Sunday Standup Comedy Showcase: Don Rickles Roasts Ronald Reagan in 1973

Some of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines by iconic comedians on Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central. 

Born in Queens with the name Rikhters to a Yiddish-speaking family, Don Rickles began doing stand-up comedy performing in hotels in the Catskill Mountains in New York. 

He became known as an insult comedian by responding to his hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his prepared material, and he incorporated them into his act.

Here's a segment of Rickles roasting Ronald Reagan on the Dean Martin Show in 1973 when Reagan was governor of California. Let's turn the clock back 52 years and enjoy the video clip.

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Showcase: Allan Sherman Sings "A Most Unusual Play" Parody of Avant Garde Theater

Allan Sherman had a huge repertory of parody songs, so huge that we keep finding some on the Internet that we had missed when listening to his many albums.

Not all of his parodies made it onto record albums. We found a video clip of Sherman singing a parody of the Jimmy McHugh song A Most Unusual Day. In January 1966, he performed A Most Unusual Play on the Dean Martin Show, a spoof of avant garde theater.

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. 

Remembering Norm Crosby, Master of Malaprop

Norm Crosby, a Jewish comedian from Boston who served time on the Borscht Belt circuit and in Las Vegas hotels, died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 93. He was known mainly as a source of malapropisms that he integrated into his comedy routines. 

Crosby became a frequent guest on TV talk and variety shows, including Dean Martin’s, and subsequently was a perfect choice as a regular roaster on the hugely popular Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts of the ‘70s, writing lines like: “Wilt Chamberlain is an insulation to young people all over the world. Wherever he appears, after every game the kids give him a standing ovulation.”

Crosby continued with a busy schedule in the following decades, and was the Los Angeles co-host of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon for over 25 years, until Lewis was unceremoniously dumped from the annual event in 2011. In later years Crosby performed at casinos, Friars Club roasts, and on cruise ships.

We previously posted video clips of Crosby co-hosting Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association telethons in 1987 and 1997. Here is a clip of a Crosby performance on The Dean Martin Show in 1967.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: A Classic Victor Borge Piano Medley

We never get tired of watching the mischievous piano comedy antics of the great Victor Borge, the Danish comedian, conductor and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the United States and Europe.
 
His blend of music and comedy earned him the nickname "The Clown Prince of Denmark","The Unmelancholy Dane", and "The Great Dane."

He was born as Borge Rosenbaum to a Jewish family in Copenhagen. His parents were both musicians. He began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy.

In this video clip from The Dean Martin Show which ran on TV from 1965 to 1974, Borge gives a typical performance, combining comedy with his expert piano playing.

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.



#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Woody Allen Standup Comedy - Vodka Ad and Las Vegas

In the early 1960s, before he started down the road of producing, directing, and acting in 65 films, Allen began performing as a stand-up comic, emphasizing monologues rather than traditional jokes. 

As a comic, he developed the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish, which he maintains is quite different from his real-life personality. 

In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen in fourth place on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics, while a UK survey ranked Allen as the third greatest comedian.

For this Throwback Thursday, let's turn the calendar back to 1967 and see Woody in a standup routine on the Dean Martin Show talking about the time when he was offered a role in a vodka ad and when he performed in Las Vegas.
 
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 THEPLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO. 



#Throwback Thursday   #TBT