Posted on 03/04/2008 4:40:36 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (Hollywood Today) 2/4/2008 - Comedian Richard Lewis believes that he suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome as a child but that it was never properly diagnosed. The man who has been called the Franz Kafka of comedy, told me last week that his Tourette’s was a factor in the development of his rapid fire comedy act, for which he has been called fearless, reckless and neurotic. It could be Lewis had no choice but to tell the truth on stage, because he had to deal with his disorder, and that became a driving force behind his style of comedy.
“ I was never diagnosed with TS (Tourette’s Syndrome),” says Lewis, “but I had it up until my 20s when it calmed down a lot. But it still comes back now and then. I used to blink a lot and go on stage. And I remember my older brother who acted for a while once said to me when I was a young comic in (New York City’s Greenwich) Village. I told him, ‘Gee I’m a little nervous.’ He said ‘Tell the audience.’ I went on stage and I was blinking a lot and I said, ‘I’m blinking.’ And I made light of the fact I was nervous and they were going to laugh at me. And they laughed not at but with me. And it was a real breakthrough for me because I’ve tried to be as fearless on stage as possible ever since.
Lewis made his comments last week in Beverly Hills at the Tourette’s Syndrome Association’s Annual Champion of Children Awards Dinner, where he was honored along with actor James Marsden and investment banker Jeffrey McDermott and his wife Ashley. Also in the audience inside the ballroom were many children who suffer from TS, or have in the past. To Lewis, those were the real heroes of the evening.
“These kids in particular, they have to be fearless in their day to day living even though they have this, “ says Lewis, “and there are going to be these jerks out there, who laugh at it, because they don’t know what it is. Look there’s lunatics everywhere about everything and there’s no difference about the prejudice, about having TS. That’s why I’ll do whatever I can do to help educate the populace.”
That was also the motivation for James Marsden, the 34-year-old actor who was fresh from the set of his next movie “The Box “with Cameron Diaz. He said he came at the request of his friend actor Dash Mihok, who has suffered from TS his entire life. Although he never had the disorder, Marsden said he knew what it felt like to be picked on by bullies at school and other kids, so he can feel empathy for the children who have TS today.
“I was a recipient,” recalls Marsden, who grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. “Every kid has stories of being teased or being made fun of, and that I was small, skinny, easy to pick on. When I was going through elementary school and junior high school, it’s just kid’s nature to make fun and tease. That’s not something that is encouraged obviously but it’s a fact of the matter of being young and kids can be kind of cruel.”
“I would be followed home from school occasionally.” Says Marsden. “Older, bigger kids would pick on me. A lot of big corn fed boys.”
He fought his way out of a number of scrapes, Marsden recalls, but that isn’t what he recommends for children suffering from TS. “One reason we are here (at the dinner) is to not only promote research but also promote educating the public and telling people globally about what it really is.”
Along with funding medical research, the TSA is a watchdog over the media to see how it is portraying TS; and in recent years with the assistance of producer Jeffrey Kramer has helped provide information and guidance to writers, directors and producers about how best to portray the medical disorder. TS has been featured on a number of TV shows and movies, from “South Park” to “The Tick Code” to last year’s award winning HBO special “I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me,” done in association with the TSA.
“We’ve introduced filmmakers to Tourette’s before they make their show, while they are in the script stage to try and get an honest multi-layered portrayal of Tourette’s, so it’s not just the stupid joke of the cursing or whatever. What they call. ‘TV Tourette’s.”
That’s the phrase used inside the TSA to describe TV shows or movie that show the symptoms but don’t explain the disorder or provide perspective on the medical aspects. “They think Tourette’s is a very interesting disorder,” says Judit Unger, President of the national TSA, “but when they (TV shows and movies) make fun at peoples expense, when they don’t tell the true story, children are taken advantage of and hurt.”
Tourette’s Syndrome is a disorder usually diagnosed in children between the ages of 3 and 10. Those children may have symptoms that include repeating both movements and sounds. The most common form of “Tourette’s TV” says Unger involves Copralia, in which the victim uses inappropriate language in bursts, often including swear words. While it is what is most often shown on TV, it actually affects fewer than 15 percent of TS sufferers.
It was just over a year ago that Richard Lewis contacted his longtime friend Jeffrey Kramer, who was formerly President of David E. Kelley Productions, about a personal matter. Lewis knew that Kramer was active in the TSA in part because all three of his sons were afflicted with the disorder.
“ I’ll do anything you want me to do,” Kramer recalls Lewis said to him. “I’ll go to Congress. I’ll do (public service announcements). I’ll do anything you want. Just get me to a doctor and let me get diagnosed. So I set him up with the doctor who diagnosed my kids at UCLA and Richard comes back and says, ‘Look if I have it, its minor, and I don’t really have it.’ ….Richard later calls me and says, ‘I don’t have it but I’ll help you as much as I can anyway.”
Lewis believes he did have it, but that it has receded as he has gotten older. He did go on to do a series of public service announcement for the TSA, which are airing around the U.S. at present. He says that only by educating everyone about the disorder can those children be helped.
Lewis also praised his boyhood pal Larry David, with whom he appears on the HBO reality comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Lewis notes David did an episode in which he helps a chef who has TS. He says that is the way to educate people. As they laugh, they also learn.
It might even avoid some of the teasing and pain others have faced. “I’m 33-years-old now, but growing up you take the brunt of the licks,” recalls Dash Mihok, whose credits include acting roles in “I Am Legend’ and “The Day After Tomorrow.” “ The best you can do is just be who you are and hang out with people who understand and accept you for who you are. It’s the company you keep and I don’t choose to hang around ignorant people.”
Children with Tourette’s are known for their high level of creativity because the disorder affects the dopamine and serotonins in their brain. Mozart was said to have had Tourette’s. Dash says for him, it was the start of becoming an actor. “As a kid I was always trying to hide it so I was constantly acting or pretending to switch one of the ticks and make it something else,” he recalls. “I would pretend to be doing something else to cover up the tick. So maybe be it served me to become an actor eventually. “
Richard Lewis says even today the “stereotype is so horrific in general about children and adults with Tourette’s, and they don’t realize, many people who have it on a daily basis, just as I did as an alcoholic, can live a normal life. In the arts I’m trying to offer whatever I can in my humble little way to help spread the word and educate people on what TS is and that this disorder is not so horrific, but that people can live a life, and shouldn’t be ridiculed or laughed at but should be supported.”
Ok...it was interesting until it became a victim fest.
What the #%$^ are you talking about?
My son has a tic disorder. It’s nothing compared to what his sister has to go through. She has a brain injury that has caused speech problems, reading problems, and now seizures.
Tics aren’t life threatening, but they are annoying.
OK, if that helps.
Think he’s related to Rachel?
An old and tired act that was once mildly amusing.
A friend of my youngest boy has Tourette’s. I find it insulting that this has been is trying to get publicity using this. What my son’s friend has to go through I wouldn’t wish on anyone!!
TS is interesting in many ways. After reading up on it my own theory is that it has to do with two possitve feeds meeting in the brain such as two possitive magnet poles meeting. Two possitive poles repel each other. I think people with TS are a new breed of man that is losing the left and right side of brain function that is trying to merge as one. I feel that TS patients should be tested for advanced brain functions such as levitaion or mental telepathy. I don’t the think brain knows how to use both sides of the brain as one thus leaving the TS sufferer with tics and sounds as the brain blows power surges such as a backfiring engine.
When I was in college, waiting tables, I worked with a guy who had mild Tourette’s.
Then he suffered a head injury, and the Tourette’s became inexplicably worse. He began to exhibit coprolalia, the uncontrolled cursing. Mostly, he said the same three naughty words repeatedly, in quick succession in the middle of otherwise normal conversation.
It certainly made him a more interesting waiter.
lol!
I had to re-read that 3-4x, myself.
Richard Lewis is the most unfunny comedian ever. Judy Tenuta gives me fits compared to this angst ridden stiff with bad hair.
Language, including inappropriate languge, is learned. So, what do people who have corpraphilia say if they’ve never been taught “swear-words”?
Wonder if tourettes causes one to rip off Woody Allens entire victim Schtick. If you hear woody allens 60’s stand up routine you will know where richard lewis got it.
“Then he suffered a head injury, and the Tourette’s became inexplicably worse. He began to exhibit coprolalia, the uncontrolled cursing. Mostly, he said the same three naughty words repeatedly, in quick succession in the middle of otherwise normal conversation”
Sounds like an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm co starring ....you guessed it Richard Lewis
I’m not familiar with the show, but I can see how it could be funny.
The guy I worked with was so nice - he really was very successful as a waiter, and people seemed to “get” that he couldn’t help what he was saying when it would slip out. I can only remember once when it was an issue - a customer took offense. The manager came and spoke to the customer, and that was that. The man calmed down & allowed my friend to serve him & his table.
This was long before the Americans with Disabilities Act, too, and I guess they probably could have fired him, but they didn’t.
sorry, never even mildly amusing.
dude was a downer since the first day I heard him.
Richard Lewis, a downer? You’re kidding.
I knew a guy with Tourettes at seminary school. Made for interesting situations.
I’ve also noticed that alot of liberals seem affected with Bush Tourettes Syndrome.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.