Glenbard North alumni return to perform a benefit show

Who says you can't come home again? Certainly not comedian Mike Toomey.

Nearly 30 years after entering a Glenbard North High School talent show and performing his first stand-up routine - basically Toomey impersonating characters he had seen on television - he will return to headline a benefit show at his alma mater.

"I wouldn't be talking to you if it hadn't happened," Toomey said when asked how that first show has affected his life and career path.

"When you're young, you don't know you have limitations. You think you can do anything."

Toomey said it was his own big mouth that pushed him onto that stage in 1980. After seeing a comedian enter the show the year before, Toomey thought he could pull off the same kind of performance.

"Too many people heard me say it," he said with a laugh.

The 1981 North graduate will be the featured comedian in a comedy show that will include fellow North graduates Jason McNeil (Class of '93) and Jim Flannigan (Class of '98).

"A Night of Comedy" starts at 8 p.m. today in Livingston Auditorium at Glenbard North, 990 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream. Tickets are $25 and proceeds will go toward the Glenbard North fine arts department. For tickets, e-mail glenbardnorthevents@comcast.net.

Toomey has performed in clubs across the country and is a regular on WGN-TV's Morning News. He has worked with Sam Kinison, Jeff Garlin and Reba McIntyre, among others. He also appeared as a priest in "Meet the Parents."

As a child, Toomey, now 46, grew up listening to a Stan Freberg album so often, he says, he wore out the grooves on it. While he said his parents were supportive of his early interest in comedy, that support didn't come without a little eye rolling and head shaking.

"They were very skeptical and kept saying, 'You might want to have an ace in the hole.' But it's hard to imagine an 18-year-old saying, 'I want to do comedy,' and his parents saying, 'Yeah, I think that is the way to go,'" Toomey said.

As his career has evolved, the New Lenox resident said his material has as well. Today, it often comes from his life as a man who's been married 21 years and has four children between the ages of 11 and 18.

Like most comedians, Toomey has had his share of tough shows. But he said he understands that is part of the business. When he reflects on his appearance at the talent show three decades ago, he says he didn't know then that he was supposed to be nervous.

"I was so young and naive, I should have been scared out of my mind," he said. "But I just went up and did it."

Near the start of his career, he felt guilty that he was getting paid to make people laugh. Meanwhile, his wife, a kindergarten teacher, made a living teaching children to read.

But he overcame that guilt by focusing on the hard work and preparation he does in his career, which all started on a small stage in Carol Stream and a talent show he says he will never forget.

"You can never have that feeling again," he said. "I'm still waiting to have that show again. It was one of the greater moments of my life."

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News"><b>What:</b> "A Night of Comedy," featuring three comedians who graduated from Glenbard North High School</p>

<p class="News"><b>Why: </b>Proceeds benefit the school's fine arts department</p>

<p class="News"><b>When:</b> 8 p.m. today</p>

<p class="News"><b>Where: </b>Livingston Auditorium at Glenbard North, 990 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream</p>

<p class="News"><b>Cost: </b>$25</p>

<p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="mailto:glenbardnorthevents@comcast.net">glenbardnorthevents@comcast.net</a></p>