Comic Robert Schimmel's show must go on

Bankrate: With your touring and gigs, you are very busy, yet your life depends on your taking time to relax. How do you do it?

Schimmel: You have got to take time to relax. Today, I got a bagel. The girl at the counter said, "I'm having a bad day." I said, "You're projecting! You have the kind of day you will yourself to have." Everyone has the same 24 hours. It's not like Donald Trump has 25 hours and that's the secret to his success. No, Donald Trump has 24 hours, and the guy asking for spare change has 24 hours. It's where your head is at. When I was in the hospital, I promised myself that I would live where I could walk on the beach. So, I rented a place in Santa Monica. I don't take my cell phone; I need that.

Bankrate: What do you think about doctors giving prognoses? Did it drive you crazy, either with your son or with yourself?

Schimmel: Yes, and now I don't believe in them. I don't believe in people getting prognoses of time, how much they have left to live. It's based on studies of 1,000, maybe 2,000 people. Did they eat what I eat? Drink what I drink? What about their culture, their ethnic background, where they lived? What were their ages? Did they have the same stresses? Time, it drives you crazy. They told me that my son, when he was 3, had 6 months to live. We went crazy, trying to pack a whole lifetime of living into those months. He ended up living for 8 years. But it was like a ticking time clock.

Bankrate: They say, "The show must go on." You probably have gone on stage hundreds of times either sick or sad. What advice do you have for people who have to be at their best under "less than" circumstances?

Schimmel: The show must go on. It has to. Because I live for going onstage. In a crazy world, I do have control of that little real estate on stage. I'm God there! For the time they're laughing, you own them. When I step off, I don't know what will happen. I escape, just like the audience escapes! A comedian needs the laughs!

Bankrate: Do you find that your sense of humor has changed over the years?

Schimmel: I think I'm more open and honest.

Bankrate: Do you manage your own money?

Schimmel: I have a CPA. I'm on the road so much, I couldn't do it myself.

Bankrate: What investments do you have?

Schimmel: None. I own a house in Scottsdale, and I rent my place on the beach. I know a lot of people who invested in the market and they're in big trouble. I have a friend who lost his life savings in Allegheny Power. I'll gamble on stage, that's it. I wouldn't gamble with stocks. You have to determine what success means to you. For some people, it's a Porsche and a house in the Hollywood Hills. I don't have a status symbol. If I did, I'd rather use it to help other people. If I couldn't get the headliner gigs, I'd make people laugh in the street. What if you bought that new Tiffany diamond, the Lucinda? It's $35,000. There's a phony demand. What if tomorrow, nobody wanted diamonds? You'd have a piece of glass. When I was in isolation, during chemo, I couldn't have flowers, fruit or visitors. What would I have done with a status symbol then? There was no parking space for a Porsche in isolation. And, I have learned, REALLY rich people don't live like that. It's only the people who want you to think they are rich who live like that.

Bankrate: Did you ever think about going into production with other comics, like Carl Reiner did?

Schimmel: I haven't really thought about it. If I start thinking that way, planning years in advance, I can't focus on today. I've read the "Power of Now."