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Howie Mandel coming to Kuss, discusses battle with OCD

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer 6:40 PM Thursday, November 12, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — Back in the ’80s, Howie Mandel’s big shtick involved him stretching a rubber glove over his head.

Years later, knowing what we now know about him — that he’s just this side of Howard Hughes in his quest to prevent a single stray bacterium from entering his body — Mandel presumably would’ve preferred to be able to squirrel himself all the way into the glove, like the body condom in one of the old “Naked Gun” movies.

But like a sequel to “Walk Like a Man,” that would just be silly. “It’s a nightmare, but I have to live in this world,” Mandel confessed last week. “It’s a constant effort.”

So with H1N1 raging across the country, it’s a perfect time for a germophobe comic to go on tour — Mandel will play Kuss Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 14, with veteran stand-up John Mendoza.

It’s a good thing we’re past West Nile season.

“There isn’t a word to describe my terror right now,” Mandel, 53, said.

The man has OCD.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Throw in some ADHD and you have, well, a husband, a father, a successful game show host and a near-legendary comedian.

And that’s the problem with OCD.

Because he’s not muttering to himself in an alley with a rubber glove on his head, Mandel is perceived to be fine.

Just a little quirky, like when he bumps fists with contestants instead of shaking their hands on “Deal or No Deal,” the game show that resurrected his career.

“People always come up to me and say, ‘I’ve got a little bit of that,’ ” he said. “I hope you don’t.”

Mandel’s battle with OCD will be laid out for all to see on Nov. 24 when he releases his memoir, “Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me.”

“It wasn’t tough to get serious,” he explained. “What was tough was to be honest. It’s embarrassing. I just dropped the comedic wall.”

In the end, though, he’s still a comic — just one who’s royally freaked out by microorganisms. “My wife is a saint for putting up with it,” Mandel said. “Humor gets me through each and every day.”

And on this tour at least, he’ll have his old pal Mendoza.

“This tour is a roving group session,” Mandel said, sharing a speakerphone with Mendoza.

So what’s Mendoza’s problem?

“I have Tourette’s,” Mendoza said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

Who: Comedians Howie Mandel and John Mendoza

Where: Kuss Auditorium, Springfield

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Cost: $40 to $75 for adults, $30 to $65 for students

More info: Visit springfieldarts council.com or call (937) 328-3874

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