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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 26 > Entry
Comic Richards unlikely to get ATL gig anytime soon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t expect to see “Seinfeld” alum Michael Richards at an Atlanta comedy club anytime soon following his angry, race-filled rant at a Los Angeles club Nov. 17.
Funny Farm manager Marshall Chiles said that Richards, who played Kramer on “Seinfeld,” has been working on his act in L.A. the past 18 months hoping to eventually headline nationwide. His TV career has been on hold since “Seinfeld” ended in 1998.
“His industry reputation is a man with a temper,” Chiles told Buzz. “I will never hire him. He’s too inexperienced and handled [hecklers] in the most extreme, vile way.”
Chris DiPetta, who runs the Punchline, said the Laugh Factory in L.A. should have been more aggressive with the hecklers. “The crowd was really unruly,” DiPetta said.
The Punchline policy is to give a heckler two warnings, then the boot. DiPetta has to do that only once a month or so, often at the Friday night late show.
Jeff Justice, who runs a popular stand-up comedy class in metro Atlanta, said he teaches his neophytes never to get angry, no matter how nasty a heckler gets: “You get angry, you lose. It ruins the show… . If you let the person make enough of a jerk of themselves, you’ll keep the crowd on your side.”
Richards, on Jesse Jackson’s radio show Sunday, said he had never used racially charged language before. He said the outburst came through him “like a freight train” and that he’s “shattered by it.”
HIGH FIVE
Tai Anderson, the bassist for popular Atlanta Christian rock band Third Day, which has a “Christmas Offerings” CD out, disclosed his five favorite Christmas songs to Buzz during the Macy’s Christmas tree lighting last week:
No. 1: Ray Charles’ “That Spirit of Christmas.” (“I sound like I’m sophisticated. I’m not. It’s from ‘Christmas Vacation’ when Chevy Chase is wearing his wife’s robe and is up in the attic watching home videos. That’s my all-time favorite.”)
The other four, in no particular order: “Silent Night,” “Away in a Manger,” “O Holy Night” and “Born in Bethlehem.” (“That’s an original we did which has the potential to be a classic.”)
WHAT’S ON YOUR TIVO
Former Atlantan Joy Lauren (“Desperate Housewives”)
Thursday’s a big night for her: She loves “Grey’s Anatomy” on her own network, along with “My Name Is Earl” and “The Office” on NBC. She’s a big Falcons fan. But her guilty pleasure is repeats of Fran Drescher’s “The Nanny.”
Bye bye, ‘Kimmer’
WGST talk show host Kim “The Kimmer” Peterson found himself without a job last week, but he wasn’t going to whine about it to Buzz.
“I’ve had a great run,” he said last week. “Too bad this had to end, but it’s just business.”
The Kimmer was a fixture for most of the past 14 years at GST in the afternoons, until all the station’s local personalities were nixed last Tuesday in favor of cheaper syndicated fare.
The former Marine didn’t get to say goodbye on the air, but if he had, he said, “I would have gotten completely choked up.” Even though his ratings have slid in recent years, along with the fortunes of the news/talk station, he said he felt close to his fans. “It’s a really big family,” he said. “I feel a sense of loss.”
The Kimmer now has time to play with his toys, including a 1955 Ford Sunline convertible and a police motorcycle. He hopes to stay in Atlanta but isn’t sure what station would hire him.
In any case, he’s not tied down. He’s been single since his recent divorce from the woman he once called “Fantasy Goddess” on the air. “I haven’t dated since my wife and I split up,” he said. “I’m a hermit.”
‘Real’ and gay
Davis Mallory, a Walton High School grad from the Class of 2002, is the “token” gay guy on the 18th edition of MTV’s “Real World: Denver,” which launched last week.
The added twist is that he’s a dedicated Christian, too. In high school, Mallory told Buzz, he lived in a “Christian bubble.” That meant youth groups, church choir, mission trips and a job at a Christian bookstore. “I really loved it. I loved that feeling that I was going to heaven.”
Mallory only recently came out, during his senior year at Stetson University in Florida. His father was fine with it; his mother not so much.
“My mom refuses to watch the show,” he said. “She still believes I can be changed. I have to make her realize this is for real and long term so I can bring my boyfriend over. I hate that it has to be this way.”
On the show, Mallory at first clashes with fellow Christian Stephen Nichols over being gay, but Nichols learns to accept him and they became friends. “He opened his eyes to what it means to be gay,” Mallory said.
Hey, it’s just acting
Former Atlantan Joy Lauren doesn’t seem like the snotty teenager she plays on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.” (She’s Danielle, daughter of Marcia Cross’ Bree Van De Kamp.)
“I’m boring. I’ve never rebelled,” Lauren said over a latte Saturday at Caribou Coffee off Roswell Road. She was in town for Thanksgiving break. “Danielle just isn’t a nice person, and she doesn’t get any better. I wish they’d have her tell her mom, ‘I love you! I’ll help you get through this craziness!’ “
As a young child, Lauren attended the Galloway School (“a liberal hippie place,” she said) and was in several Alliance Theatre plays before venturing to Los Angeles at age 12.
She’s not sure she’ll stick around for Season 4 now that she’s applying to colleges, including Vanderbilt, Emory, UNC and USC. A lot of that, she noted, is out of her hands.
“I always have to check the script to see if I’m going to be killed off,” Lauren said. For example, they had Danielle attempt suicide earlier this season after her mother forced her to end her affair with a teacher. But she survived.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Robin Givens is 42. Rapper Twista is 34. Actor Jaleel White (Urkel on “Family Matters”) is 30.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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