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 prentiss findlay of The Post and Courier staff |
Thursday, January 3, 2002
Jerry Farber takes sports seriously, but he finds humor in the games that people play.
Farber is a diehard Tar Heels fan who bleeds Carolina blue when his team loses. He's also
a stand-up comic who delivers punchlines about college football rivalries. They say no one
impersonates an avid University of Georgia Bulldogs football fan better than Farber.
He wears a University of North Carolina T-shirt in his nightclub
act. He wrestled for North Carolina until an injury sidelined him. Now he pins audiences
with a razor-sharp wit honed during 43 years on stage. The T-shirt is a setup for one of
his punchlines.
"I only lost one match to a kid from Clemson, and she was
good. She was 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighed 250 pounds. She gained 50 pounds and became
the homecoming queen at Auburn," he said in a phone interview.
Farber could be raising a little wrestler these days. At 63, he's
a first-time dad who said fatherhood helps him forget the first-thing-in-the-morning aches
and pains of his age. His son, 21-month-old Joshua, has given him a new, less egocentric
outlook.
"My Lord, I wish I had done it at the appropriate age
because they're marvelous," he said.
Farber said he wouldn't necessarily recommend fatherhood at 63,
but there are some advantages. "Pretty soon he'll be helping me with my
Depends."
The interview jokes keep coming. "We spent $1,000 last week
baby-proofing the house, but he still gets back in. We don't know how. We're having
experts come in to take a look at it."
Farber, who performs Friday and Saturday at the Comedy Zone, does
stand-up 45 weeks out of the year and saves the rest of his time for family. He said his
son's name, Joshua, is Old Testament for "he who pees and poops often and
constantly." On a serious note, Joshua means "God's protector," he said.
"I was holding him close to my face the other night. I had
him right up next to my face and I whispered, 'I could have had a Porsche,'" he
deadpanned.
Farber and his senior citizen Tar Heel alumni buddies were
wounded after the College of Charleston defeated the University of North Carolina
basketball team 66-60 Dec. 21. Farber rallied the troops, pointing out to them that there
was a silver lining in the Tar Heels downfall on the hard court.
"If the worst thing that ever happens is that the College of
Charleston beats us, we've got a charmed life," he told them.
He thinks this Tar Heels team will show its mettle before it's
all over. He points to the team's solid win over St. Joseph's University as a sign of its
promise. "They have five high school All-Americans sitting on the bench," he
said of the Heels.
Although he makes a living on the comedy circuit, Farber began in
show business as a pianist. He blends those talents with parodies of Elton John, Billy
Joel and other well-known acts. In keeping with the "clean comedy" image of the
Comedy Zone, Farber eschews four-letter words. His show is about grown-up issues, though.
"My show is not a church social. It's adult fare," he
said.
Farber sold women's sportswear before becoming a comedian. He
used to stay at the Francis Marion Hotel and call on local department stores such as
Condon's, he recalled.
He was drawn to comedy as a youngster.
"My parents and family members loved to listen to comedy. I
used to sneak Redd Foxx albums in. It just seemed like a fun way to make a living as an
adult," he said.
In addition to music and one-liners, Farber throws in some
burlesque.
"The climax of the show is a striptease," he said.
U.S. News & World Report quotes Farber in a Nov. 12 cover
story on how Americans are coping after Sept. 11. The magazine describes him as something
of a Southern-fried Victor Borge, a depiction he agrees with.
"Even though I'm a Southerner, it's not a redneck kind of a
show. I'm actually Jewish," he said.
Farber acknowledges the impact of Sept. 11 in his show but at the
same time refuses to curtail his sense of humor. He's got his share of terrorist-related
jokes.
"Taliban Bingo: B-52... F-16... And the new Afghanistan golf
course, with 36,000 holes."
He said it's the only way to be.
"The one thing we can't allow is for the show not to go on.
They (terrorists) hate our diversity, they hate our sense of humor, they hate our
wealth."
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