Howie Mandel's Fits Like A Glove

Once a year or so I go through all of my old comedy records. I have some great Bill Cosby LPs from when people still said his name in public, some awesome George Carlin albums, a couple hysterical ones by Steve Martin and an almost perfect album by Richard Pryor. But without a doubt, my favorite is my Howie Mandel record. Seriously.

The Good: What I like most about this Howie record, aside from the fact that it's pre-Deal or No Deal and long before people knew Howie as a big germy-scaredy-cat, is Howie's improvisational skills. His routine is mostly about talking with his audience. Howie asks for names in the crowd, and finds out what they do for a living, and the jokes come from there.

"What's your name?"
"Missy."
"And when you get married will it be Mrs?"
Sure, it's cheesy and kind of hokey, but it takes me back to a special time.
"What do you do for a living Bob?"
"Nothing."
"So how do you know when you're finished?" 

The Bad: Comedy records were great, but an act like Howie's would've been better on video. And it just so happens that Howie released a VHS from the same tour called The Watusi Tour. While it's not the exact same show as this LP, it's still worth checking out. In the 80s Howie was best known for blowing up a rubber glove on his head, so you can see how having that on a record wouldn't work so well for the medium.  The album ends with a musical number, "Do The Watusi", which isn't very good at all.

The Verdict: It's cheesy, to be sure, and it's very dated (the 80s rule), but I only paid a quarter for it, and it's made me laugh at least ten dollar's worth. Now if only we could get a complete Bobby's World DVD collection.

- ryan