Benton Harbor native Sinbad to perform at the Morris

Sinbad appeared to be everywhere in the late 1980s and ’90s. He starred on TV (“A Different World,” “The Sinbad Show,” and several HBO comedy specials) and in movies (“Houseguest,” “First Kid” and “Jingle All The Way”). Then, he seemingly disappeared. With an appearance as a reality show contestant and his own stand-up comedy special both set to air in the next couple of months, the actor/comedian will once again be in the spotlight. Just don’t call it a comeback. On Feb. 21, Comedy Central will premiere the comic’s first concert special in 13 years, “Sinbad: Where U Been?” The DVD comes out two days later. The Benton Harbor native acknowledges that many people may wonder whatever happened to him, but he says that it also is a question he asks of his audience. “It has a double meaning,” Sinbad says of the title of his television special. “I guess I am asking the people, ‘Where you all been?’ I have been on the road since ’83. I never came off of the road. When people don’t see you on TV or in the movies, even though I am working every weekend, there are a lot of folks who are just not seeing me.” Sinbad — born David Adkins — also will be in the cast of Donald Trump’s third season of “Celebrity Apprentice,” which premieres March 14. “I don’t call that a comeback,” he says. “That wouldn’t be considered a comeback doing ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’ It will be the first time people will see me on TV in a while. But, for me, to call that a comeback, that would be a weak comeback. That would be like a heavyweight fighting a lightweight.” The show has already been filmed, but Sinbad would not reveal the winner. “We did it, but I can’t tell you,” he says. “I’d have to kill you.” Joining Sinbad in the cast are 13 other so-called celebrities, such as Poison singer Bret Michaels, reality TV star Sharon Osbourne and deposed Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. “He’s a different kind of guy,” Sinbad says about Blagojevich. “He is a fun guy, but you know there is some more stuff happening there. There is something else happening there.” Although Sinbad has not been in the public eye as an entertainer much lately, he has been in the news after recently filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The comedian was in trouble with the IRS, owing $2.1 million to the state of California, as well as another $8.5 million in delinquent federal taxes. Sinbad is reluctant to speak about his financial problems, saying that he is working on fixing the situation by, among other things, selling his $3 million California home. “There is nothing to talk about,” he says. “I’m all the way on the other side. I’m already past. I’m out of the tunnel. I’m onto the next phase.” Whether Sinbad will address his financial woes in his stand-up act is unsettled; he will say only that he will talk about whatever is on his mind. “I tell about the world as I see it,” he says. “If it’s in the news, I talk about it.” An early supporter of President Barack Obama in the presidential campaign, Sinbad thinks Obama came into a bad situation with two wars and a dire economy, but believes he will be able to overcome it. “I think he is doing as good as I thought he could do,” he says. “If you walk into a house that has no ceiling, no floor, it’s on fire and all of the windows and plumbing was stolen, and you had to rebuild that house, you have to rebuild it as soon as you walk in.” Since most of his family has accompanied him to California, Sinbad says he doesn’t get back to his hometown that often, but he is concerned about some of the plans to revive Benton Harbor, especially the Harbor Shores development. “I am looking at revitalization, but, I am also making sure who you’re revitalizing for,” he says. “They are building golf courses. How does that affect folks in the neighborhood, the people that I knew and grew up with? As long as you’ve got a place on the lake, and you’ve got marinas, you have a natural resource. But what does that do for the folks that live in that town? That is what I am more inclined to look at.” Sinbad says he hopes he will have time to visit Benton Harbor while he is here this weekend, saying that the town made him the man he is today. “It’s where I grew up, man,” he says. “Benton Harbor isn’t your typical small town. To be able to come from that town, you can exist in any environment, whether it is New York, Detroit, Chicago or L.A.”