Howie Mandel has always been a figure that has brought joy to audience members. Whether it’s on the small screen, the stage, or in cinemas. Despite this, it seems that the man’s life hasn’t been all that joyous, and it keeps getting worse! The popular comedian and game-show host suffers from numerous mental and physical health problems that make it hard for him to have a good time, but he still tries his best. Join Facts Verse as we take a look at how the tragedy of Howie Mandel just keeps getting worse.
Howie Mandel Has an Insane Fear of Germs
Television viewers familiar with the program America’s Got Talent will likely be aware that Howie Mandel is a man who suffers from a significant phobia of germs. Whenever it comes time for him to shake someone’s hand on the program. The best he can manage is a fist bump. This is because Howie wants to keep skin contact with others to a minimum. As one might imagine, this can be difficult for someone in the comedian’s position, and it’s getting worse!
While most viewers will likely at least have a cursory familiarity with Howie Mandel’s strange phobia. Fewer know about the alleged incident that inspired the phobia. Howie’s fear of germs goes by the name of “mysophobia”. And it isn’t all that uncommon of a condition out in the real world. The only thing is that the majority of people who are suffering from this extreme fear of germs aren’t big-name celebrities!
Those looking to find the origin of Howie’s extreme mysophobia will need to go back to the comedian’s childhood. Howie’s mother had a similarly strong fear of germs. To the point where she wouldn’t let family members touch young Howie’s crib without disinfecting it afterwards. This attitude from the future comedian’s mother may have set the stage for his own mysophobia to form later on. But it was actually a more specific incident that Howie has come to credit for causing his strange condition.
The Origin of Howie Mandel’s Mysophobia
When Howie was still young, his family went on a trip to Florida. During this trip, things went terribly awry for the young boy. He ended up getting eggs laid inside of him by a sandfly. The boy could see the sandfly larva visibly growing under his skin. And it understandably freaked him out a great deal! The experience of having these larvae removed became equally traumatic. As doctors did their best to remove the pests with a painful application of liquid nitrogen. Even so, this application not enough to get rid of all of the sandfly larvae that had laid under Howie’s skin. So the future star’s mother had to continue attempting to scrub them out for several days at home until they finally all gone.
Despite the fact that being afraid of germs apparently ran in his family, Howie Mandel credits this sandfly-larvae incident with causing him to develop mysophobia in his later years. It seems that Howie has never stopped feeling those bugs crawling under his skin. And this is what he thinks about whenever it comes time for him to have contact with people. Besides this traumatic incident with the sandfly larvae, Howie Mandel also had a fairly hard time in school growing up.
Howie Was a Troublemaker in School
Mandel’s trouble in school didn’t come as a result of the young boy’s latent mysophobia. But instead came as a result of his ADHD. Howie always had a crazy sense of humor. And he exhibited this during his school years to the point where he was always getting in trouble. Howie hated paying attention in class and instead dedicated all of his time in the classroom to making his peers laugh. The future star’s antics led to him kicked out of three separate high schools over the course of his educational career. According to Howie, the kind of things that he would get kicked out of school for would be the same kind of things that he would get paid good money for upon his entrance into the entertainment industry, including jokes and pranks.
Howie Mandel has recalled several pranks that he pulled during his childhood that ended up catching him the ire of the staff of whatever school he was attending at the time. On one instance, Howie claims that he hired some contractors to put an additional wing on his school’s library. Another time, the comedian claims that he was in a swim class when he decided to throw a candy bar into the pool. Similar to the iconic scene from the classic comedy Caddyshack. Howie’s classmates then freaked out thinking that someone had pooped in the pool! However, Howie says that he came up with the prank before Caddyshack was even in theaters.
During his prank-filled high-school days, Howie Mandel had no tangible dreams of becoming a star. It wouldn’t be until many years later, after trying to make a living as a colorblind carpet salesman. And that Howie would finally find his calling as a stand-up comedian. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Howie Was a Colorblind Carpet Salesman
As a result of Howie Mandel not doing too well in school, the best profession that the future star could find upon his high-school graduation was that of a door-to-door carpet salesman. This profession proved quite difficult for the young man, as Howie has actually always been colorblind! Of course, this made it so that Howie was essentially unable to keep track of which carpet was which. But he claims that this wasn’t that big of a deal due to the predominantly drab nature of house décor around the area in which he lived.
Howie is a rare Canadian comedian, having grown up in the area of Toronto. According to Howie, most of the houses in Toronto were ugly. And it wouldn’t have made much of a difference what color of carpet their residents had chosen. The future star understandably didn’t see many prospects in the world of selling carpets. So he was always keeping his eyes open for greater opportunities. When numerous comedy clubs started opening up around Toronto. Howie got the idea to try his hand at the art of stand-up comedy.
How Howie Got Into Stand-Up Comedy
Howie had never thought about performing stand-up comedy before. But, once he got the idea, he realized that he’d be a perfect fit for it! He had always had a great sense of humor and had always filled up rooms with laughter. And he also always hated working with his hands. The young man tried his luck during amateur night, and claims that the sparks flew immediately. Howie was nervous, and he incorporated his nervousness into his act. Those who only know the comedian from his more recent years on America’s Got Talent will likely not be aware of just how strange and cutting-edge his stand-up comedy act was. Howie came onto the comedy scene with a manic style, similar to Bobcat Goldthwait, which utilized weird voices and movements.
Howie Moved from the Stage to the Screen
Of course, Howie Mandel ended up finding quite a bit of success as a comedian. And his success as a comedian gradually allowed him to work his way into Hollywood. In 1982, Howie began playing the character of Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the medical drama St. Elsewhere, which also notably provided an early starring role for Denzel Washington. Both Howie and Denzel stayed on the series for it’s entire run, which totaled 6 seasons and 137 episodes.
Howie’s turn on St. Elsewhere proved that he had dramatic chops. But, in 1984, the comedian’s propensity for making strange voices landed him a gig voicing the character of Gizmo in the classic family-horror film Gremlins. Howie would go on to use a very similar voice when voicing the titular character on the hit animated kids’ show Bobby’s World. In 1989, he received what is arguably his most iconic live-action role via the cult classic film Little Monsters. Though that role features the comedian buried under lots of makeup.
In the 2000s, Howie Mandel became bigger than ever as the host of the popular game show Deal or No Deal. It was on this show that fans first got a taste of the mysophobia that had come to afflict the star more strongly than ever since his stand-up comedy days. This is where Howie’s iconic fist bump originated. As he refused to shake hands with any of the show’s contestant… even if they won a million dollars!
Howie Has Been Having a Tough Time Lately
Howie moved from Deal or No Deal to America’s Got Talent. On which program the comedian is still a host to this day. This might change soon, however, as it seems that Howie’s numerous mental problems are only getting worse as he gets older. In addition, he’s also become afflicted with a few physical problems, including high blood pressure. Howie claims that he diagnosed with high blood pressure in his 40s. And he takes prescription statin drugs in order to keep his blood pressure under control. In late 2021, the comedian had a scare where he passed out at a Starbucks. And which he later attributed to a mix of blood-pressure problems and excessive heat. Howie thankfully recovered, but he went on to contract COVID-19 in April of 2022 while attending the 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards.
On top of this, Howie has had to live through the death of several close friends over the past year. Including fellow comedians Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried, and Louie Anderson. Losing these close friends has taught Howie the fragility of life. And it seems that we may seeing less of the comedian in coming years as he may be wanting to spend more time in safe, close quarters.
Howie recovered from COVID-19, though the episode has made it so that the star isn’t incredibly anxious to leave the house. An incident that occurred in early May only added to Howie’s growing fear of public life. As fellow comedian Dave Chappelle attacked during a performance on stage by a man with a knife. Howie Mandel now claims that he’s afraid to get up on stage, which might greatly affect his future.
Given all of the numerous problems that Howie Mandel suffers from, it’s a wonder that the man has been able to find so much success in such a public field. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Howie Mandel tried to make a living as a colorblind carpet salesman before being inspired to try out stand-up comedy. And that one of his first gigs in the entertainment industry saw him starring alongside Denzel Washington in a medical drama. As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
