Tuesday, October 8, 2013

A 40 Year Old Comedy Classic: Alan King - "Survived By His Wife"


Last week the long-running Off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes went on the road and opened at the Royal George Theater in Chicago.

Reviews were positive, and the Chicago papers praised the show that has kept New Yorkers laughing for the last few years.

The show has a new cast but uses the same old jokes (what else would you expect?) The reviewers especially enjoyed an old video clip that was part of the show -- a famous routine that master comedian Alan King introduced more than 40 years ago. In the video King repeats the routine 15 years later, in 1987 in Las Vegas. We thought you'd like to see it and laugh along with the audience.

King declares that women live longer than men and produces a few pages of obituaries from local newspapers. He walks into the audience and  asks members to read the closing line of each one, which provides hilarious proof of his premise.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.) 



5 comments:

  1. How well I remember Catskill Comedians, they made up for the price of the stay.

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  2. Catskill Comedians were worth the price of the hotel. Now there are comedians on cruise ships - but they lack tam.

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  3. very funny and not a crude word.

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  4. Loved this man from the time I was a kid. Delivery was the key.

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  5. I adored Alan King (z"l) when I was growing up. Some things just don't change; today, a couple of weeks from my 65th birthday I laughed at this routine until tears rolled down my cheeks.

    And yes ... of course I'd seen him do this shtick before! But his delivery and his ... presence, I suppose I could label it, were unmatched. They still are.

    His humor didn't depend on being self-deprecating like Rodney Dangerfield, or on being insulting and obnoxious like Don Rickles. Mr. King was simply a guy having a conversation with his audience. Okay -- A guy with great material, a lot of heart, and superb delivery. He was like your favorite, funny uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, relishing making everyone laugh so hard they nearly aspirate their stuffing. He was Alan King, and that's all he needed to be.

    Mr King, you're missed, as are so many of your generation. I hope you're "knocking 'em dead" (ba-dum-bum!) in Heaven, with Mrs. King, your Catskill buddies, and a few high-ranking angels in the front row. (G-d, of course, is the emcee.)

    May your memory be a blessing.馃挋
    Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet.

    ~ "A Skeptical Optimist"
    (look for me on Threads)

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