Rickles... still funny

[Simon_Cowbell]

On The Daily Show

****, showbiz used to be cool.

His story about having Sinatra come to his table to introduce himself to Rickles' girlfriend is one of teh funniest things I have ever heard.

 

[Bob Slydell]

He was good on Letterman last night too. Very funny, insulting everyone. Then thanks Letterman for something at the end and was very nice. God he is funny.

There will never be another Rickles.

 

[D-Backs Hack]

I'm too young to remember the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, but I watched the DVD informercials and laughed my ass off, mostly at Rickles.

"What a night! I'm so proud to be here!"

Then, leaning toward Martin, "Who the hell are we honoring?"

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

Absolutely love Rickles. Saw him perform about 5-6 years ago.

He goes to ridiculous lengths now to say he's just kidding, that he's actually a nice guy, etc. I'll bet in the pre-PC days, 30-40 years ago, that wasn't part of his act.

Anyway, he was tremendous.

 

[Bob Slydell]

It's an honor to have him ridicule you. I think it was Kevin Pollack telling a story about working on Casino and Rickles would just give DeNiro **** all the time during a scene and would just crack DeNiro up.

 

[Double J]

Absolutely love Rickles. Saw him perform about 5-6 years ago.

He goes to ridiculous lengths now to say he's just kidding, that he's actually a nice guy, etc. I'll bet in the pre-PC days, 30-40 years ago, that wasn't part of his act.

Anyway, he was tremendous.

Apparently it was. When the Beatles first came to America in '64, they caught his act in Miami. Here's George's recollection, from The Beatles Anthology:

"He did a great bit at the end. He said, 'Well, I see we've got some Arabs in the back of the room and there's always talk about fighting amongst Arabs and Jewish people. I'd just like to say that really appreciate each other, and there's no hard feelings, and just to show it, gentlemen, would you please stand up and take a bow.' They all obeyed, honoured at such a gesture, and Rickles dived on the floor going, 'Drrrrrrrrrrr....' making the noise of a machine gun.

"He turned out not to be that cool, though. He blew it all at the very end because he started apologising for everything he'd been saying, instead of just going off and leaving the buzz in the room."

 

[dooley_womack1]

Absolutely love Rickles. Saw him perform about 5-6 years ago.

He goes to ridiculous lengths now to say he's just kidding, that he's actually a nice guy, etc. I'll bet in the pre-PC days, 30-40 years ago, that wasn't part of his act.

Anyway, he was tremendous.

No, he has always ended his bit with the warmth.

 

[suburbanite]

I've noticed how whenever someone from Rickles' era dies, it seems he's the first one that gets called for quotes, soundbites, reminiscensces, etc., because he is still very sharp.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Yeah, he always used to close his nightclub act with a schmaltzy thing about how we've had a good time making fun of our differences, but we're really all the same and it's great that we're able to laugh at ourselves, etc....

It was cornball, but it was a way to soften things so that anyone leaving wouldn't feel badly about the show (or feel badly about recommending it to friends). Probably also kept him from getting threatened by people who didn't understand the act and thought he was a terrible bigot.

He is indeed still very sharp. So is his longtime friend Bob Newhart.

I don't know how many tapes of Rickles' Carson show appearances survive, but every one was an event.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I remember when Rickles broke Carson's cigarette box, and Carson broke into a taping of Rickles' comedy CPO Sharkey. That was a riot.

 

[Double J]

Sad that "CPO Sharkey" came and went in almost no time at all back in 1977-78 or thereabouts while "The King of Queens" got, what, nine stinking years on the air?

 

[rico_the_redneck]

Bob Newhart and Rickles are best friends and Bob's got some good stuff about Rickles in his recent autobiography.

Bob tells the story of when he first met Rickles: They were both doing their acts in Vegas in the 60s. Bob's wife knew Rickles' wife but they hadn't seen each other in a few years. So she calls Rickles' wife at their hotel and the foursome goes out to eat before Don's show. Bob's wife comes away thinking Rickles was one of the "sweetest men" she'd ever met with great family values. Bob cautioned her that Rickles' show as a little "different."

Don goes on to open his show with: "Well, I see that the stammering idiot from Chicago is in the audience tonight with his hooker wife from Bayonne, New Jersey."

Funny stuff. Bob's autobiography is definitely a good, quick read. I'll have to check out the Rickles Daily Show appearance.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Sad that "CPO Sharkey" came and went in almost no time at all back in 1977-78 or thereabouts while "The King of Queens" got, what, nine stinking years on the air?

Not at all. "Sharkey" was awful. The sitcom format was never able to capture what made Rickles special.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I thought it was OK; they kept the "hockey puck" references to a minimum. Considering the utter crap NBC telecast during the late 1970s, it was better than average.

 

[TwoGloves]

I saw him at the Desert Inn in Vegas about 10 years ago. He was awful. Insisted on singing three or four songs. And I was always a fan. He was pretty good on Letterman the other night, though.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

Saw Newhart the year before last. He was fantastic. 'Course I would fall down laughing if he was just up there adjusting his tie. If only the two of them would do a show together ...

YHS, etc

 

[Killick]

It's an honor to have him ridicule you. I think it was Kevin Pollack telling a story about working on Casino and Rickles would just give DeNiro **** all the time during a scene and would just crack DeNiro up.

I heard that, too. Funniest part of the story is that Joe Pesci got all pissed off when Rickles started in on him.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

Yeah, he always used to close his nightclub act with a schmaltzy thing about how we've had a good time making fun of our differences, but we're really all the same and it's great that we're able to laugh at ourselves, etc....

It was cornball, but it was a way to soften things so that anyone leaving wouldn't feel badly about the show (or feel badly about recommending it to friends). Probably also kept him from getting threatened by people who didn't understand the act and thought he was a terrible bigot.

He is indeed still very sharp. So is his longtime friend Bob Newhart.

I don't know how many tapes of Rickles' Carson show appearances survive, but every one was an event.

Wow, I didn't realize that always was part of his act. Interesting.

I do remember the Carson cigarette box incident. More hilarious than anything that was on "CPO Sharkey."

 

[Songbird]

 

[Double J]

It's an honor to have him ridicule you. I think it was Kevin Pollack telling a story about working on Casino and Rickles would just give DeNiro **** all the time during a scene and would just crack DeNiro up.

I heard that, too. Funniest part of the story is that Joe Pesci got all pissed off when Rickles started in on him.

Funniest part, how? Funny like it's a clown, like it amuses you? How the **** is it funny? What the **** is so funny about it?