DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

[Kepler]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

His routine was much better suited for years past, given how people react to comedy shows these days, but I still laugh every time I come across one of his old acts.

There are bootlegs of his stand up that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Dude had the biggest pair of brass balls in comedy. I guess once you've done your insult comic act on actual mobsters and murderers not a lot phases you.

One of the greats (Dangerfield, maybe?) had a story about working with Rickles at one of those Catskills Dirty Dancing resorts in the 50s or 60s, and some noted crime boss drunkenly heckling Rickles, and Rickles just turning and destroying him -- four or five quick lines, very personal, and I mean everybody in the place stopped dead, you can hear a pin drop, and the guy looking Rickles up and down for a long time and then bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

Once you've done that the snotty coed and her black lesbian sensitivities just isn't going to mean a lot to you.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

Huge loss to the music world.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra founder Paul O'Neill found dead in Tampa hotel room.

[St. Clown]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

There are bootlegs of his stand up that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Dude had the biggest pair of brass balls in comedy. I guess once you've done your insult comic act on actual mobsters and murderers not a lot phases you.

One of the greats (Dangerfield, maybe?) had a story about working with Rickles at one of those Catskills Dirty Dancing resorts in the 50s or 60s, and some noted crime boss drunkenly heckling Rickles, and Rickles just turning and destroying him -- four or five quick lines, very personal, and I mean everybody in the place stopped dead, you can hear a pin drop, and the guy looking Rickles up and down for a long time and then bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

Once you've done that the snotty coed and her black lesbian sensitivities just isn't going to mean a lot to you.

No, he wouldn't be phased by it at all. In fact, a couple years ago he gave an interview about the changing attitude towards comedy acts. He said , and of course I'm paraphrasing, that he goes up there and gives the best performance he knows how. If people laugh and really enjoy it, then that's great and it makes for a really fun evening all around. If the crowd isn't as receptive, then there's always the next show.

[Kepler]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

No, he wouldn't be phased by it at all. In fact, a couple years ago he gave an interview about the changing attitude towards comedy acts. He said , and of course I'm paraphrasing, that he goes up there and gives the best performance he knows how. If people laugh and really enjoy it, then that's great and it makes for a really fun evening all around. If the crowd isn't as receptive, then there's always the next show.

Bill Hicks said something like Rickles taught him that if your joke gets zero laughs you can use that as a platform to put anything you want on it -- you've created a genuine moment of tension. Rickles would use it to set up an even bigger gag, Hicks would use it to drop something for people to actually think about because in that instant he knew people were listening. They both had the mastery to use a moment of anxiety, and the rubber-necking that people can't help in reacting to it, as a part of the act. Pryor had that too, in fact went "looking for a fight" to generate that feeling because he was angry, but Rickles used it purely to lampoon, basically inviting the crowd to laugh at him as the biggest joke of all.

That takes somebody who is very secure in himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvc...47C44&index=17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxip...47C44&index=18

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

Don Rickles has always been a huge favorite of mine. When Vegas was Vegas, Rickles was the King, going on at 2am and doing maybe 4 hours without a net. He didn't tell jokes really, he just talked and entertained off the cuff. Always thought he was a underrated in the main stream. An enormous amount of talent packed into such a tiny Jew. Thanks for all the laughs...

Here's a clip off the Tonight Show with Sinatra and Carson. The last minute is the Chairman of the Board telling one of my all time favorite Rickles stories. Somewhere there's a clip of the same story being told by Sinatra pal Jilly Rizzo, but this one will suffice.

[Handyman]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

There are bootlegs of his stand up that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Dude had the biggest pair of brass balls in comedy. I guess once you've done your insult comic act on actual mobsters and murderers not a lot phases you.

One of the greats (Dangerfield, maybe?) had a story about working with Rickles at one of those Catskills Dirty Dancing resorts in the 50s or 60s, and some noted crime boss drunkenly heckling Rickles, and Rickles just turning and destroying him -- four or five quick lines, very personal, and I mean everybody in the place stopped dead, you can hear a pin drop, and the guy looking Rickles up and down for a long time and then bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

Once you've done that the snotty coed and her black lesbian sensitivities just isn't going to mean a lot to you.

In Kevin Pollack's book he talks about Rickles making it his mission on the set of Casino to rip into Deniro any chance he got and how Deniro loved every second of it. He did the same to Pesci who hated it deeply!

[The Rube]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

Dam. What a great hate comic.

[Kepler]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

how Deniro loved every second of it. He did the same to Pesci who hated it deeply!

Huh. I'd have guessed the exact opposite.

[St. Clown]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

Huh. I'd have guessed the exact opposite.

Nah. Deniro has never been a comic, and Pesci was never anywhere near as successful as Rickles. Pesci would see people laughing at Rickles and would feel threatened or inferior by him.

/my theory.

[The Rube]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

Huh. I'd have guessed the exact opposite.

I wouldn't have. It seems odd, and it is, but from what I have heard and read about those actors.....

[Handyman]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

Huh. I'd have guessed the exact opposite.

According to Pollack it was because when Deniro was a kid he and his buddies were part of a group of guys that used to just bust each other's chops. (kind of like The Rat Pack would) To him it is a show of love and a high honor especially from a guy like Rickles.

[Kepler]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

According to Pollack it was because when Deniro was a kid he and his buddies were part of a group of guys that used to just bust each other's chops. (kind of like The Rat Pack would) To him it is a show of love and a high honor especially from a guy like Rickles.

Interesting. I always had DeNiro pegged as more than a bit of a prima donna.

However, he was very good in The King of Comedy, and he rather famously goes all out in researching a part, so maybe he spent 10,000 hours watching stand-up and "gets it."

I'm surprised about Pesci because his persona plays around with Obnoxious Guy in practically all his roles, like a slightly taller Danny DeVito. I would have thought, even personality aside, that he was a born lover of insult comedy. But that's a cardinal error: confusing the man and the role.

I heard something slightly related to one of my favorite character actors, Harry Dean Stanton. Apparently, everybody hated working with HDS because he was insanely serious on set. You get actors who believe in The Craft so strongly that they start to inhabit a kind of Olympian Cloud City of Artists.

I refuse to believe HDS was a dick (the simple explanation) and choose to believe he was just concentrating really hard. And I mean wouldn't you just want to take a poke at Emilio Estevez just on principle?

HDS in a brilliant, deleted scene. This is his character's first meeting with Hulk. Harry could play complete acceptance better than nearly any other actor.

[rufus]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

I think Pesci in real life is probably pretty much a doosh. Check out clips from him on Sesame Street. Hurt and disparagement masquerading as just fooling around. Mean-spirited.

[state of hockey]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

You folks should be careful about disparaging Pesci. He's who George Carlin prayed to.

[The Rube]

Re: DEAD THREAD 2017: "This guy here is dead!"..."Cross him off, then!"

I think Pesci in real life is probably pretty much a doosh. Check out clips from him on Sesame Street. Hurt and disparagement masquerading as just fooling around. Mean-spirited.

Little man syndrome, basically. I heard De Niro is a riot.