COURTESY OF TINA LAU You never know how Howie Mandel will play with his audience.

Going the rounds
of comedy

Comedian Howie Mandel
performs on Oahu
and Maui

Howie Mandel's career includes all aspects of the entertainment spectrum, from television, film and stage. From his work on the Emmy Award-winning "St. Elsewhere" to his popular animated series "Bobby's World," the 48-year-old Mandel continues to be a mainstay of the American comedy scene.

Grab a laugh With Howie Mandel Where: Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki, 1777 Ala Moana Blvd. When: 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. next Friday Tickets: $35 early show and $45 late show, available at the Blaisdell Arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com and by phone at 877-750-4400 Call: 949-3811 Also: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Castle Theatre of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Tickets: $25, $35 and $45. Call 808-242-7469.

He started his career as spontaneously as his improvisation when, on a dare during a trip to Los Angeles in 1979, he was coaxed by his friends to try his luck on amateur night at the Comedy Store. Luckily for him, there was a producer in the audience who hired him to appear on the comedy game show "Make Me Laugh." That appearance led to talk-show appearances, a stint as Diana Ross's opening act and eventually "St. Elsewhere," spending six seasons as Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC drama.

Mandel has done countless comedy specials on cable and network television, as well, hosting his own syndicated talk show (now defunct), and continues to be a mainstay on the talk-show circuit. Of late he might be known more for his appearances on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," performing his signature hidden-camera bits as "Hidden Howie."

The Star-Bulletin caught up with Mandel by phone from his Los Angeles home, which he shares with his wife and three children.

Question: Didn't I see you on Maui over Thanksgiving with your family?

Answer: Yes, that was them. My wife frowns a lot if I bring another family, especially over the holidays.

Q: One of your children is 20. It seems odd to have "Hidden Howie" be the father of a 20-year-old.

A: I think it seems odd that I have a kid period, that I have someone calling me Dad.

Q: Do your kids think you're funny?

A: They don't really appreciate what I do, and I keep telling them they need to. In elementary school they would come home very excited after meeting another dad and tell me things like, "You know all the cars you see on the freeway? Josh's dad sells those cars!" I'd say, "I, uh, do something neat, too," and they'd say, "Yeah, but you just tell jokes."

Q: You do at least 200 performances a year. That's got to be tough.

A: The check I'm paid is for leaving my house, going to the airport and getting on a plane to travel. Once I'm there and they introduce me, that I'd do for free.

Q: How close are you to finishing your "Hidden Howie" series for Bravo?

A: Six 30-minute episodes will probably start airing next June. I've been doing these hidden-camera pieces for about 20 years. I've always been a huge fan of "Candid Camera." I'm always loved the comedy of reality most. I love to see how people react to the most inane situations.

Q: Wasn't one of your first hidden camera bits shot in Hawaii for HBO, "Howie in Maui"?

A: Yeah, but it was Oahu. One thing I did was follow these people with a hand-held video camera around the Dole pineapple factory for two hours and ask them the same questions over and over. I told them I couldn't hear over the pineapple processing machinery. I just annoyed people on their tours all over Oahu.

Q: Now you have the hidden camera in a pair of glasses.

A: Yeah, it's become a bit of a problem. I am constantly in my neighborhood wearing the glasses at the drugstore, Starbucks, wherever, then I edit them and I started using them on "The Tonight Show." Some people got real angry, and I had restraining orders against me and my wife got upset and said, "God, this is where we live!"

"Hidden Howie" is an unscripted reality show hybrid mixed with hidden-camera pieces; you see my real son, real family, neighborhood, turmoil. Yes, I'm obsessed.

Q: You have another obsession besides the hidden camera?

A: I have a germ phobia. I want to bother people, but I don't want to touch them. I haven't shaken a hand in three years, not even Jay Leno's.

Q: Why is the hidden-camera idea so funny?

A: We can all relate to it. We've all been in those situations where people are very annoying but we tolerate it. The truth is we all go along with someone pesky and annoying. As human beings we rarely act on instinct. When a request from the guy behind the counter is ridiculous, it's easier to go along with it than say, "What are you, an idiot? What are you asking me to do?" We acquiesce to the person because they're wearing a paper hat and a badge, even though what they want us to do doesn't seem right.

Q: Any close calls?

A: I've been chased and yelled at -- a lot.

Q: This is an extension of your improvisation.

A: Absolutely, but it's real-life improvisation and always interaction. I don't know what's going to happen. I talk to the audience in my shows, and they talk to me. For me, improv is the easiest form of comedy.

Q: There must be times onstage when you're stuck.

A: Sure, but I found if the audience identifies that I'm having a hard time onstage right now, and I don't know what to do, there's entertainment value in going blank, trying to find my way again. I remember a night when the power went out and the microphone didn't work, so I had to go into the audience and walk around from person to person and be funny. When people in the front row have to go to the bathroom, I'll stop the show and move everybody around into those empty seats, and we watch the people come back and try to figure out what the hell happened.

Q: There's a common theme here.

A: Everything I do includes awkward and discomfort because it's humorous and we can all relate, so we're all in it together. If you talk to me while I'm onstage, then you're going to be part of the show.

Q: So what do you have planned for your Hawaii performances?

A: What I have planned for you is not to plan for you. Anyone who comes will see everything I was ever hit for, expelled for, punished for. Obviously, I have an act; I just don't know what it is. I go out there with a vague plan and hope the audience takes me down a path I have never gone before.

Q: You don't do topical humor?

A: I do if you consider what's happening in that room at the moment to be topical. I don't talk about what's happening in the news because you can stay home and watch CNN.