A Happy Howie
New Year’s Eve
YES, IT'S HOWIE!: Howie Mandel, left, brought hip big-name New Year's Eve entertainment to Waikiki with two shows at the Ilikai Renaissance Waikiki on Friday. Mandel shared hilarious free-wheeling insights on subjects from his misadventures during medical exams to his wife's eclectic taste in pets -- like, would you believe, a hedgehog? Mandel also shared a tip about the proper housing of parrots, previewed clips from his "Hidden Howie" TV show, offered suggestions on how to get more room in crowded elevators and described the medical problems of the family rat. Four or five hapless audience members provided him with improv material -- a medical student named Dorothy and a guy named Keith who sells toys probably wished they'd kept silent. Stan Egi, right, opened the show with witty observations about growing up a "Japanee boy" in Hawaii.
|
|
COMEDY FANS NO. 1: Kathy Tsark and her husband, Tsarkie, anticipated a great show. They weren't deterred by the seemingly endless video of an oddly dressed man singing an odd song that was played over and over and over before Egi took the stage.
|
|
COMEDY FANS NO. 2: Mary Beth Brehm and her husband, Billy, were seated close enough to the stage that Mandel heard something she said and used it in one of his improv bits. Mary Beth earned some laughs of her own when she responded loudly to Mandell's comments about "size 0" and the way women stand when looking at themselves in a mirror.
|
|
COMEDY FANS NO. 3: Jillian Anderson, center, enjoyed Mandel's show with her parents, Francis and Michelle. Jillian, 8, may have been the youngest comedy fan in the house, although there were a few other preteens present. Mandel took care to tell the kids a couple of times that they shouldn't do everything that he was talking about.
|
|
TWO PROS: Hawaii comics Shawn Felipe, left, and Paul Ogata stopped by for the late show. Ogata had worked earlier that night in the comedy triple bill that was the closing-night show at the Palace Showroom (originally the Polynesian Palace) on Lewers Street. The room is pau.
|
|
See the
Columnists section for some past articles.
