Al Lubel
became a lawyer to satisfy his mother and quit to become a comedian
to satisfy his sadistic need to torture her. After graduating law
school in Florida, Al moved to California, passed the bar exam on
his first try and immediately began the practice of standup comedy.
Al practiced law during the day and
comedy at night. Getting stage time is hard for a beginning comic,
so Al would sometimes suddenly stand up in the middle of Denny's,
and unannounced, do five minutes. And Al always did well because he
had everyone's rapt attention because people were scared he might
hurt them!
Al gradually improved at comedy, getting
work on the road and leaving the law behind. Within a year he won
the $100,000 Comedy Grand Prize on Star Search. Doing the Tonight
Show was a big childhood fantasy, so Al auditioned and became one of
the last comics to appear with Johnny Carson. Al went on to do six
more Tonight Show appearances with Jay Leno and made five
appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Al has also played an attorney on the
Blake Clark HBO Comedy Hour and has been featured in the Showtime
and PBS special, A Standup Life. He has appeared on all seven
episodes of the ESPN series, Bill Walton's Long Strange Trip.
Al's solo show, Al Alone, won the Amused
Moose Award Judges Prize as the best one person show in the 2013
Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He also was nominated for best performer
for a solo show by the Barry Awards at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe
Festival.
But Al does admit to missing the practice
of law. As he says, "I'd like to have just one more trial, something
serious like a murder trial, because right before I give my closing
argument and my client's entire fate hinges on each and every word I
say, I want to see his face when I turn to him and whisper, I'm a
comedian!"