Remembering Shelley Berman: "I'm Not a Standup Comedian - I Work on a Stool"

Comedian Shelley Berman, who died Friday in California at the age of 92, brought a new and unique form of comedy to television in the 1950s and 1960s. Sitting on a stool and holding an imaginary telephone, he let his audiences listen in to one side of conversations he was having with hotel clerks, department store operators, and answering multiple phone calls in his office.

As Frazier Moore wrote for the Associated Press yesterday,

Berman was a pioneer of a new brand of comedy that could evoke laughter from such matters as air travel discomforts and small children who answer the telephone. He helped pave the way for Bob Newhart, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and other standup comedians who fashioned their routines around the follies and frustrations of modern living.

Late in his career, he played Nat David, father of Larry David, on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." With dialogue improvised by its cast, the comedy series gave Berman the opportunity to return to his improv roots and introduced him to a new generation of TV viewers.

"I'm not a standup comedian," Berman often insisted. "I work on a stool."

Here is a classic example of Berman's telephone humor, his phone call to a department store. Enjoy!

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The Great Jewish Comedians: Shelley Berman's Classic Office Telephone Sketch

Shelley Berman, the comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, poet, and philanthropist, celebrated his 90th birthday in February. He merits a place in our list of the great Jewish comedians of our time.

Berman started as a straight actor, receiving his training at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, honing his acting skills in stock companies in and around Chicago and New York City. 

In the mid-1950s, he became a member of Chicago's Compass Players, which later evolved into The Second City. While performing improvised sketches with Compass, Berman began developing solo pieces, often employing an imaginary telephone to take the place of an onstage partner.

He went on to star in plays, movies, TV, and has been involved in virtually every form of entertainment including records and books. 

He's been performing on TV as recently as 2009 in the role of Larry David's father in Curb Your Enthusiasm, a role which earned him an Emmy nomination.

We previously posted one of his telephone sketches in which he speaks with a hotel clerk. 

You asked for more, so here's another classic example of Berman's comedy from a Judy Garland Show episode in January 1964. The scene takes place in an accounting office one minute from the 5 pm closing time. 

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.)

Comedy Down Memory Lane: Shelley Berman on the Telephone

Comedian Shelley Berman is celebrating his 90th birthday this month. To mark the occasion, we're sharing one of his classic improvisational telephone routines where he carries on a conversation with an invisible adversary.

Berman has had a long career as an actor and comedian. Most recently he  appeared as Larry David's aged father on Curb Your Enthusiasm, a role for which he received a 2008 Emmy Award nomination.

In this clip, Berman is on the phone with a clerk at the hotel he has just checked into. He voices his dissatisfaction with the lack of certain amenities that he expected to find in his hotel room, such as a window and a door.

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.)