The Real Comeback Kid

Robert Schimmel is from the school of hard knocks. Lots of people claim to have started off there, but his schooling was extreme. Ten years ago, Schimmel got his start in comedy, when he went to L.A. to visit his sister and she dumped him onto stage at an open-mic...

By Jake Smith

July 9, 2009

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Robert Schimmel is from the school of hard knocks. Lots of people claim to have started off there, but his schooling was extreme. Ten years ago, Schimmel got his start in comedy, when he went to L.A. to visit his sister and she dumped him onto stage at an open-mic night. He wowed the crowd, and the club owner asked him to come back. He caught the bug, went home, packed his bags, and sold his house. The day he returned to the club, he found the place burned to the ground, thus ending his first shot at the little stage. That was knock number two — the first came when his son Derek died from brain cancer. Knock three came in June, 2000 when Schimmel himself was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and had to pause his career of writing for Yakov Smirnoff and In Living Color to take weekly chemo treatments.

But even cancer couldn’t clean up Schimmel’s raunchy act. He’s dirtier than ever and even more in-your-face with his sex talk. By bringing behind-doors nookie onto the stage, he softens up crowds who can relate. On his website (www.robertschimmel.com), he features a Word of the Day. Most recently, he highlighted “bukkake” and “buddy booths,” both hints at what you’ll see when you catch his act. Just don’t forget the protection.
July 10-12, 2009

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