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With several comedy club appearances
under his belt, Jack Rothman says he has always enjoyed making
people laugh. |
MAKING 'EM LAUGH
Prof hones his comedic skills
BY STAN PAUL
UCLA Today
For Jack Rothman, comedy is a gift. In fact, on his 75th birthday,
the professor emeritus from the School of Public Policy and Social
Research received a certificate for a comedy class from his children.
“I guess they figured if I’m going to be telling jokes,
I might as well learn how to do it better,” said Rothman,
who has continued to take classes and work on his material. Starting
with that initial lesson, the retired teacher and researcher has
remained a diligent student of the trade and has already made appearances
at the Improv, the Ice House and the Comedy Store.
Describing his comedy as “not crude or blue, but somewhat
cerebral,” Rothman uses a broad range of his own experiences
as joke fodder — from serving on university committees and
reading student evaluations to searching fruitlessly for a simple
polo shirt with a pocket in Los Angeles.
“Humor has always been a core part of my makeup,”
Rothman explained. “As a university professor, I put that
in the background. As emeritus, I can move it forward. All my life,
one of my biggest kicks has been making people laugh.”
Before diving into comedy, Rothman enjoyed a distinguished academic
career that included publishing some 25 books and consulting for
organizations such as the Los Angeles County Children and Family
Services Department. Rothman earned his Ph.D. emphasizing social
psychology from Columbia University in 1960 and spent more than
20 years on the faculty at the University of Michigan. He was a
professor at UCLA from 1984 until his retirement in 1994.
Wearing his trademark cap on stage, Rothman has made his teaching
background a plus as he faces critical audiences. “Jack has
a hilarious sense of humor, with the charm of another age,”
said his comedy coach, Greg Dean. Like his younger classmates, Rothman
has had to endure the difficult process of falling down and getting
back up, a trial by fire for any stand-up comedian. “Jack
is an amazing guy; he takes feedback well,” Dean said.
One routine that drew big laughs at a gig at the Comedy Store’s
Belly Room centered on what Rothman calls his “language converter,”
a hypothetical device that can change foul language into gentler,
even poetic messages. With a wry smile, Rothman explained that a
coarse remark he heard after a cell phone went off in a public place
might, with the help of the language converter, become: “Kind
sir, full of grace, put your phone in a private place.” Common
courtesy, he pointed out to the audience, has seemingly disappeared.
“What this country needs is a department of homeland civility,”
he quipped.
He may be a little older than the average comedian, Rothman admits,
but “someone has to replace George Burns.” Pointing
out that Burns stayed in the business until he was 100, Rothman
figures he has a long career ahead of him.
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