Proof that leaving isn’t so easy

Young Chang

A fight propelled Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna on their comedic

rise to fame.

It was 35 years ago and the couple had only been married a couple

years. Taylor had told Bologna to pack up and leave. Bologna began

packing and Taylor did, too. The story goes that Bologna asked

Taylor, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Taylor said, “If you ever leave me, I’m going with you.”

Hence the title of their touring show.

Taylor and Bologna started their act four years ago, went on the

road with it, performed it on Broadway last year and are now headed

for Orange Coast College for a Sept. 14 show.

They’re famous for their talent and humor, of course, but also for

their enviably loving and celebratory relationship. The spiel begins

with the couple’s courtship, how they dated, what it was like to be

newlyweds, their fights, how they make up and about the different

textures of the life they share.

“I’m an Italian-American and Renee is Jewish-American,” said

Bologna, a stage, screen and television actor who recently acted with

Adam Sandler in “Big Daddy.” Relationships are “kind of a universal

thing. I think everybody relates to that.”

Taylor, widely known for playing Fran Drescher’s mother in “The

Nanny” and other acting, directing and Broadway roles, said they love

to look out in the audience and see people holding hands.

“They usually come backstage and tell us about their love story

too,” she said. “A lot of people come to the show celebrating a

birthday or anniversary. It’s comedy, but it’s also a very romantic

show.”

The couple has written, directed and starred in other works

together, including “It Had to be You” and “Love is All There Is.”

“Lovers and Other Strangers,” which Taylor and Bologna co-wrote, was

nominated for an Oscar and “Acts of Love and Other Comedies” won an

Emmy Award. The public relationship started on the day of the team’s

wedding -- at their wedding reception actually -- as the event was

held and aired on the “Merv Griffin Show.” Taylor had told Griffin

that receptions were so expensive to hold and he had offered his show

as the venue.

A lot of people ask the duo how they keep up their successful

relationship.

Taylor says they “keep going back to the love.”

“It’s always new and exciting and romantic because we make it that

way,” she said. “We’ve renewed our vows five dimes ... we go out to

dinner about once a week, go someplace and laugh, go to the movies

and neck.”

Bologna said love is the easy part, that commitment is what keeps

a union strong.

“Who takes out the garbage is the hard part of a marriage,” he

said. “So many people, once they have their first fight, say ‘oh the

bloom is off the rose,’ but no, that’s where the fun starts. That’s

where the relationship deepens.”