After our lunch in the sky, I feel compelled to do some shopping, and Mac doesn't disagree. He runs through the basics: shopping on Michigan Avenue, aka the Magnificent Mile, home to Marshall Field's, Neiman Marcus, and a dozen other flagships, where Mac once joined the masses at high-end men's stores. "But Mark, I haven't shopped at a store in more than 20 years," he says. "No, all my stuff is made. The only thing I shop at a store for is underwear."

Mac does still join the throngs at the temples of Chicago sports. And not just at Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, but also the old Comiskey Park, now U.S. Cellular Field, to watch the White Sox in his old neighborhood. "I'm a south side man. I'm Sox, man," he says. "The north side was, like, separated from the south side. The north side was for the elite. The south side was more affordable, and we'd go see the Sox. I think I went to Wrigley maybe once as a kid. Went with my uncle. I was so impressed."

He closes his eyes, recalling the mani­cured fields of the storied ballpark.

Next, we're segueing into the evening. But before I step out with Bernie Mac, I need to know one thing. "How should I dress?" I ask.

"You dress for the dime, man!" he says. "You come clean, baby. You come clean all the time."

He looks me up and down, and I have to admit, I'm dressed clean for my interview with Bernie Mac: 100 percent Italian fashion from shoelace to shirt collar. He seems to like what he sees.