Marsha Warfield, 25, won the 1979 San Francisco International Stand-up Comedy Competition—which may not seem like a big deal except that a kid named Robin Williams entered three years before and only finished second. Further, in this down period in the stand-up comic biz when there are no network variety series, she has managed to land shots on specials with Richard Pryor, Mac Davis and Alan King. Warfield's material certainly is ready for prime time. About as angry as she gets is to inquire, "What do restaurants do with frog arms?" Or, "Are there black people in Iowa? And if so, why?" She starred in a variety special, That Thing on ABC, and now has a contract with CBS to develop a sitcom of her own. A native of Chicago's tough South Side, Warfield says she played cards through high school because "classes were so dull," then worked as a telephone operator until she married her supervisor's son. Bored with being a housewife, she went through a succession of jobs until she saw a newspaper ad for the Pickle Barrel, then a local showcase for new talent. "I decided to give it a try," she recalls, "but at the last minute I chickened out." A friend practically forced her onstage, she smiles, "and I was hooked." By then split from her husband, Warfield headed for L.A., where she took a job with an answering service and began hanging around the Strip's famed try-out club, the Comedy Store. There she put stage jitters behind her. "It's like talking to friends in my living room," Marsha figures. "And for once, they shut up and listen to me."
David Griego is the best 15-year-old chess player in the U.S., but he doesn't compete much with kids anymore. He is the No. 3 player of any age in Rhode Island and has already held a former national champion to a draw. On the U.S. Chess Federation computer charts, Griego has accrued 2,143 points, which makes him an "Expert" and only a year away from the title of "Master." David and his sister Elisa (now the nation's ranking 13-year-old) were 4 when they were taught the game by their father, William, a graphic artist for the U.S. Navy. "Some people are content to stay cozy in their own divisions," says David's housewife mother, Marguerite. "But David took to entering higher competitions, and that's how he moved ahead so fast." Indeed, his mentor dad is no longer good enough to test his son (except at the pool table). Otherwise, David is a perfectly average 10th grader at East Providence's private Gordon School, playing flute and baseball. A pragmatist, David does not have any fantasies of becoming the next Bobby Fischer, but rather plans to be a college physics professor or a psychiatrist. "There is just no money in chess," he explains, "unless you are at the very top or subsidized by Russia."
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