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Caloroga Shark Media. I’m Johnny Mack. This is a bonus episode remembering Richard Lewis. The normal Daily Comedy News is in the feed. A normal episode came out earlier today.
Born Richard Philip Lewis June twenty ninth, nineteen forty seven. Born in Brooklyn, Raised in Englewood, New Jersey. Richard Lewis graduated from Ohio State University before joining the comedy scene in New York and LA in the seventies. There he worked with stars like Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer, and Elaine Boosler, swiftly becoming a favorite on late night TV, including Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. Self deprecating Razor sharp, honest about his struggles with addiction and neuroses, Richard Lewis possessed a unique comedic style that resonated with audiences, similar to his good friend Larry David.
Richard made his acting debut in nineteen seventy nine on NBC’s Diary of a Young Comic. He’s got a lot of time on the era of David Letterman that I and the era of Howard Stern that I loved. I’ll be curious to see if Howard does anything with Richard late period, Howard has kind of distanced himself from a lot of the guests of the past, Gubert Gunfried, for example, But we’ll see. By the mid nineteen eighties, Richard Lewis was being cited as part of a group of self reflective comics that included Richard Pryor, George Corolan, and Lily Tomlin Journey. Gunderson is the executive director of the National Comedy Center.
In a statement, Journey said his work exemplified and anticipated the deeply personal, raw, introspective, and yes, neurotic tone that has come to color so much contemporary comedy. HBO appearances in nineteen eighty eight, nineteen ninety and nineteen ninety seven, a sitcom alongside Jamie Lee Curtis called Anything but Love, one called Hiller and Dealer with Kevin Neil and I Don’t Remember That, and also at Don Rickles one I’ll talk about in the second half of the pod. Richard Lewis estimated he had about twenty thousand pages of jokes on his computer early in his career. He scribbled them on legal pads. When he appeared at Carnegie Hall in nineteen nine, he appeared on stage with six feet of yellow sheets taped together on the floor for reference.
Wait, did Jerry Seinfeld rip that off? Jerry kind of did that, and oh, we’ll dive into that a different day. Film roles include roles in leaving Las Vegas in nineteen ninety five, Robin Hood, men in tights, drunks, and of course, the notable run on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Dean eric Post reported that Richard was feeling quite well amid a battle with Parkinson’s disease just a few weeks ago. He said, I’m getting through it fine.
I have some occasional walking difficulties with Parkinson’s the last couple of years. It’s not majorure. I’m getting through it fine so far. But I didn’t want to go spend five or six hours mingling with so many people just asking for trouble. That’s why he wasn’t at the Curb Your Enthusiasm launch party.
I just wrapped a couple weeks ago, season twelve of Curb, and it was an amazing season. I’m so grateful to be part of that show. But you know, the last three and a half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time Larry David Has said Richard had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him. Cheryl Hines said, when I was young, I had the biggest crush shun Richard Lewis.
He was the funniest person on stage on the most handsome comedian. Then when I was cast on CURB, I got to work with him and it was a dream come true. Susie Esmond called Richard an original, brilliant voice that cannot be replaced. Ben Stiller said I never met a kinder, more empathetic comedy genius. He was so funny and deep as a kid.
I remember seeing him at the improv and how nice he was to me and my sister. Over the years, he would always reach out with support and love or a kind word, something out of blue. It always felt special to hear from him. Jamie Lee Curtis, who co starred in the ABC sidcome Anything But Love with Richard, said, I remember exactly where I was when I saw a billboard of him about a stand up special on Sunset Boulevard when we were casting the ABC pilot anything but love and asked the casting people to bring him in to audition to play my best friend maybe boyfriend Marty Gold. I thought he was handsome.
He made me laugh, which is the one thing a strong capable woman can’t really do for herself. Jeff Ross said, first time I saw Richard Lewis perform was at Carnegie Hall in December of nineteen eighty nine. It was just an aspiring comic in the crowd, and Richard’s performance showed me that you don’t have to play guitar songs to be a rock star. Doug Benson said his encouragement was the push I needed to keep going in a field that can be not encouraging at all. Bill Burr said, rip to a true original, an absolutely fearless comedian who did and said what he wanted.
Patton Oswalt and Paula Poundstone just shared photos. Steve Martin tweeted, remember Richard Lewis. Thanks. Eric Idol said so sad in the learned of the death of Richard Lewis. He was such a lovely, funny guy.
I wasn’t ready for this. Mel Brooks said, I’m so sorry to hear that we lost Richard Lewis. I will miss him very much. He was so funny, and I was so lucky to have him play Prince John and Robin Hood men in tights, but I was even luckier to have him in my life. Adam Carolla called Richard Lewis one of the greatest, most talented men I’ve ever met.
Dane Cook called him a champion. Michael McKean called him a very good man. John Stewart said sleep well, Richard, and commented how some people say that Stewart resembles Richard Lewis, and he said, I’ll try to keep good care of our face. Jimmy Kimmel had guessed Bob Odenkirk. Bob called Richard Lewis a great, great stand up who was in touch with everybody.
Both odin Kirk and Kimmel said they had been texting with Lewis in recent days. Bob said, will always happen to thank for that very personal type of comedy that he helped blaze the trail of Jimmy Fallon shared a clip where he spoke about Richard. Hey, guys, had we had some sad news today. We just found out that Richard Lewis passed away. And he was a good friend of the show, a great guest.
I think he was one of the greatest comedians to ever do it. If you get a chance, go go on YouTube and watch some of this stuff. He was unbelievable. I used to impersonate him all the time. He was a good friend, would send me things.
But his HBO specials, his whole character and walking and I’m doomed. Do you ever see the HBO special I’m doomed. Yeah, he’d be a hypochondriac. He’d be just so upset that about everything this specially did was great. That he went to the hospital because he had thought he had a heart attack or something he didn’t you know, And he’s like, this is a terrible doctor.
He’s complaining and the nurse goes up, Sorry, mister Lewis, someone’s here to visit you. Your biggest fan and I don’t really say it’s your biggest fan. And a contortionist walks in. It’s funny. It’s so funny.
Yeah, and you might know him also in Kurby Enthusiasm. He was fantastic. I just think he’s one of the greatest to ever do it. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. We’re gonna miss you, Richard Lewis.
In The New York Times, Melana Riiazik had interviewed Richard on January twenty second. She recounted Richard as saying, I’ve got to give Jeff Gorland a lot of credit for hanging in. I mean, it’s a TV show, but how can he have any self esteem left after what he’s taken. It’s just a barrage. Every time a scene is over, it looks like he’s limping back from the Civil War.
He’s just all bloodied. There should have been a corner man, you know, like in Rocky Burgess Meredith. For any actor taking in Susy Esmond’s insults, there should always be a chair with a trainer putting smelling salts under actors’ noses. Richard and Larry David met as kids at summer camp. They’ve been friends most of their lives.
In that Times article recalls, I always had a pad with me from day one, and so did Larry, and would write premises down wherever we were without sounding too pompous about it. I always dug comedians who were the same on stage as they were off stage. There wasn’t too much fake stuff going on. They didn’t create a character, they were just who they were. He called Larry David the storyteller of my generation.
He’s not going to stop writing things down. I’ve always been blessed to be on the show and so grateful. One thing that bothered him is he didn get more time with Susie Esmond. Given the chance, he says, I would have gone out of my way to screw up the scene just to make her angry at me. He did have a plan, writes The Times.
If Susie gets a show, say it was just called Susie, I would beg Larry David for at least a guest spot on it. Please let me do something to make cure or feel horrified. I don’t want any money. Don’t pay me. I might have to just fly to New York and sneak into Susie’s house and antagonize her.
In fact, don’t tell her, but I plan to play a horrifying joke on her so I can bear the front of her wrath. The truth is, I’m gonna get her to yell at me if it’s the last thing I do on this planet. For the weekend. I wanted to see if there were enough articles about Richard from back in the day, and surprisingly there aren’t that many. I don’t know if he didn’t do many interviews or if they didn’t make it through the archives.
I found a few things around nineteen ninety three’s Daddy Dearest, which was not reviewed well. But in the spirit of comedy, let’s dive in here from the La Times in nineteen ninety three and Daddy Dearest, Richard Lewis portrays a divorced psychologist whose life becomes complicated when his overbearing and combative father, played by Don Rickles, suddenly moves in. All Right, that sounds like it would be a good premise, right, I mean, isn’t that just the plot of Fraser. Richard Lewis plays a divorce psychologist and his father moves in, Right, that’s Fraser. Oh what a different time.
This was the La Times Rights. Rickles, who’s touring the country with Frank Sinatra, sat with Lewis and chatted about the show. Richard Lewis says, Don’s long been one of my icons in comedy. Years ago. I had a notion that I wanted to work with him.
It’s been a long trip in journey to get to the show. I can’t imagine being happy or working with anybody else. Rickles said, yeah, I’d pretty much go along with that. Richard was really the one who made this thing come together. I had not thought about a TV series at this point in my career.
Was involved with Vegas gambling towns, theater and so forth the time, said Don, does it enter in your mind that Richard, while not exactly your boss, is more or less in charge. Rickles said, yeah, it reminds me of that all the time. According to him, I was out on the highway face down, being rolled by four guys. This man comes along. It reminds me every day that he’s the boss, and he found me, and I gotta kiss his you know what, to keep him amused.
Richard said, But if I don’t meet Frank Sinatra before the twelfth episode, there’s gonna be a problem because I’m the co executive producer and I have the right to fire Don. Rickles, the only way you’re gonna meet Frank is to throw yourself in front of his card. If I know Frank, he’ll keep going la times. Richard, you seem frustrated by recent questions about Don’s jokes on the show. That Don Rickles’ character insults people in ethnic groups.
Wow, we were canceling people way back then. Richard Lewis said, there are a tremendous amount of comedians whose subject matter stereotypes in a mean spirited way. There’s an unbelievable difference in what Don Rickles does as a comic, unlike many other comics who say you’re different, I don’t like you, I shouldn’t be with you, I shouldn’t be in your neighborhood. It’s the exact opposite. The deal is Don’s character.
And let me stress that this is a character. It’s politically incorrect. It’s almost as if we’re talking about Shing Gillis, but you realize he’s a teddy bear. One of the reasons I’m working with one of my idols is because his character’s so right on the money to educate, as well as perhaps being one of the funniest people in the whole universe. Again from nineteen ninety three, Don Rickles, You’ve done this type of comedy for so long.
Does it frustrate you that just years ago this kind of humor was okay. The climate wasn’t quite as sensitive. Now audiences are looking for significance where they’re looking for political correctness. Rickles said, well, I don’t find it frustrating at all. I’m still able to headline every major place you could think of and work with Frank Sinatra.
Richard Lewis, does Frank like me? Rickles? I mentioned you once and napped is it your name? And fell asleep right in front of me. Anyway, I can’t say too much about being politically correct because they still show up to see me.
Funny’s funny. It’s a very fine line. I’ve never crossed that line, and I’ve always been received with the utmost warmth. Richard Lewis, When can I mean Frank? I’ll be in the limo with you and Frank when you go to long beat Trickles, You’ll be running alongside the limbo.
I’ll roll down the window just see can hear part of the voice seeing the summer wind?
And then roll it up again with your hand in the window.
LA. Have you two watched the other Fox shows like nine oh two one oh? Richard Lewis, I watched all the shows. I’m a Fox kind of guy, except I wanted them change the logo because I was bent on my behind by a Fox. When I was a cub scout, that was fun.
The Desert News from nineteen ninety three said that same sitcom, Daddy Dearest is downlight dreadful. Fox’s new sitcom is so bad, so utterly unredeemable, that it’s difficult to know where to begin with a description of it. The premise is okay. Richard Lewis stars as Steven, a psychiatrist and divorced father of a young son who’s obnoxious overbearing father Don Rickles moves in with him again. Free sure, but as Daddy is executed, it deserves execution.
We’re talking downright dreadful. Wow, that’s like an Adam Sandler level review. This is offensivest show as Network TV has to offer most of the alleged humor, and let me emphasize the word alleged falls in a one of two categories of offensiveness, sexuality or bigotry. When Al gets a look at the Swedish stewardess that Steven that’s Richard Lewis’s character has brought home to take to bed, he bellows, Wow, look at the of those things. There are jokes about condoms.
There were offensive sexual jokes between Alan as soon to be ex wife Helen. Helen shrieks you never satisfied me in Ben Al Al yells I satisfied you plenty, to an incomprehensible burst of laughter from the studio audience. Helen is good sex too much for me to ask for before I drop dead? Al, why don’t you drop dead? And we’ll find out that’s not a bad line at all.
The Record interviewed Richard Lewis in nineteen eighty eight. He recalled a conversation with John Travolta, who went to the same school. Travolta was saying that they had named a Jim after him. Lewis said, I figured maybe I’d have a couple of bridge chairs named after me in the faculty lounge. What I should have as a bench in the nurse’s office.
I don’t want to sound like a big shot. After sixteen years of complaining in forty five shows on Letterman, I should at least be able to have people sit on me amy or tease in. The New York Times wrote, go ahead and call Richard Lewis the comedian from hell. He’d be paying him a compliment. His most incredible legacy could be one simple phrase spoken so often that its argent might never be questioned.
It’s the blank from Hell, the insert hated thing here from hell. Courting to Richard Lewis and the Yale Book of Quotations, it came from Richard. Richard said, I’m credited with popularizing the phrase because I felt victimized by everything. I totally popularized the phrase in the late seventies. If you go on YouTube, you could see it on Letterman.
David would cut me off and go you meet. It was the bar mitzer from Hell, that’s right. And I stopped saying it. I was self conscious I was getting applause for it. I guess subconsciously I thought I was a victim of everything.
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations did not give Richard credit for the phrase, which became a storyline during season three of KERB. The episode from two thousand and two weaves in Richard’s attempts to get it in Bartlet’s. He said, it was a real solid for Larry to do that for me. That really immortalized it in some respects. And I will leave you with a clip from the February eighteenth episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where Richard talks about leaving Larry in his will back in the morning with a normal episode.
Rest in Peace, the Great Richard Lewis, I’m leaving you in my will. I’m tweaking it, and you’re in it. No, no, no, dunt dun’t do that. It’s done. You’re in.
I don’t want to be and I I have money, I don’t need it. Give it to someone who needs it when I die. I want you to know how much I care about you. I’m not going to keep it. I’m going to give it to charity, my best friend.
You’re getting it. No, I’m making as shut in that statement about the will right now, I shooking at historical references. If nominated, I will not run. If bequeath, I will not accept. Well I’m bequeathing.
Well, I’m not accepting. You’ll have to accept. Don’t give it to me. Don’t hurt my feelings. I’m not going to keep up petty of it.
You’re hurting me. Thank you, but I don’t want I’m giving it to you anyway. Pal