple of years later.
On October 16 of 1994 I flew down to
West Palm Beach Florida to work the single most beautiful new
theater that I had ever had the privilege of working, the Kravis Center.
Sixty million dollars went into building this facility two years prior to my performance there! It was really an
unbelievable venue.
There I worked with
GREGORY HINES
again. I had worked with the charming and
charismatic actor, singer and dancer less than a year before in November of 1993
at the Strand Capitol Theater in York, Pennsylvania. When I introduced myself to him
onstage during our sound and light rehearsal before the 1993 show he said he
didn’t recognize me from my video tape, that he saw the tape and thought I was
very funny. This meant a lot to me because it meant that the ultimate decision
to have me on the show was with him and he felt that I was good enough to share the
stage with him. When movie stars tell me I’m good enough for their own show, that means something to me.
After my show and just a few
seconds before Gregory went on stage he told me that he heard my show from his dressing
room and that I was very funny. This was later confirmed by his road manager who
told me Gregory was listening to my show on the dressing room intercom and was
really laughing.
At the end of the night he said that he hoped to see me again.
I did see him
again, soon than I expected. When I got home at 1:30 A.M. I was flipping through the channels on
television and there he was in his movie "White Nights"! I never expected to see him again
that soon. A year or so later I worked with him again at the Kravis
Center.
In Florida he didn’t remember me, right off the bat, from the concert
in York but when I
re-introduced myself he remembered. I spoke to him on several occasions during the evening. I went to
him after my show and wished him well with his show. I told him the audience was
great. He said it sounded like I did well. I told him there were a lot of people
out there and that they were all great. Then, kidding around, I told him in a
serious tone that I just got the feeling that most of the people in the audience were there to see
him and not me (as if anyone would have actually been there to see the opening act). He kind of looked at me strange. I’ve got to watch out with my dead pan
sense of humor. People don’t know what to make of me sometimes.
The evening went real well. I had a great show. All of Hine’s support people
seemed to enjoy my work. The theater loved me. Also, as usual, Gregory was great!
My first national television appearance
was on
THE STATLER BROTHERS SHOW
on T.N.N. (the Nashville Network). This
filmed on November 17, 1994 and was scheduled to be aired on February 25, 1995. I had the
luxury of seeing the filming of their show the night before so I felt fairly comfortable when I got to the studio on Thursday. The first thing I did
when I got there was a rehearsal of my segment. I had to run through my five minute
routine for the
director and all the technical people. It was very encouraging that the few people
in the studio were laughing during my rehearsal. When I was done, the Statler
Brothers were very supportive, telling me they watched the rehearsal and that
they thought it was very funny. Don even joked that we didn’t need to shoot
the segment again,
that we’d just use the rehearsal tape.
Following the
rehearsal, the director of the show asked me not to do
one of my jokes. I told them that it
was no problem. The forbidden joke was during a routine where I juggle a
machete, an onion and a can of Spam. As I'm juggling I would say, "A
lot of people wonder just how dangerous this is. Well let me say right now,
it's no more dangerous than eating Spam!" I guess I can
understand their concern. After all, Hormel, the makers of Spam, was one of
their sponsors. What I couldn't understand is why they would still allow me to
say, "Do you know what Spam stands for? Something Posing As
Meat!"
The Statler Brothers are not all
brothers.
Don Reed and
Harold Reed
are. They also are the most comical of the four.
Jimmy
and
Phil
are the other two members. All of them were extremely nice and
made me feel very comfortable in an otherwise stressful situation. As I said
this was my first national television appearance and I felt that a lot would be
riding on the success or failure of my performance.
I worked
with some great people on this show.
MERLE HAGGARD, was passing
through Nashville and stopped by the studio to film a spot for a different episode of the
show than the one I was to appear on. During the filming of his segment he was unable to remember
the lines to his songs. They actually had to shoot one of his songs three
times and another song twice. This made the evening run especially long. I did
meet the Country legend,
who recently got inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, briefly before
his segment, said hello and wished him well.
Country
singer and 1994 CMA "Album Of The Year" award winner JOHN
ANDERSON also appeared on the show. He did a couple of songs. He did them well
and he did them in one take. Two years later he was a Grammy Award
winner.
CRYSTAL GAYLE
was a regular talent on the Statler
Brothers Show for a number of years and she was there that night to sing a couple of songs. She was real sweet.
Very unpretentious. Accessible. Warm. Easy to talk to. And she looked beautiful.
Small and cute with her lovely hair down to the floor. (I couldn't keep my eyes off of
her hair. The thought of walking in back of her and teasing
her by stepping on her hair as she walked went through my comedy mind many times
that evening but I didn’t think that that kind of behavior would help my
career.) She sounded great that night, as always!
I finally got to do my
segment well after 10 PM. Because it took Merle Haggard over an hour and a half
to film his segment and it was then so late at night, I was very nervous that
the studio audience would be too tired when I finally got on stage. Thankfully I
was wrong. The audience was very responsive I had a great set. I surprised
myself by being amazingly relaxed out in front
of the cameras. My only problem was that I forgot to delete the line about Spam
and when I realized I said the line I lost my concentration and dropped my
machete while juggling.
Knowing that the mistake could be edited I just picked up the machete and
continued to juggle.
When I got off stage I was so upset with myself that I
was swearing. Harold heard me and told me not to worry, that it could all be edited. I
apologized to just about everyone, but everyone assured me that there was no
problem, it could all be edited. (Thank goodness it wasn’t live television.) I
did exceptionally well. My manager said everyone in the control room was
laughing. Jill saw Phil laughing. All the Statler Brothers complimented me and all said they’d like me back on the show! The director assured me that we would not see the line I shouldn’t have uttered
or the
machete I shouldn’t have dropped. He alsosaid he’d like me back on the
show. So did the
Statlers agent, Marshall Grant, who hired me to do the show.
I went to Nashville
to do a job, and I did it well. My gut feeling, at the time was that I was going to get a lot
of work in Nashville, more work on television, and a lot more money everywhere else! It
felt like the beginning of my climb to somewhere near the top and I was very
excited.
On March 22, 1995 I made a guest appearance on another T.N.N. show,
MUSIC CITY TONIGHT
starring
LORIANNE CROOK
&
CHARLIE CHASE.
Also on the show with me was
well known Grand Ole Opry singer
Jeanne Seely, a new
country band called Dallas
County Line, gospel
singers Jeff and Sheri
Easter and British television personality,
Clive James.
The show was, in my opinion, too long at an hour and
a half. I did not get to perform until about and hour and five minutes into the
show. I felt as though the audience was tired. I remember thinking, as I was
doing my five minute routine, that I was doing good but not "killing"
as I had done on The Statler Brothers Show.
By the time I left the studio I
neurotically convinced myself that I didn’t do very well at all. However,
when I watched the show in my hotel room that night when it aired, I was pleasantly pleased. It
looked great! In fact when it was over I actually stood up and cheered with
relief. I had been so anxiety ridden for the two days prior to filming. I slept
only four hours each night, my stomach was in tight knots, and I was just a
mass of frayed nerves. I couldn't have been more pleased with the results of my
efforts.
Charlie Chase and I talked
for a while before the show, but I didn’t meet Lorianne until the curtain
call at the end of the show. We shook hands, gave each other a hug and talked
for a minute or so. She said that she was worried for me when I juggled my
machete. She seemed so sweet and sincere. Charlie was exceptionally nice also.
They both told me that they loved my show. I heard them laughing as I performed
my stuff and that was encouraging as I worked.
After
seeing how well my spot actually went I felt certain
that they would have me back on the show. In fact, after my set the talent
coordinator apologized to me because there wasn't enough time to have me chat
with Charlie and Lorianne. I said I was disappointed, but they said that next
time they would be sure there was enough time for me. Those were the key
words..."next time"’.
This was another successful television experience for me. I felt like I was
finally starting to get what I’ve wanted for so long in this business.
Respect and recognition for my talents. And there was something remarkable
about appearing on television. It was the top of the business. Yea, "Music City Tonight" wasn’t
the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" but it was a national
television program and still a huge show business accomplishment. My ability to
do this well made me feel great. The idea that I could walk
out on a stage in front of half-a-dozen cameras and that millions of people
could enjoy (or not) my work was a thrill. Nerve racking beyond compare
beforehand but an absolute thrill when it was all said and done.
The success on the show in March
earned me a return engagement on October 26. Lorianne
was sick that night so Charlie was hosting the show by himself. Other
guests on the show were
Holly Dunn, CeCe Winans
and Kim
Richey,
On March 23, 24, & 26 of 1995 I did a Florida tour
with
THE EVERLY BROTHERS. We appeared in Sarasota, Clearwater, and
Melbourne, Florida. The great thing about this tour was that it immediately
followed my television appearance on Music City Tonight with Crook & Chase.
After my performance on the television show, Crook & Chase announced that I
would be working in these particular Florida cities with The Everly Brothers the
following three nights. That taught me, first hand, about the power of
television. I actually had people approach me to tell me that they had seen me
on television. I even had a young kid request my autograph. That was
embarrassing but I pretended that I was actually a celebrity myself and signed
his piece of paper. I'm sure that, today, that piece of paper has long since
been incinerated by the local sanitation department!
Don and
Phil Everly
were friendly enough to work with, but
I never really felt like they gave a darn about me, the opening act. I am
getting use to that. Sometimes the stars really don’t care to take the time to get to
know their openers and I guess I can’t blame them. They’ve got more than
their fair share of performance pressures. It would be nice if they all warmly
welcomed guys like me and made us feel like part of their tour. Many of them do.
Some don't. I don’t
mean to sound negative because they were, like I said, friendly. I would have
liked to talk to them more than I did but that was just not to be.
I can honestly say that I have never worked with a more
talented group of musicians and performers than the guys that backed up the Everly
Brothers that week. Powerhouse musicians, all of
them! From England there was Albert Lee
on the guitar. Albert is a talent in his own right. He’s got his
own albums and is known as one of the finest guitarists in the world. Also from
England was Pete Wingfield
on the keyboards. He's got the fastest hands I’ve
ever seen and put quite a bit of theatrics and showmanship into his playing. He
was the most fun to watch. Pete worked with the Hollies and Van Morrison years
ago. Tony Newman, another English chap, use to play drums with David
Bowie. He’s also very talented as was Phil Cranham, the bass
player who use to work with the band, Hot Chocolate. On Slide Guitar was the
inventor of the Pedal Steel Guitar, Buddy Emmons. He use to be a
regular on the Grand Ole Opry back in the days of Little Jimmy Dickens.
Individually these guys are masters. Together they were brilliant.
The
Everly Brothers played all of their old hits and a lot of
other music. They still have great voices and still know how to rock’n’roll. My shows went
well, and even though I didn’t get any feedback from Don and Phil Everly, I
know the band loved my show. Several comments were made about how my show works
well with theirs.
On June 16 & 17, 1995 I worked with
FRANKIE VALLI
at the Paramount Art Center in Aurora, IL., just outside
of Chicago. Two concerts, one with an audience of 1200 and the other with 1500,
in a theater that seats 1800. The first night I had an all right show, not a
great one. The second night I had a fantastic kick-ass show! I met Frankie for a
moment after the show on the first night. He was very nice and asked me if I wanted a
beer. He said he didn’t get a chance to see my show. The next night he did see
the show, told me that he loved it and indicated that he would like to have me on
his show again sometime. He
asked me if I had a video with me, which I didn’t. He had his tour manager
give me his personal agents name at I.C.M. and told me to send him a video tape. That
was encouraging but it turned out to be another show business effort in
futility. He seemed sincere about it but nothing ever materialized from his
interest and my efforts.
Frankie’s show was great. He played all his old hits, including
"Sherry" and "Rag Doll". There were dozens of other familiar
songs. You’d know them if
you heard them. He’s a hell of an entertainer with a long list of
legendary hits. It’s a tribute to him that his music still remains so popular
35-40 years later.
I guess it was about
three years later that I got another booking in concert with Frankie Valli.
Also scheduled to be on the show was Jay Black and The
Americans. Whenever I get booked on a concert date with a name act I do a little bit of
career promoting. If I didn't do this my career would never have gone as far as
it did and would probably go no further. It's common sense to promote yourself
and it would be foolish not to let other people in the world of show business
know what and how well you were doing.
One of my methods of promoting is to
send out postcards to all of the agents, producers and promoters on my mailing
list. At this particular point in time there were a little over 100 people on
my mailing list. My postcard simply said "JACK SWERSIE in concert with
JAY BLACK AND THE AMERICANS and FRANKIE VALLI" I also included the
date of the show as well as my personal contact information. In designing the
card my name was slightly bigger and bolder than the names of the other two
talents. After all, this was my personal mail going to people on my personal
mailing list.
A week or so after I mailed these postcards
I got a phone call from the theater director who booked me on the concert.
Frankie Valli's agent at I.C.M. (one of the larger talent agencies) had called
him. Somehow Frankie Valli had seen a copy of my postcard and was livid that my
name was bigger than his and that his name was mentioned last on my postcard.
This is what Frankie's agent told the theater director and the theater director
passed on to me. Furthermore, the agent said that Frankie wanted me fired from
the show and never to be booked with him again! And so, I was fired by Frankie
Valli!
I've always had a hard time believing that Frankie
was actually the person behind my being fired. I sometimes wonder if it
was the agent who was angry and passed the blame on to him. It's just that
Frankie seemed so nice when I worked with him in 1995. I can't imagine that he
could be that insecure. It's not as if my name being one font-size larger than
his could possibly threaten his sparkling 40 year career. I shouldn't have been
fired because of something so trite and insignificant. But, you know what? I
actually hope it was Frankie Valli who fired me! Because, if I'm going to be
fired from a gig, I may as well be fired by the best!
I didn’t know who country legend
GEORGE
JONES
was before I worked with him on July 7, 1995. I'm more
familiar with the younger country talent and his name was unknown to me until I
got booked with him a month before the concert. The night of the concert he kept to himself,
holing up in his plush tour bus until it was time for him to walk out on stage. When I did introduce myself
to him, as he was walking from his bus to the stage entrance, he seemed very
much focused on his show. He seemed like a nice man but, unfortunately, I didn't
get to talk to him other than the quick introduction.
I had a great show at the Valley Forge Music Fair that
night, but nobody from his organization seemed to pay attention to my show. It's
funny, sometimes the headliner and their people are very much concerned that
things go well for the opening act. Other times they just don't care. This
particular night no one seemed to care.
Every once in a while I get to
work with someone who is just the nicest, most gentlemanly person that I could possibly meet.
Perry Como was one of those people. So was
ROGER WILLIAMS.
People
my age and younger may not know who Roger Williams is, but people one generation above mine
should know him well. He was a renowned pianist in his
day and I can tell you that his talent has not diminished. When I worked
with him he played those keys like no other 71 year old man could possibly play
them. Absolutely incredible! And he was exceptionally charming, very witty, and
quite endearing to his fans. Offstage he was delightful.
I had the pleasure of opening four concert shows for Roger on an outdoor stage at
the New York State Fair in Syracuse on August 28 & 29, 1995. I met him before I
went on stage and he wished me well. After my show he warmly complimented me, as
he did for the next few shows. By the end of my third show, he told me "Boy, you just keep going out there and pleasing those
people. You make it so easy for me!"
At the end
of the last concert he was kind enough to sign the cover of an old record album of his that I brought with me.
Then he told me he wanted to give me
something. He dug into his suitcase, pulled out his new C.D. and gave it to me. He
told me, and I quote, "Hey, let’s do this again!" I said, "Hey,
you know I’d love to!"
My shows were terrific. 8000 people in the first
audience. The other audiences had anywhere from 3000 to 6000 people. They were
an older audience but very enthusiastic. It was a
blast.
On Saturday, October 7, 1995 I worked with soul, jazz and pop singer
FREDA PAYNE. The gig was
in Columbus, Ohio at a CompuServe corporate function. Freda is known mostly for
her big hit song in 1970 called "Band of Gold" and it was this song
that made her a pop star. She followed that with "Deeper & Deeper"
and, later, the R&B song "Bring the Boys Home".
Since
the days of making hit songs she'd been doing a lot of theater work and, at the
time I worked with her, was appearing in a show at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los
Angeles.
I spent some time with her and her music director. We did a lot of
talking about show business and about life. Freda is a real down to earth
person, very open and honest. I enjoyed the time I spent working and chatting
with her.
Monday, November 27, 1995 I had the privilege of working with
THE TEMPTATIONS. I was scheduled to work with the
Four Tops again but a last minute illness kept them from appearing and the Temptations filled
in for them. This was at the Strand Theater in York, Pennsylvania.
There was only one original Temptation remaining with the group when I worked with
them and he was Otis Williams. He was in his 50’s at the time and had more energy
than people half his age. Earlier that year, Melvin Franklin died after suffering a brain seizure.
He was another original member and
quite the driving force behind the group. They chose not to replace him and so
there were only four Temptations when I worked with them.
They were great. It’s amazing how many songs you recognize as theirs once they start their show.
I had another great show for the 1000 or so people in the audience. I didn’t get to speak
with any of the guys. It was very chaotic backstage. One Temptation did
compliment me. That was Ali-Ollie Woodson. The other guys were Ron Tyson and
Theo Peoples.
On December 7 and 8 I opened a couple of concerts for BARBARA MANDRELL
at the Westbury and Valley Forge Music Fair. I had very good shows, but enough about me.