Gary Gulman jokes about anxiety, Judaism, and more

By Matt Robinson / Special to the BJV

As his minyans of minions know, Gary Gulman (garygulman.com) started his career at the JCC on Boston's North Shore, playing basketball on hoops with collapsible rims.

"There wasn't a kid in the league who could grab net," Gulman recalls in his popular stand-up act. "In the history of the NBA, four people have smashed a backboard. Not a single one was a 10-year-old Jew."

Towering over his parents and most others, Gulman could have pursued a career in sports and was, in fact, recruited to Boston College to play football.

Once he hit The Heights in Chestnut Hill, MA, however, Gulman decided to use his head not to bring pain to others' heads but to bring them joy through his profound and even prophetic comedy routines, including those that he will present at The BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York City on October 24 and 25, and closer to the Berkshires at the Academy of Music in Northampton, MA, on November 13, and The Egg in Albany on November 14.

When asked how he first made the transition from the offensive line to punch lines, Gulman recalls participating in an open mic in Boston in October of 1993.

"I was hooked," he smiles.

And while he fit into the observational style that was made famous by such colleagues as Jerry Seinfeld, Gulman has also made his faith a key element of his funny. In fact, one of his most popular (and profound) pieces offers a list of things that Jews brought to the world that we would all be loathe to live without.

"Enjoy polio!" he quips, citing the world-changing vaccine discovered by Jewish researcher Jonas Salk.

When asked what prompted him to poke fun at people, Gulman admits that, "as I grew older, I realized within my family I was surrounded by very odd people."

Whether it was his mother backing the board members who brought the collapsible backboards to the JCC by insisting, "You never know!" or the people he has encountered outside of his home who claim to want to avoid items made by Jews but who could literally not live without them, Gulman finds funny everywhere, except in some chapters of his own life.

As detailed in his first HBO special, "The Great Depresh," Gulman has dealt with anxiety that crippled him for many years but eventually became the source of some of his most beloved jokes. While most of the special consists of his telling tales from the stage, it also involves home movies and other elements that give the story and its teller added dimensions (other than height), as well as discussion with other comedians and friends who have also dealt with similar issues.

"I lost my life to depression for several years," Gulman reflects, "and was so grateful for my recovery that I wanted to share it with people to maybe help them feel less alone and see someone who recovered."

While his anxiety clearly hurt him, Gulman does not think it necessarily "hurt" his career.

"I don’t think like that," he responds. "Even if it hurt my career, I would have done it."

Though he still wrestles with his mental health, Gulman is all systems go when it comes to comedy and is currently presenting multiple shows as part of his current tour! In addition to "Gary Gulman's 7th Hour" (which he will bring to Albany and Northampton) and "Grandiloquent" (which he will be taping for broadcast in Tribeca), Gulman is also preparing a special holiday show that will debut at Symphony Space in New York on December 5.

"It's jokes based on the winter holidays," he predicts, "but mostly Christmas and my love for it."

If he can joke about anxiety, faith, and Christmas at the same time, surely there is nothing Gary Gulman can't do- to make people laugh.

"I share my humor," he maintains, "because it makes me and everyone laugh, feel better and less alone."