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spicedogsComedian takes in ‘The View’ from Worcester
By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
The way Joy Behar feels depends on the view.
As a regular member of the famed day time talk show “The View,” Behar doesn’t get nervous. “I never have the butterflies when I do ‘The View,’ ”she said.
But she has a somewhat different viewpoint when standing on a stage as a comedian.
“Getting up in front of an audience when you’re the only one there (on stage) — it’s a little daunting,” Behar acknowledged. “But that’s a good thing. You’re supposed to feel alive and ready.”
When she takes to the stage of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts at 8 p.m. tomorrow she’ll have a vantage point that only one other person before her has been able to see. Bernadette Peters is scheduled to perform at the
heater’s grand opening tonight (“I love her, she’s adorable,” Behar said of Peters). Behar will be just the second act.
Regardless of the “The View,” however, comedy was something that Behar was almost destined to do. “I think that being a comedian is the
same as having a musical ear. As a child you learn pretty quickly that you can get a laugh. I could get laughs wherever I went,” Behar said during a recent telephone interview from her home base in New York City.
And yet all of the above — the stand-up, the talk show — wasn’t necessarily in sight as Behar grew up in Queens , then went to college to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees, got married, and taught high school.
When it comes to professional comedy, Behar, 64, said that she was something of a late starter. “I was a very late bloomer.”
These days she’s made up for lost time. And the number of incoming calls that her telephone was receiving during the interview indicated perhaps that she is very much in demand. One would be getting to a certain point in the conversation when … incoming. Behar, sounding perfectly kindly, apologized. Then she was back. Then it was … incoming.
Maybe it was CNN asking Behar to pinch-hit for Larry King — something she’s done in the past and enjoyed and wouldn’t mind doing again. Maybe it was Rosie O’Donnell, whose spell on the “The View” caused quite a stir last year.
Asked about O’Donnell, Behar said, “I’m a friend of Rosie. She definitely lifted the game last year. It was interesting to have her.”
Like O’Donnell, Behar doesn’t disguise her views. She is liberal in her politics, and asked during the interview if Worcester was a Democratic city. She’s never been to Worcester, although she recalled vacations on Cape Cod as a child when people would ask her if she was from Worcester. “I didn’t even know how to spell Worcester,” she said.
And yet her accent is New York, and although some people have also thought she is Jewish, her background is Italian-American. And bright. She received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Queens College, and a master’s in English education from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
But …
“I was a teacher, employment counselor. Nothing held my interest. I kept getting degrees, but it just didn’t work for me,” Behar said.
She was a teacher at Lindenhurst High School on Long Island, and was married to Joe Behar from 1965 to 1981 (the couple had a daughter).
There were other jobs. She didn’t particularly enjoy working for other people. Finally, in the early 1980s, the comedian decided to find a wider audience than just family and friends.
“At least when you’re a comedian, you’re on your own,” Behar said. She started out going to open mic nights. Then, a funny thing, so to speak, happened. She quickly became a hit, receiving bookings from New York clubs Caroline’s and Catch a Rising Star. Soon she had her own HBO special. She went on to win three MAC Awards and a CableACE Award. In 1997 Barbara Walters tapped her for “The View.” At first she appeared only when Walters was off, but she soon became a regular co-host.
From her chair on the set she has seen comings and goings. Behar and Walters are the only co-hosts left from the first days of the show. “We’re the originals,” Behar said.
“The View” had replaced “Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends,” which suffered a not unknown TV fate of being dumped for low ratings. Did Behar anticipate that “The View,” in contrast, would still be going nearly 11 years later?
“Absolutely not. You know what they say, ‘The show must go off.’ ”
So what went right?
“I think people got hooked on it. They liked the unpredictability of it. For me it’s like a rotating cocktail party. It serves me very well, that show.”
Behar’s own television screen was beaming polling statistics about the Obama-Clinton Democratic duel. “Obama leads among men,” was the polling news from one primary.
Her take on the race?
“I think that we have an embarrassment of riches in the Democratic race,” she said. “Right now it’s like a (choice of) a banana split and an ice cream soda, and I hope that whoever gets it is going to beat the Republican.”
Not surprisingly, politics and contemporary events make up a good deal of Behar’s comedic material.
Describing her show, Behar said, “I would call it very eclectic. Political and social and feminist. I touch on a lot of different things. I’m very interested in what’s happening today.”
She has quite a few comic gigs coming up, despite her other commitment which have also included authoring a children’s book.
Behar said she practices her material regularly in a small Manhattan theater called Zipper.
Asked about future projects, she said, “I keep working on my stand-up. And that’s my project.”
SOURCE: Telegram.com
Click on the picture to view the larger version.
By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
The way Joy Behar feels depends on the view.
As a regular member of the famed day time talk show “The View,” Behar doesn’t get nervous. “I never have the butterflies when I do ‘The View,’ ”she said.
But she has a somewhat different viewpoint when standing on a stage as a comedian.
“Getting up in front of an audience when you’re the only one there (on stage) — it’s a little daunting,” Behar acknowledged. “But that’s a good thing. You’re supposed to feel alive and ready.”
When she takes to the stage of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts at 8 p.m. tomorrow she’ll have a vantage point that only one other person before her has been able to see. Bernadette Peters is scheduled to perform at the
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| Bernadette Peters |
Regardless of the “The View,” however, comedy was something that Behar was almost destined to do. “I think that being a comedian is the
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| Joy Behar | |||||||
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And yet all of the above — the stand-up, the talk show — wasn’t necessarily in sight as Behar grew up in Queens , then went to college to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees, got married, and taught high school.
When it comes to professional comedy, Behar, 64, said that she was something of a late starter. “I was a very late bloomer.”
These days she’s made up for lost time. And the number of incoming calls that her telephone was receiving during the interview indicated perhaps that she is very much in demand. One would be getting to a certain point in the conversation when … incoming. Behar, sounding perfectly kindly, apologized. Then she was back. Then it was … incoming.
Maybe it was CNN asking Behar to pinch-hit for Larry King — something she’s done in the past and enjoyed and wouldn’t mind doing again. Maybe it was Rosie O’Donnell, whose spell on the “The View” caused quite a stir last year.
Asked about O’Donnell, Behar said, “I’m a friend of Rosie. She definitely lifted the game last year. It was interesting to have her.”
Like O’Donnell, Behar doesn’t disguise her views. She is liberal in her politics, and asked during the interview if Worcester was a Democratic city. She’s never been to Worcester, although she recalled vacations on Cape Cod as a child when people would ask her if she was from Worcester. “I didn’t even know how to spell Worcester,” she said.
And yet her accent is New York, and although some people have also thought she is Jewish, her background is Italian-American. And bright. She received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Queens College, and a master’s in English education from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
But …
“I was a teacher, employment counselor. Nothing held my interest. I kept getting degrees, but it just didn’t work for me,” Behar said.
She was a teacher at Lindenhurst High School on Long Island, and was married to Joe Behar from 1965 to 1981 (the couple had a daughter).
There were other jobs. She didn’t particularly enjoy working for other people. Finally, in the early 1980s, the comedian decided to find a wider audience than just family and friends.
“At least when you’re a comedian, you’re on your own,” Behar said. She started out going to open mic nights. Then, a funny thing, so to speak, happened. She quickly became a hit, receiving bookings from New York clubs Caroline’s and Catch a Rising Star. Soon she had her own HBO special. She went on to win three MAC Awards and a CableACE Award. In 1997 Barbara Walters tapped her for “The View.” At first she appeared only when Walters was off, but she soon became a regular co-host.
From her chair on the set she has seen comings and goings. Behar and Walters are the only co-hosts left from the first days of the show. “We’re the originals,” Behar said.
“The View” had replaced “Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends,” which suffered a not unknown TV fate of being dumped for low ratings. Did Behar anticipate that “The View,” in contrast, would still be going nearly 11 years later?
“Absolutely not. You know what they say, ‘The show must go off.’ ”
So what went right?
“I think people got hooked on it. They liked the unpredictability of it. For me it’s like a rotating cocktail party. It serves me very well, that show.”
Behar’s own television screen was beaming polling statistics about the Obama-Clinton Democratic duel. “Obama leads among men,” was the polling news from one primary.
Her take on the race?
“I think that we have an embarrassment of riches in the Democratic race,” she said. “Right now it’s like a (choice of) a banana split and an ice cream soda, and I hope that whoever gets it is going to beat the Republican.”
Not surprisingly, politics and contemporary events make up a good deal of Behar’s comedic material.
Describing her show, Behar said, “I would call it very eclectic. Political and social and feminist. I touch on a lot of different things. I’m very interested in what’s happening today.”
She has quite a few comic gigs coming up, despite her other commitment which have also included authoring a children’s book.
Behar said she practices her material regularly in a small Manhattan theater called Zipper.
Asked about future projects, she said, “I keep working on my stand-up. And that’s my project.”
SOURCE: Telegram.com
Click on the picture to view the larger version.
Here's a new Bernadette Peters video for your enjoyment:
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Date: 2008-03-15 04:07 am (UTC)I mean don't ignore the email, but disregard the title. Sheesh.