Bruce Baum (born March 18, 1951) is an American

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

. His live act consists of

prop comedy Prop comedy is a comedy genre in which performers use humorous objects, or conventional objects in humorous ways. The stages and films term "prop", an abbreviation of "property", refers to any object an actor handles in the course of a performance ...

as well as more traditional

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

material. One of his best-known stand-up routines is his diaper-wearing Babyman character. Baum is recognized for his large mustache, long hair and remarkable resemblance to musician

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

.Heather Lalley. "Comedian Bruce Baum Bringing Circus to Town". ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

''. November 17, 2000.Richard Freedman. "Baum lands at Pepper Belly's; Comic's wild act, if not face, unique". '' Times-Herald''. February 5, 2004. Baum and comedian

Barry Marder Barry Marder is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is identified with the character of Ted L. Nancy, author of the ''Letters from a Nut'' series of books. Career Marder has performed at most major theaters in the United States a ...

co-authored the first three ''Letters From a Nut'' books, written under the pseudonym Ted L. Nancy.

Biography

Baum was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, but transferred to the University of California-Davis to receive more playing time. At UC-Davis, he earned a degree in political science while performing impromptu comedy routines in the school library and food commons. Bruce was also a very talented singer/songwriter while at UC-Davis playing small clubs in and around the Sacramento area. He returned to UCLA to earn a master's degree in film, and while working on film school projects, became friends with comedians such as

Garry Shandling Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as '' Sanford and Son'' and ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. He made ...

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

, and

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fulle ...

. He joined the stand-up circuit in 1977. He also appeared frequently on the 1979-80 revival of the TV game show ''

Make Me Laugh ''Make Me Laugh'' was an American television game show in which contestants watch three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian h ...

''. In 1981, Baum, billed as Bruce "Baby Man" Baum, recorded the comedy song "

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his exophthalmos, prominent, strabismus, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on ...

Eyes", a parody of the

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

hit "

Bette Davis Eyes "Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was originally recorded by DeShannon in that year for her album '' New Arrangement'' but it was made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981 w ...

". From 1983 to 1984, Baum appeared several times as a panelist on ''

Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour ''The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour'' is an American television panel game show that combined two panel games of the 1960s and 1970s – ''Match Game'' and ''Hollywood Squares'' – into an hour-long format. The series ran from October 31, ...

''. In 1986, he appeared with ''Dallas'' stars

Jenilee Harrison Jenilee A. Harrison (born June 12, 1958) is an American actress who appeared as Cindy Snow, a cousin of and replacement for blonde roommate Chrissy Snow on the hit sitcom ''Three's Company'', between 1980 and 1982. She went on to play Jamie E ...

and

Audrey Landers Audrey Landers (born Audrey Hamburg; July 18, 1956) is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Afton Cooper on the television series ''Dallas'' and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of ''A Chorus Line'' (1985). Early ...

on ''Super Password'' with

Bert Convy Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for hosting '' Tattletales'', ''Super Password'' and ''Win, Lose or Draw''. Early life Convy was born in St. Loui ...

. Baum has appeared in several television programs since the early 1980s, including '' The Stockard Channing Show'', ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The show ran for seven seasons, consisting of 166 episodes. The series followed the misadventures of the Se ...

'', ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...

'', and '' Northern Exposure''. He also appeared as an animated version of himself on ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', guest-starring with

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

Steven Wright Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical jok ...

, and

Bobcat Goldthwait Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait (born May 26, 1962) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, known for his black comedy stand-up act, delivered through an energetic stage persona with an unusual raspy and high-pitched voice. ...

in the episode " The Last Temptation of Krusty".

Notes

External links

Bruce Baum.com
* 1951 births Living people American stand-up comedians University of California, Davis alumni UC Davis Aggies football players American Jews UCLA Film School alumni {{US-comedian-stub