‘Twisted’ comic Tom Mabe headlining at Bear’s Place

A man who got his start by harassing telemarketers will be coming to entertain the people of Bloomington.

Louisville, Ky. native Tom Mabe will be the main act Monday night while Bear’s Place celebrates 26 years in Bloomington.

“I’ve never seen a crowd not respond well to his antics,” said Brad Wilhelm, an emcee for Bear’s Place for 12 years. “He’s a different kind of comic.”

Mabe first rose to prominence with “Revenge on the Telemarketers,” a collection of pranks he played on telemarketers who called him. Since then, he has been featured on programs like “The Bob & Tom Show” and “The Howard Stern Show.” Just last year, he got his own show on TNT called “Mabe in America,” which is a mixture of stand-up and pranks.

Wilhelm, who has seen Mabe perform at Bear’s Place several times, said his comedy is a little twisted.

“He’s your one cousin at your family reunion that you want to hang out with for a while, but probably not for more than a day,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be one of the people he plays his pranks on.”

He said it was a good idea for Bear’s Place to bring in Mabe for the anniversary.

“It makes a lot of sense,” he said. “Each year Tom Sobel (an agent who has worked with Bear’s all 26 years) brings in somebody who’s regularly played the room and has went on to some kind of success. He’s probably been to Bear’s eight times already, and he’s blown up again with this new show, so it makes perfect sense for him to come and perform for the anniversary.”

Like Wilhelm, Jim Reef, general manager at Bear’s Place, has seen Mabe perform on several occasions. He looks forward to the anniversary and another chance to see Mabe.

“He’s a stand-up guy and a good stand-up comic,” Reef said. “I’ll be excited to get a lot of people in here and educate them about the finer points of stand-up comedy.”

While they might be excited to bring in Mabe for the anniversary, having big acts in town is nothing new for Bear’s.

“We get national touring comedians every week here,” Reef said.

Big John Richardson, a comedian also from Louisville, will be the opening act. Like Mabe, Richardson has performed at Bear’s in the past.

Reef also said there will be prizes to give away, such as T-shirts and other gifts. He expects it to be a fun night.

“We urge people to drink, tip your server and laugh a lot,” Reef said.