I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era
Page 28
Several months after George Miller’s memorial, she sat in the dining room of the storied house on Doheny Boulevard where 1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 266
266
William Knoedelseder
she’d hosted coke-snorting sessions with Richard Pryor and Robin Williams nearly three decades before. She was now in her midseventies, and the years had not been particularly kind. She moved slowly, and her hands were palsied. A 2003 article in the Los Angeles Times had portrayed her as “the Norma Desmond of Comedy,” living like the faded silent screen star in the film Sunset Boulevard, alone in her rundown mansion and lost in reverie about her glorious past.*
“She’s in declining health and full of hope,” said Argus Hamilton, who had smoothed the way for the interview. “She survived an aneurism ten years ago, and she has increasing tremors, but they are non-Parkinson’s, according to her doctors at UCLA.” In the Los Angeles Times metaphor, Hamilton would be cast in the role of Norma Desmond’s loyal butler, Max, who was also her ex-husband.
Shore continues to employ Hamilton as the permanent emcee and comic emeritus at Sunset, and his admiration, loyalty, and faith appear to know no bounds. “She’s definitely not finished with Hollywood,” he said. “She is a true artistic genius, and a cash cow that the networks have not finished milking yet if they are smart.”
Despite her physical infirmities, Shore seemed in full control of her mental faculties as she spoke about the past. Photographs, press clippings, and mementos of those times were arrayed on the table for her reference. Chief among them was a limited-edition, self-published, hardcover book commemorating the club’s fifteenth-year “class reunion” TV special. Basically a professionally produced scrap book, it contains an idealized history of the Comedy Store from 1972 to 1987, along with yearbook-type photos of what appears to be every performer who ever took the stage at any of the clubs—more than three hundred of them, including such obscure practitioners as Fred Asparagus and Glenn Super—but not Tom
*“Echo of Laughter,” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2003.
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 267
I’m Dying Up Here
267
Dreesen, whose name is nowhere in the text. Jay Leno is not mentioned either. In contrast, Letterman is among the few—Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, Robin Williams, Garry Shandling, and Sam Kinison—who merit a two-page spread. The story about his Comedy Store emcee duties paving the way for his subsequent talk show success appears twice in the book, and Shore repeated it again to the interviewer, relating how at one point “David was ready to give up and go back to Indiana, but I talked him out of it.”
The mention of Steve Lubetkin’s name drew a misty-eyed smile. “A soft sell,” she said of his performing style. “He didn’t come at you hard. He sort of snuck up on you, softly. He was a good writer,” she said, adding wistfully, as if savoring a distant memory from the table where she now sat. “His favorite meal was roasted leg of lamb.”
Lubetkin is pictured in the commemorative book, along with an oddly truncated entry in the historical chronology: “June 1979. An uneasy peace prevails. Steve Lubetkin dies tragically, separate services are held by differing comics.” There is no further explanation.
Shore said she thought Steve committed suicide because the CFC had put him in a difficult leadership position for which he was emotionally unprepared. “The job was too much for him, and they should have known that.” So, despite all evidence to the contrary, including his suicide note, in her mind the striking comics were to blame.
In 2003, Shore told the Los Angeles Times, “I won the strike, but I made it that they won. That movie should be done because I was like Ruth, being stoned to death. I didn’t deserve what they did to me.”*
*“Did You Hear the One About Budd and Mitzi? Los Angeles Times, October 31, 1982.
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 268
268
William Knoedelseder
Asked more recently if, looking back, there was anything she wished she had done differently during the dispute, Shore said no, there was nothing. “The Store worked,” she said. “The Store was the light. And if they couldn’t see that the Store was the light, well, then fuck ’em.”
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 269
Index
Abarzu, Julie, 240
American Guild of Variety Artists
Academy Awards ceremony (1979),
(AGVA), 198, 199, 212–213, 226,
207–208
233–234, 239, 254
Ackerman, Floyd, 212–213, 233–234
American Indian Movement, 205
Actors Equity Association, 212
Anderson, Louis, 258
Addotta, Kip, 60, 157, 213
Animal House (movie), 102–103
AFC. See American Federation of
Annie Hall (movie), 101
Comedians
Apple Pie (TV show), 106
AFL-CIO, 234
April Wine band, 204
AFTRA. See American Federation of
Archibald, Dottie
Television and Radio Artists
after strike, 255, 256
AGVA. See American Guild of
Comedy Store, 74–76, 77, 117
Variety Artists
Friedman and, 176
Aiello, Danny, 23–24
labor dispute, 117, 120, 158, 189,
Albertson, Jack, 83
204, 237, 239
Albrecht, Chris, 123
Lubetkin and, 253
Aleck, Jimmy, 60, 206–207, 255
Archibald, Tom, 176, 179
Allen, Joan, 262
Arngrim, Alison, 112, 113–115, 138, 194
Allen, Steve, 10, 50
Asparagus, Fred, 266
Allen, Woody, 11, 12, 101, 125
Aspen Film Society, 101
Al’s The Corner Club (bar), 28
Associated Actors and Artists of
Altman, Jeff, 60, 157
America (4A) unions, 212, 226
Altman, Robert, 94
Astrow, Jo Anne
American Bandstand (TV show), 92
after strike, 255, 256
American Federation of Comedians
background, 77–78
(AFC), 253–254
labor dispute, 158, 184, 187, 189,
American Federation of Musicians Local
226–228, 229, 235, 237, 239
47, 212
Atlantic Records, 102
American Federation of Television
Aykroyd, Dan, 59, 102–103
and Radio Artists (AFTRA),
184, 212, 226, 227–228, 231,
Ball, Lucille, 67
234, 254
Barr, Leonard, 84
269
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 270
270
Index
Barr, Roseanne, 258
Improv/Friedman and, 22–23,
Basketball charity game, 201–202
71–72
Battle of the Network Stars V
Kaufman and, 22–23, 71, 73
(TV show), 107
labor dispute, 120–121, 122–123, 157,
Bauman & Estin, 65, 66
158, 165, 189, 196–197, 203–204,
Belushi, John, 59, 102–103, 259
205, 214, 223, 229, 237, 239
Belzer, Richard, 23
Los Angeles Times article, 238
Bennett, Tony, 33
Miller and, 54, 214, 261
Berger, Phil, 125
Miller’s memorial, 2, 5–6, 7
Berle, Milton, 9
The Tonight Show, 78, 90
Berman, Shelley, 10, 115
Bradley, Tom, 250
Bernhard, Sandra, 60, 78, 91, 136–137
Braver, Billy, 40
Bicentennial Nigger (Pryor), 87
Brenner, David, 12
, 16–17, 23, 34, 75
Binder, Burt, 126, 130
Briefcase Full of Blues (Belushi and Binder, Mike
Aykroyd), 102
after strike, 2, 258, 261, 262
Brillstein, Bernie, 103
Apple Pie (TV show), 106
Brokaw, Tom, 144–145
background, 125
Bromfield, Lois, 78, 137, 206
Can You Hear the Laughter? The
Brooks, James L., 103
Freddie Prinze Story (movie), 219
Brooks, Mel, 10, 42, 101
Comedy Store, 60, 85, 89, 105–106,
Browning, Ken
111, 125–126, 258
background, 154
drugs, 128, 129, 130, 135, 259
labor dispute, 154–155, 158, 184, 190,
labor dispute, 197, 219–221, 223, 261
195, 200–201, 217–218, 234
Leno and, 7, 89, 125–126, 130, 219,
Bruce, Lenny, 10, 77, 88, 125, 144
220–221, 261
Burnett, Carol, 35, 36
Miller’s memorial, 2, 7
Burning Spear club, 27
on Shore, 258, 262
Bursky, Alan, 40, 82, 195, 219
Taxi (TV show) and, 127
Bursky, Fort, 40–41, 86
The Detroit Comedy Jam (movie), 258
Bursky, Herman/Helen, 40
The Mind of the Married Man
Bushkin, Henry, 154–155
(HBO series), 2
The Upside of Anger (movie), 262
Caesar, Sid, 9, 11
Blackman, Wayne, 217
Caesar’s Palace, 108–109
Blake, Robert, 67
Café Wha, 14
Blazing Saddles, 42
Caine, Michael, 106
Blondell, Joan, 35–36
Callie, Michael, 169, 216–217
Blues Brothers (Belushi and Aykroyd), 102
Can You Hear the Laughter? The Freddie
Blues Brothers Movie, The, 103
Prinze Story (movie), 219
Bluestein, Steve
Canter’s Deli, 52, 72, 75, 76, 117, 118,
Comedy Store, 40, 52
119, 126, 145
labor dispute, 158, 163, 189, 214
Carlin, George, 19, 59, 88, 125
Bluestone, Ed, 23
Carol Burnett Show, The, 35
Bono, Sonny, 62–63, 94, 95, 96
Carozzo, Jim, 73
Boosler, Elayne
Carrey, Jim, 258
after strike, 255, 256, 261
Carson, Johnny
Belly Room and, 113, 136
Academy Awards ceremony
Comedy Store, 72–74, 75, 77, 78, 113,
(1979), 208
118, 137
Comedy Store and, 106
flings, 73–74
labor dispute, 198–199, 201
gender barriers and, 2, 22, 23, 72, 74,
lawyer, 154–155
75, 77, 78, 113, 137
power/influence of, 24, 31–32, 88
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 271
Index
271
style, 50, 66–67
Westwood club beginnings, 61
women comedians, 78–79, 90
See also Labor dispute; Shore, Mitzi; See also Tonight Show, The
specific individuals
Carter, Jimmy, 81, 82
“Comedy Store Day” proclamation,
Carter, Judy, 136
249–250
Carter Country (TV show), 168
Comic Strip, New York, 112, 254
Cassidy, Jack, 56
Coming Home (movie), 207–208
Catch a Rising Star club, 60, 254
Company of Angels, 63
Cavett, Dick, 11
Conaway, Jeff, 127
Champagne Gallery, 15–17
Continental Hyatt House, 61, 75, 171,
Chase, Chevy, 59, 101
184, 215, 240–241, 243
Cheech and Chong, 101
Conway, Tim, 90
Cher, 62–63, 94, 95
Cook, Jimmy, 119, 186
Chico and the Man (TV show), 35,
Cosell, Howard, 71
44, 83
Costner, Kevin, 262
Child of the Fifties (Klein), 20
Counseling services/center for
C.H.I.P.S (TV show), 202
comedians, 247
Chung, Connie, 194
Crosby, Bing, 86
Cimino, Michael, 208
Crosby, Norm, 33
Class Clown (Carlin), 59
Crystal, Billy, 60, 65, 66, 111
Clay, Andrew “Dice,” 258
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO series), 2
Club Harlem, 27
Curlin, Lee, 69–70
Coach (TV show), 34
Curtin, Jane, 59
Colgate Comedy Hour, The
Curtin, Valerie, 33–34
(TV show), 9
Curve Inn, The (bar), 28
College concert tour, 89, 103, 156
Comedian’s Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Daily Variety, 144, 249, 250
Foundation, 259–260
Dairy of a Young Comic (movie), 141–146
Comedians for Comedians, 249
Dan Lurie’s Gym & Health Spa, 13
See also Labor dispute
Dangerfield, Rodney, 25, 118, 149
Comedians for Compensation (CFC)
Daniel, Stan, 103
formation, 158–164
Dante Shocko movie, 42, 64, 96–98,
See also Labor dispute
166–167, 242
Comedy and Magic Club, 112, 216
Danza, Tony, 127
Comedy clubs
Darden, Severin, 156
after strike, 254–256
Dark, Johnny
See also specific clubs
after strike, 3, 263
Comedy Store
background, 39
after strike, 256–257, 258, 259, 260
Canter’s, 76
“anniversary” specials, 257–258,
Comedy Store, 40, 51, 52, 69, 72
266–267
labor dispute, 165–166, 192–193
beginnings, 32–34, 35
Miller’s memorial, 5
Belly Room, 112–113, 114, 115,
The Late Show with David Letterman, 3
135–137, 182–183, 200, 218, 229,
Dark, Suzy, 40, 165
232, 237, 250
Dating Game, 56
closing of Westwood club, 258
David, Larry, 248
La Jolla club, 89, 166, 194, 195–196,
David, Madeline, 57
217, 237, 238, 242
David Frost Show, The, 47
memorial for Lubetkin, 246
Davis, Allan, 234
Sunset vs. Westwood clubs, 84–86
Davis, Dave, 103
The Girls of the Comedy Store
Davis Jr., Sammy, 33, 83, 92, 235
(Playboy Channel series), 258
Deck, Lue, 197, 202, 205, 242, 243, 255
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 272
272
Index
DeCordova, Fred, 67, 209
strategy/negotiations, 153–155,
Deerhunter, The (movie), 207–208
157–164, 165–166, 171–174
Delagran, Robert, 240
strike vote/strike, 185, 187, 189, 190,
DeLuca, Rudy, 32, 35
191–192, 194, 199–200, 202, 204,
DeMille, Cecil B., 35
207, 212–213, 214, 218–219, 223,
Detroit Comedy Jam, The (Binder), 258
226–229
Detroit News, 199–200
See also Comedians for Compensation DeVito, Danny, 127
Drugs. See Substance abuse
Diller, Phyllis, 22, 74
Di
nah Shore Show, The (TV show), 92
Ebony Genius Management, 55, 74
Diner (movie), 34
Ed Sullivan Show, The (TV show), 125
Domino, Fats, 47
Ed Wynn Show, The (TV show), 9
Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert
Endler, Estelle, 157, 181, 182, 183, 198,
(TV show), 92
200, 218, 225, 233
Dornberger, George, 53. See also
Evans, Susan
Miller, George
Lubetkin & Evans, 97, 98–99,
Dornberger, Helen, 53, 201
109, 166
Dreesen, Tom
Lubetkin and, 63–64, 97, 109,
after strike, 2, 3, 253, 261–264
142–143, 168, 194, 225, 236–237,
background/family, 27–29
238, 241
Boosler and, 74
Lubetkin’s suicide and, 242–243, 247,
Canter’s, 76
248, 249
“Comedy on Monday Night at
Evening at the Improv, An
Le Pub,” 29–30
(cable series), 257
Comedy Store/Shore, 46, 47, 48, 62,
117, 118, 266–267
Federation of Labor, Los Angeles County,
early work, 26–27, 29–30
226, 234
Improv, 62
Feldman, Marty, 101
Letterman and, 3, 49, 51–52, 55,
Field, Sally, 106
56, 69, 107–108, 208–209,
Fields, Totie, 22, 112
262–264
Finney, Albert, 23–24
Lubetkin/Lubetkin’s suicide and,
Fleisher, Charles, 91, 131
235–236, 243–244, 253
FM and AM (Carlin), 19
Miller and, 6, 128
Fonda, Jane, 208
Miller’s memorial, 2, 4, 6–7
Fort Bursky, 40–41, 86
move to LA, 45–48
416th, The (TV show), 170
on past, 253, 261–262
Foxx, Redd, 33
performance in hometown, 92
French, Victor, 63, 168
The Tonight Show, 2, 65–70, 92,
Friedman, Budd
208–209
An Evening at the Improv
TV show appearances (summary), 92
(cable series), 257
William Morris Agency, 69–70
background/description, 60–61
Williams and, 132
divorce, 175–176
See also Tim and Tom
Improv branches, 255
Dreesen, Tom/labor dispute
Improv LA, 60–62, 103,
becoming spokesperson, 158–159
176–180, 206
first meeting with Shore, 147–151
Improv NY, 12, 20, 23, 24–25,
first meetings, 117, 118, 119, 120, 123,
29, 39, 71, 143
138–140
as influence, 36–37, 111
Improv fire/Friedman, 178–180