Laugh doctor

Kirk Baird

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 4:33 a.m.

Howie Mandel was 24 when he first walked onstage during amateur night at the famed Comedy Store in Los Angeles. In town for a business trip, Mandel, who had no previous experience as a comedian, performed well enough to catch the eye of a producer in the audience, who hired him that night for a guest spot on the game show, "Make Me Laugh."

From there, his stand-up career consisted of appearances on talk shows and later as the opening act for Diana Ross.

His big break, however, came on the critically lauded '80s medical drama, "St. Elsewhere," where he played Dr. Wayne Fiscus for six years.

Since then he has appeared in several movies, had his own morning talk show and TV sitcoms, and was the creator, executive producer and star of the hit cartoon series, "Bobby's World," which lasted eight seasons on Fox.

Performing Thursday through May 7 at the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand, the Las Vegas Sun recently talked to the 47-year-old Mandel about the evolution of his stand-up act, a new pilot he's taping for NBC and his thoughts on the final episode of "St. Elsewhere."

Sun: What's the difference in your stand-up today versus when you began in 1979?

Howie Mandel: I've gained about 17 pounds. (Laughs) Ultimately, I'm becoming a lot more comfortable with who I am and what's going on onstage. I think when I started out putting together an act, I hoped that everything went very smoothly. As I got older, I learned in comedy, as in life, that not everything goes as planned. And there's some fun and electricity in breaking away from the planned path. If something screws up badly -- the sound goes out, the lights go out -- within the context of a live show, that ends up being fodder to make the show better.

Sun: Over the years, you've expanded beyond being a stand-up comedian into acting. Yet, you've never abandoned performing comedy.

HM: I've never left stand-up comedy. It's the purest form of any of the different things I'm able to do. Most of my act is improvised, so I can go and say anything. I have the attention span of a flea, so I love that I can do all these things and never give up any of them.

Sun: Is this where you wanted your career to go?

HM: I never envisioned myself doing anything that I'm doing. This is 180 degrees from what I would have said I'd be doing 30 years ago.

I've been really lucky in my career. I got onstage in the Comedy Store on a dare ... I had never done anything like that before. Then there was "St. Elsewhere" and then "Bobby's World." Fans of "St. Elsewhere" didn't know me as a stand-up comedian, and fans of "Bobby's World" didn't know me from "St. Elsewhere." But I don't care. It doesn't matter what people know me for.

Sun: You've played both dramatic and comedy roles. What's the key difference in the two?

HM: Because you have to sell it, comedy is much harder. But, in the right context, drama translates to a much larger audience than comedy.

Sun: Even with its critical accolades, "St. Elsewhere" may be best remembered for its ending: The whole series was imagined by an autistic child. What did you think of the show's finale?

HM: I loved it ... to do something of that quality knowing that it was based and steeped in reality, only to find out my character's life was all in the mind of an autistic child. But the old "Saved by the Bell" is probably my favorite ending. I can't remember what that ending was, I just remember thinking, "Oh my God! It couldn't have been Screech!"

Sun: Talk about the new pilot you're taping for NBC.

HM: It's based on my life. It's my wife and my three kids. It's part scripted sitcom, it's part unscripted "Hidden Camera." This is a longshot. I never thought the show would see the light of day. I'm thrilled NBC is going to give it an opportunity to at least have a shot.

Sun: How have you incorporated the war in Iraq into your stand-up -- or have you at all?

HM: I, like everybody else, sat at home and tuned in and am concerned with everything that's happening in the world. But the opportunity to go out at night and see a show is a tremendous opportunity to escape. And nobody knows that more than me. So there's nothing political in my stand-up ... it's just about the moment and what's happening in that moment. And, to me, it's important to have a really good time. So there's no political statement and nothing really to learn. Just go out and have a really good time.

Sun: You seem to headline in Las Vegas several times a year. Is it one of your favorite places to perform?

HM: I love Las Vegas because Las Vegas has such a cross-section of everybody. There's always somebody in the audience who will get a reference. It's the ultimate place to play.