Howie Mandel | "You Were Hysterical, Young Man"

Howie Mandel got expelled from high school in Toronto for calling a contractor out of the Yellow Pages and asking for a 25-foot addition to the school library. He scheduled the appointment during math, because that classroom's window looked out on the field, and then — this is the part he finds most revealing about himself — he didn't tell a single other person. He sat alone watching a man with a clipboard and a tape measure, waiting for a joke nobody else knew was happening. He was thrown out of a different school for retrieving a bent Snickers bar from the swimming pool with his mouth. He has no diploma. By the early eighties he was a working comedian in Los Angeles, and the Tonight Show booker had told him flatly he'd never be on: not Johnny's cup of tea. So when he heard Joan Rivers — then guest-hosting for Carson and out-rating him — would be working out her monologue at the Comedy Store, he called Mitzi Shore and asked for the 9:55 spot, the five minutes directly before her. He woke up that day with a high fever. He went anyway, and the adrenaline carried him, and she passed him on the stairs and said he was so funny. Then she talked to Mitzi for forty-five minutes while he slid down the wall outside and lay on the steps waiting. When she finally came out, she gave him a phone number. He did the Tonight Show that week. McCauley called the next morning. He went on twenty-two more times with Johnny. In this conversation with David Begnaud, he talks about being diagnosed with OCD in his forties only because his wife gave him an ultimatum, and about accidentally disclosing it live on Howard Stern's show — convinced in the elevator down that his career was finished, until a stranger on the street whispered me too. He talks about the half hour he spent punching a locked doorknob in Malibu. About why he believes no one should ever apologize for a joke, and why he made an apology video anyway. And about what Joan gave him beyond the booking, which was permission not to care what the room thought. Howie Mandel is the longest running judge on America’s Got Talent, available to watch on NBC and Peacock now. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ Chapters 00:00:00 "The majority of the world does not have a sense of humor" 00:03:18 The Johnny Carson litmus test 00:04:40 Toronto, 1977: stand-up on a dare 00:06:42 The contractor and the school library 00:12:02 The Snickers bar in the pool 00:13:26 "I just wanted to have a group laugh" 00:17:02 Kelly Ripa and the apology video 00:20:38 Addicted to social media 00:26:30 The 9:55 PM spot and the fever 00:31:57 Lying on the stairs, waiting for Joan 00:33:00 The Tonight Show, twice in two weeks 00:36:30 Joan's last show and Chris Rock's 62 seconds 00:43:00 Nothing is too soon: laughing at his father's funeral 00:58:28 The Howard Stern disclosure, and a stranger who says "me too" ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Howie Mandel Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast