I don’t have the patience to read the whole thing, but I’m curious about how Howie Mandel overcomes his OCD issues to have a physically intimate relationship? How does anyone with those issues? How do they raise snot-nosed children shitting and barfing for years on end?
(I don’t have OCD, but I kinda feel that way about kids and their fluids, one of the reasons I never had any. Ew. Gross.)
I’ve read the book and he deals with it by not dealing with it. His wife does most of the work. But he doesn’t spend an awful lot of time trying to explain it, either. All he does is thank his wife over and over for being patient.
Howie Mandel from St. Elsewhere? I used to love his standup when I was a kid. Didn’t he go on to do the voice of Elmo or something like that? Does his OCD keep him shut in (would explain the voice acting)? Hope he’s doing well!
Wow…really?
Howie is everywhere. Save for the numerious late night appearances he does, his time as the host of Deal or no Deal, he still tours stand up and is currently a judge on America’s Got Talent.
(also you’re thinking of Bobby from Bobby’s World…not Elmo but really close.)
No, he’s still working - he has, in the last few years, hosted both the American and Canadian versions of Deal or No Deal, Howie Do It, and America’s Got Talent.
He’s relatively recently started working hard on controlling his OCD, and seems to be doing well.
This is where I admit that back when this new Deal or No Deal show started, I saw clips and was thinking, huh, who’s that bald guy, he’s kinda cute… omg no way. :smack:
(Hijack: when looking at Google Image Search for this example, I saw “Howie Mandel David Draiman” pop up as an option. Draiman is the lead singer of the band Disturbed, which I really like. So I can’t believe that I didn’t notice this switched at birth comparison before.)
Ah… Right. I knew that. Sure.
Actually, thanks to Herder’s link I recognize him from infomercials or something like that. My junk television rotation doesn’t include any game shows, so all the Idols and Deals and whatnot bypass me.
I remember an interview he gave several years ago which described a separate guest house (like a mother-in-law cottage) on his property where he could go and be all OCD. I specifically remember him mentioning some rug with fringe that he would spend hours straightening…
It was his own, personal refuge that enabled him to relieve his OCD-ness. Some how having that separate space was sufficient or something.
I heard him in an interview a while ago so I don’t recall the specifics, but he mentioned two things I found interesting.
His doctors told him he was doing damage to himself (maybe his skin or immune system?) by using hand sanitizer so much, so he had to drastically cut back.
Another doctor (I guess during a routine physical? again, specifics elude me) made mention that he has so airway defect and asked if he played a wind instrument. Howie then recalled, in a pretty amusing way, describing his rubber glove over his head gag. He can no longer do it for fear of further complications.
This video has really annoying music, but you can see him do it at 45 seconds in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QESk9RyhS6w
The rubber glove gag goes to show where art comes from… we didn’t know about Howie’s OCD back then, and it was probably raging.
I have to say, he wears his baldness beautifully. It makes me so happy to see men embracing their baldness and shaving the fringe. It’s a much better look than most attempts to stop it or slow it or hide it.
With some exceptions…such as the guy I saw who had a skull that was almost as wrinkled as his brain, which was gross. But that’s unusual.
I actually heard (HEARSAY NO CITE!) that he shaves his head not as an embrace of natural balding, but rather as a part of his OCD. Something about a fuller cleanliness that he couldn’t achieve with hair, or his hair was irritating him in some other way.
Full-body condom?
As always, the rumors are much better than the truth.
He was offered the role of a villain in a indie movie directed by Garry Marshall’s son, Scott. He didn’t feel he looked mean enough so he decided to shave his head.
He liked it, his wife liked it. He added the soul patch after people started being concerned he was was getting chemotherapy.
Thanks, Exapno!