Art Chowder January | February 2017, Issue 7 | Page 49

MAKE US LAUGH | Janis V. Bers

Happy New Year! I’m sure you’ll want
to join with me hoping that 2017 turns
out that way, because let’s be honest,
it does seem that lately it’s becoming
increasingly difficult to find many reasons to “L.O.L.”, let alone “R.O.T.F.L.”!
(Teen-texters will gladly explain these
abbreviations, and probably offer
quite a few more!).
The current grim state of our economy,
coupled with rising unemployment,
immigration issues, and an increase
in inner city difficulties, only tends to
add weight to our already heavy burdens. And, dare I even mention the
recent political debacles that not only
invaded every corner of the media
circus, but also created gaping rifts in
friendships, relationships, professional partnerships, and even, in some cases marriages! Need I go on?
So, to employ a medical idiom, when
I’m not quite feeling “up to snuff” I
tend to reach out to our professionals
who are fully qualified to help me get
well again. And, using a similar comparison, when I’m feeling a bit “down
in the dumps” I find great relief in
knowing that I can easily consult with
our equally qualified “laugh doctors”
to help turn my frowns upside-down.
We know these professionals more
commonly as “comedians”, and in and
around our region they’re ready, willing and very able to lighten our lives
with their infectious prescriptions of
laughter, optimism, and well-tooled
humor.
I’m delighted to have this opportunity to share with you the many “giggle
factors” that are available to all of us
courtesy of a pair of seasoned, hilarious, well loved and renowned local
comedians, Nick Theisen and Don
Parkins in this article which I’m calling
simply “Make Us Laugh!”
Nick, (who likes to be known as Nick
O Theisen, possibly of Norwegian and
Irish heritage) is a Spokane-raised comedian, writer, promoter, broadcaster
and impersonator whose mere physical presence can easily bring a wrinkle

or two to your cheeks even before he
utters a word!
Nick’s early foray into comedy began
almost accidentally during his initial
career as a radio host in Orofino, Idaho
at the tender age of 18. Nick recalls,
“I got fired after only two months for
doing Jimmy Stewart impersonations
during the grain report. So I decided
to complete my unfinished degree in
journalism by moving to Los Angeles during which time I also got hired
at revered rock radio station KLOS.
My co-host Frazer Smith and I began
broadcasting crazy bits on the air,
and eventually gained the attention
of keen listener Mitzi Shore, owner of
the city’s famed Comedy Store, highly regarded as the nation’s Mecca of
comedy. In a stroke of awesome luck,
Mitzi invited us to her club to host
their anniversary show, which went
down an absolute storm! This is when
and where I really caught this irresistible and quite untreatable comedy
bug and became determined to make
comedy my lifelong pursuit”.
Don (the Godfather) Parkins, also entered the “funny arena” almost by
accident, but with an entirely different set of circumstances. “I was born
and raised in the Hillyard district of
Spokane—which may explain why I
trained hard to earn six martial arts
black belts and became a karate trainer, subsequently opening five karate
schools in Spokane as well as several
in Nevada and California. Whilst in Las
Vegas I was hired at the Jonas Varga
Nugget Casino as security chief for
their New Year’s Day party. It was there
that I befriended country music recording artist Kenny Rogers, who one
evening wanted to enjoy a night out
in Reno at a comedy club called Lipps,
and invited me along. The comedian
that was hired to perform that night,
Johnny Johnston was dying a horrible
death on stage, and after a barrage of
merciless heckling from the audience
stormed off before the end of his act,
leaving the club high and dry! Wishing
to spend the full evening there, Kenny
Rogers said to the manager

“Hey, get this guy up
there. He’s funnier than
hell and knows a million
jokes; he’ll save the night!”

...

So bravely up I went, told a bunch of
jokes, and totally killed it! That w