Rant #1,879: It's a Laugh

What is an icon?

To me, an icon is someone who stands out from the rest in his chosen profession, someone who has made his or her mark, someone who has made a difference and can be pointed out as someone at the top of whatever he or she does.

Yesterday, we lost an icon.

Don Rickles passed away at 90 years of age yesterday, and we lost one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, a guy who made us laugh, and cry while we were laughing so hard, for the past 50 or so years.

I am not going to go into an obituary thing here; leave that for the news organizations. I will just let you know what I feel about this guy.

He did not start out as a comic; in fact, he studied to be an actor, and went to prestigious acting schools to hone his craft.

He actually was making a decent living as an actor, appearing in numerous films and TV shows from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s.

This was the period of the stand-up comic, when comedy was beginning to turn topical. You had people like Mort Sahl, Shelley Berman and Bob Newhart in this wave of new comedy, and you also had a veteran, Jack E. Leonard, who was beginning to become very popular.

Leonard was the original knock-down, put-down insult comic, and he was very good at what he did, appearing on the top stages in America, on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and elsewhere.

But somehow, Leonard, Rickles and the mid to late 1960s collided, and with Leonard getting older and eventually passing, there was a need for another insult comic to take the helm, and Rickles was it.

But Rickles did it much differently than Leonard. For whatever reason, Leonard seemed to actually be a hateful person, and he was so good at what he did that you actually believed that whatever he said--no matter how coarse or funny it was--was what he really believed.

Rickles, on the other hand, was quick with the putdowns, but you knew it was all in fun.

"Mr. Warmth" was just that, a real pussycat, and he let you know it right at the beginning of his act, telling the audience something to the effect that he might put you down, but it was all in fun.

And you believed him, because quite frankly, it was true.

Without the number in front of me, I think it is safe to say that during the past 50 years or so, Rickles made more television appearances than any other comic, and he appeared on every show worth its salt during this period, everything from "The Munsters" to "The Tonight Show," and "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," and everything in between.

He also had his own short-lived show, "CPO Sharkey," but this military comedy simply did not showcase his talent to the Nth degree like it should have, but it is involved in one of the funniest stories involving Rickles.

Evidently, Rickles had been on "The Tonight Show" when Johnny Carson was on one of his frequent vacations, and Rickles inadvertently broke Carson's cigarette case.

When Carson came back to the show, he noticed that his beloved cigarette case was damaged, and he retaliated by infiltrating the set of "CPO Sharkey," which was taping on a sound stage near where "The Tonight Show" was filming.

And Carson then became the insult comic, taking out his anguish at Rickles in an extremely funny way.

This was evidently real and off the cuff, and for one of the few times in his career, Rickles was completely speechless.

It was hilarious, TV at its best, and I am sure you can find this on YouTube somewhere, because my description cannot do justice to what actually happened.

But it was usually Rickles who was right on the mark, taking down anyone in his path.

And everyone laughed, no matter if you were white, black, yellow or heck, purple. It was almost a badge of honor to be insulted by Rickles.

The passing of Don Rickles leaves a great void in the comedy world. Today, it seems all comics are insult comedians, but they mean what they say.

Comedy today is generally not funny, because it is generally so dirty, so full of put downs, and I don't find it something that I enjoy.

Rickles was never dirty, never meant any harm, and you knew it.

And that is why they called him "Mr. Warmth," because under the tough veneer, he really appeared to be a very nice guy.

And to Rickles, I say not only were you a mensch, but you, yourself were a real "hockey puck."

That is the best compliment I can give him.

Speak to you again on Monday. Have a nice weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj2S2n64DeQ&feature=youtu.be