Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Don Rickles Roasts Jerry Lewis at Friars Club

It's another Throwback Thursday and today we're flying the time machine back to 1971 when Don Rickles presided at a Friars Club roast of Jerry Lewis.

The roast was attended by Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Alan King, Rex Reed, and many other comedians and celebrities.

Rickles was in fine form in delivering one insult after another, in his inimitable style, and had the audience laughing from start to finish.

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    #TBT

A Comedy Classic Flashback: Jack Carter at The Friars Club Back to Brooklyn Night

Jack Carter, now 91 years old, was one of the most prolific stand-up comedians in television history. Born Jack Chakrin in Brooklyn,  he had a long-running comedy act similar to fellow rapid-paced contemporaries, Milton Berle and Morey Amsterdam. 

Twenty-two years ago, Carter was the featured stand-up comic at a special Friars Club Welcome Back to Brooklyn dinner. We found a seven-minute-long video clip of him delivering a series of jokes and a monologue describing life among the condominium dwellers of south Florida. It's classic Carter.

And he's still doing it! Below you'll find a current video clip of Jack Carter that's included in the documentary film When Jews Were Funny.

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.)  

Flashback to 2003: Red Buttons Toasts Sid Caesar at His 80th Birthday Party

Our tribute to Sid Caesar yesterday was one of the most viewed posts since Jewish Humor Central started in 2009. We had requests for more about Sid and we're glad to share some more videos today and in the days to come.

On Sept 20th, 2003 The Friars Club celebrated Sid Caesar's 80th birthday by throwing him a party at their Beverly Hills headquarters. 

One of the many celebrities honoring Sid was Red Buttons, and the audience never stopped laughing. Sid doesn't actually appear in this video, but the love and affection for him are evident in Red Buttons' remarks and in the audience reaction.

Comedians appearing in Friars Club and other industry toasts let us see them in a different light, as themselves rather than the characters they play in front of audiences. Here's a look at the comedy of Red Buttons from a different angle.

Buttons tosses in a few Yiddishisms, Jewish references, and a few off-color jokes. But that's par for the course at these Friars Club roasts and toasts for comedians, where most of the roasters, their subjects, and the audience are members of the Tribe. 

He is introduced by Norm Crosby, another Jewish comedian known as the master of malapropisms. Buttons tells Crosby "Your father was my idol when I was growing up," making a funny reference to Bing Crosby who of course was not related to Norm. Then he hums a few bars of what we would expect to be one of Bing Crosby's songs. But what he actually hums is the beginning of the Yiddish classic Mein Shtetele Belz.


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.)

Kutsher's Comedians Revisited: Henny Youngman Roasts Don Rickles at Friars Club

Yesterday we wrote about the sale of Kutsher's Country Club in the Catskills, and lamented its decline as a center of Jewish comedy. 

We promised to feature a series of nostalgic videos of the many comedians who either got their start there or visited repeatedly after achieving comedic fame on radio and television. One of the first and most famous was Henny Youngman. 

The year was 1968, and Don Rickles was being roasted at a Friars Club gala that included funny, insulting speeches about Rickles. Hosted by Johnny Carson, the evening included roasts by an all-star cast including Henny Youngman, Milton Berle and Alan King.

When Youngman stepped up to the microphone, everyone expected him to poke fun at Rickles, the honoree. But in typical Youngman style, he put the spotlight on himself and his family, reeling off a series of one-liners that had the professional comedian audience howling. We hope you'll like this look back at a funny era as much as we do.

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.)