Carmel Magazine

Knocking Them Down With Laughter D oug Gamble's career has always taken the unexpected path, while strongly infused with politics and humor. At age 8, at home in Canada, he watched a political debate on television, and was fascinated by the "spectator sport" of it. He also has a flair for wit: "I inherited my smart aleck attitude from my father," he says. A move to Los Angeles in the early '80s found Gamble hanging around comedy clubs, where big name comedians were testing out material. Gamble would approach the comedians with envelopes of jokes. "Joan Rivers gave me $10 a joke, Phyllis Diller only $3, and Rodney Dangerfield $50," he says. His big break came when Bob Hope hired him as a joke writer on retainer for a decade. "Things really took off " when a White House offi- cial heard a piece of political satire Gamble wrote for radio that was pro- President Ronald Reagan, and contacted him. "I sent in a page of jokes and didn't hear anything," Gamble recalls. "Then I was watching television and heard Reagan give a speech with my jokes. It never would have occurred to me that I would be doing this for politicians." Gamble has continued steadily to work for presidents and politicians, including Mitt Romney, who spoke Gamble's line on "The Tonight Show." "A lot of people think that I'm pretty square," Romney said. "What they don't know is I have a wild side, but no one is going to find out because what happens in Disneyland stays in Disneyland." "Self-deprecating humor is a powerful tool," Gamble says. Gamble, who has lived in Carmel full-time since the '90s, also writes song lyrics, contributes to cartoon strips including "Shoe," writes a politi- cal blog, and doctors corporate speeches with humor. A recent letter from Gamble published in the Carmel Pine Cone "praised" Carmel Magazine for its "relatable" habit of showcasing the rich, beautiful and famous. "It was tongue-in-cheek," he says. "But when I got an e-mail from the publisher, I thought he'd be angry, not amused." But that's the point: Gamble uses humor to diffuse situations so effec- tively that even the targets find themselves laughing. For more information on Doug Gamble, please go to www.douggamble.com. —Brett Wilbur SHORTCUTS NEIGHBORS Doug Gamble, shown at left with President Ronald Reagan, for whom he wrote political material laced with comedy, resides in Carmel. Gamble keeps busy on multiple fronts, writing song lyrics, comic strips, and speeches. Photo: Kelli Uldall 60 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 046-76 Shortcuts_SU05 Carmel Magazine 1/24/14 9:05 AM Page 8

• Cover