WASHINGTON — He’s hosted “Deal or No Deal” and “America’s Got Talent.”
Now, Howie Mandel presents the “Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala,” a two-hour stand-up special taped at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal that airs 8-10 p.m. Monday on The CW.
“The Montreal Just For Laughs Festival is probably the mecca for all things comedy,” Mandel told WTOP. “That’s where some of the biggest people in the business got started. … So The CW was nice enough to say, hey, let’s televise this and let’s get some of the biggest names in comedy on tape. … My true love, even though I do many other things, is stand-up. So I get to do stand-up and host the show.”
Mandel will introduce sets by such fellow comedians as Jay Pharoah, Iliza Shlesinger, Russell Peters, J.B. Smoove, Alonzo Bodden, Jo Koy, Matt Donaher, Ryan Hamilton, Gina Brillon and Tom Papa.
“They’re all really funny and they’re all accomplished,” Mandel said. “You’ll see accomplished comics and you’ll see up-and-coming names that you’ve never seen before that I promise will be household names and get their own shows. The beauty of stand-up specials like this is that there’s something for everyone. There are many different styles of comedians, there are many different comedians, so if you just stay tuned and hang in for a couple more minutes, you’ll see something totally different.”
In addition to the stand-ups on stage, you’ll also see video packages of famous comics who have played the Just For Laughs Festival over the years. Expect video tributes to famous figures like Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan and Wanda Sykes as the festival prepares to celebrate its 34th anniversary.
“You’ll see clips of the greats who have been there in the past,” Mandel said. “Everybody who’s anybody is always inspired by fellow comedians, so you’ll see comics backstage talk about the great sets they’ve seen there, the great routines they’ve seen, and reminisce about some of the greats.”
Mandel said you should not only watch the TV special, you should also plan a summer road trip.
“I recommend [it] to anybody,” Mandel said. “It’s usually during July and it’s a great trip to go up to Montreal. They close down the city and every venue has a top-notch comic playing. You can see everybody from Louis C.K. to Jerry Seinfeld. They’re still going there. So it’s not something where you go when you’re starting out and you don’t go back; it’s always got the ‘Who’s Who’ of comedy there.”
How did Mandel himself enter the “Who’s Who” of comedy? One of his first big breaks came on NBC’s medical drama “St. Elsewhere” (1982-1988), where he played ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus. After that, he created the popular animated show “Bobby’s World” (1990-1998) on Fox Kids.
Ironically, the signature, high-pitched voice he created for Bobby was created by accident.
“I was choking on a piece of cake,” Mandel said, laughing. “I couldn’t breathe and that was the sound that was coming out. I realized that even though I was dying, a lot of people were laughing at the sound. So like an idiot, I went home and practiced — not choking, it was without cake, just with the muscles in my throat — and, lo and behold, it became the voice that I got known for.”
If you were a fan of “Bobby’s World,” Mandel has some very intriguing news.
“The truth is, we’re in talks right now to relaunch it,” Mandel said. “So I’m hoping that there’ll be kids from this millennium who know it and love it. Hopefully, you’ll see it soon on a television near you.”
Of course, his biggest life-changing moment came when he was tapped to host the game show “Deal or No Deal” (2005-2010), a gig he almost didn’t take because he was feeling burned out on showbiz.
“I was about to leave show business the week before I got that show,” he said. “I was just done. It was 2005, I’d been doing it since the mid-’70s, it was already 30 years that I had been doing it, and I didn’t see anything new, fresh or interesting. So, I was about to leave when I got the opportunity to do that.”
In hindsight, he is now thankful for all the doors — and briefcases — the show opened for his career.
“That was a huge pinnacle in my career,” Mandel said. “I had no idea it would be that successful, that big, and that much of a change in what it was I was doing. If I wasn’t on ‘Deal or No Deal,’ I wouldn’t be talking to you today. … It relaunched my career and gave me so many other opportunities.”
One of those opportunities was NBC’s reality competition “America’s Got Talent,” which Mandel joined in 2010, replacing David Hasselhoff as a judge. Last year, Season 11 marked Mandel’s seventh season, judging alongside Mel B, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell, who replaced judge Howard Stern.
“When I do ‘America’s Got Talent,’ I always tell people [the key is] variety,” Mandel said.
Does he have any advice for up-and-coming personalities and wannabe game show hosts?
“I think Nike has the best advice: ‘Just do it,'” Mandel said, laughing. “That’s my advice to anybody: Just do it. I don’t know if I have any words of wisdom beyond that, but that’s what I did. You know, I did it on a dare, and, lo and behold, it’s almost 40 years later and I’m still doing it.”
Listen to the full conversation with Howie Mandel below:
