Michael Close

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That Reminds Me: Finding the Funny in a Serious World [ No Rating ] 9 Oct 2007 (updated 9 Oct 2007)

by Dustin Stinett

I’m not sure if I have ever come across a book so aptly titled. This “joke book” is more than that. It’s an endearing work that transports your mind—and soul if you so believe—to a better place; if only for the time you spend reading it. And these days, every minute helps.

That Reminds Me reminds me of a time when being offended was something one just dealt with versus hiring an attorney over and/or numbing ourselves with the latest pharmaceutical breakthrough. Heritage, race, religion, physical appearance, whatever could be joked about was, and we all laughed because everyone of us fell into at least one of these categories; no one was left out.

That period was the 1970s and every store had a rack filled with “Official” joke books. There was the Official Polish Joke Book, I’m sure the big seller of the series, and there were also Jewish, Irish, and my favorite (because of my heritage) Italian versions. I really believe that these books helped America get past Watergate and Viet Nam. We laughed again at something other than Bob Hope Christmas Specials. Well, it’s time America laughs again and That Reminds Me is a prescription you don’t need a pharmacist to fill.

Mr. Close is a multi-talented professional entertainer. He is a world class magician, jazz pianist, and is one of the funniest people I’ve seen on stage (although I don’t believe he would ever call himself a comedian). For decades, he has been compiling jokes, including old chestnuts he’s returned to relevance, jokes written by his many friends, as well as original material he has used himself or has passed on to friends to use because he knew it would work well for them. This book contains many of those jokes that he has collected over the years. But again, it’s not just a collection of jokes. As he says in the book, they are jokes that he “has a personal relationship with.” But even if that is all this book was—a collection of jokes—it would be prescribed reading.

Most chapters center on Mr. Close’s friends. He weaves stories about these people, all the while being reminded of even more jokes that fit the current theme—his method for recalling jokes. The names, such as Jay Marshall, Eric Mead, Billy McComb, Chuck Fayne, and Michael Bryant will not be familiar to the average person. Magicians will be familiar with many of the names, but not all have met these men. Michael Close introduces you to them and his stories captivate you so that personal acquaintance, while certainly helpful, is not at all necessary to bring tears—usually of laughter—to the eyes. Regardless of who these men are and what they do (or did), Mr. Close brings you into the world that he shared with them. These are brief visits to be sure, but he makes you want to meet those you still can and wish that you could have met those you no longer can.

Jokes are funny because people are funny; what they are, what they do, what they look like. Some of us are fat—just the other day I got on one of those fortune telling scales and the little card said “one at a time please”—some of us are Italian, or Polish (like Mr. Close), or golfers, musicians, magicians, blond, black, or brown, smart or stupid. Every person on this planet falls somewhere into a category that can be joked about: It’s not cruel or offensive to tell a joke about these characteristics. It’s not cruel or offensive to tell a joke about someone’s religion. Watch the evening news and you’ll see real offensiveness and cruelty in action. But better yet, forget about the day’s news, pick up a copy of That Reminds Me and remind yourself that it’s time to have a good laugh.

The magic of That Reminds Me: Finding the Funny in a Serious World [ No Rating ] 7 Oct 2007

by Cathe Jones

Sometimes you read a book and you think, "Yeah, this is never going to be done...", and sometimes you think, "Man I wish this was never going to end." That Reminds Me: Finding the Funny in a Serious World is the book that definitely falls into the latter category, and it broke my heart when I got to the last empty page. It was as if I was seeing a friend for the very last time. So the solution was to go right back to the first page, and start again. That's the magic of this book.

Mike Close is able to lure you into each chapter by making you best friends with every person he introduces you to- you're intimate, you're bonded, you're teased, and you're heartbroken, just as he is. The jokes that make the story complete are wonderful. But as wonderful as they are, they are not half as endearing as the friendships the man has maintained throughout the years with those people for whom each chapter is dedicated. The warmth transcends the humor, and the love between this man and these mentors, compadres, and miscreants, brings you to the key places in his life that changed him as a person.

You feel his world change around him, and you feel yourself change, too. You know you are now part of some experience of the sage magician and comedic master who has entertained thousands of people throughout his career. You feel the moments he is falling for his bride, and you shiver with him in the cold British Isles. You become part of Mike Close.

This is the magic of That Reminds Me: Finding the Funny in a Serious World. Yes, you will laugh. Yes, you will shed a tear. You may have a shiver or two. You will recognize yourself in his words if you're lucky. But, what is most impressive is that you will definitely feel as if you've found a dear friend in the man, even if you've known him for years, or heard all of these jokes before. This is one heck of a book, from one hell of a guy. Which reminds me.. let me know if you've heard this one...