RIP to Don Rickles, a True Comedy Original
Legendary insult comic Don Rickles has died at the age of 90. https://t.co/22wZTOvepg pic.twitter.com/EZdoCjL2un
— Variety (@Variety) April 6, 2017
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To a generation who knows Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, no explanation will suffice. To the three or so who grew up with him, no explanation of what he meant to comedy will be necessary.
I listen to quite a bit of comic’s podcasts, such as Gilbert Gottfried’s. And it’s remarkable how often when they’re talking about the old days of comedy, Rickles’ name will come up. I wish I could remember who exactly said it, but just a couple of weeks ago I heard someone call him the best live comic of all time.
During a time when everybody was ripping each other off, when legends like Milton Berle were making careers lifting jokes and Abbot & Costello were like the 150th team to do “Who’s On First?”, Don Rickles wasn’t only doing his own stuff, he was inventing a whole new genre: Insult Comedy. Not only inventing it, but perfecting it.
Anyone who’s ever done stand up will tell you crowd work is the trickiest, most dangerous thing you can do. Once you start going off script, talking to the audience and improvising, all bets are off. Working off the top of your head you can either hit grand slams or eat your own dick. It’s walking a tight rope without a net. Rickles made a career out of it. And the harsher he got, the more he had audience members begging to be the next one humiliated. He existed at a glorious time in comedy, when nothing was off limits. Where there were no protected classes, no one got butt hurt. Where PC Culture hadn’t been invented. When jokes about gender, race, sexual preference and someone’s look were all on the table. Because the only requirement was that the jokes made people laugh. And sacred cows make the best hamburger. And he was the master. Which is why, back when Johnny Carson was a kingmaker, Rickles was probably his all time favorite stand up performer.
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Of course there were plenty of acting roles. In addition to the Toy Story franchise, he was great as the pit boss in Casino. For a while he was the lead in the sitcom CPO Sharkey where he played a naval Chief Petty Officer. And he was in one of my all time favorite obscure war movies, Kelly’s Heroes starring Clint Eastwood, a dark comedy about a bunch of American GI’s toward the end of WWII who try to rob a German bank loaded with gold bars. Check it out if it’s available. Plus like everyone else of his era – eras – he did everything from Twilight Zones to Love Boats.
But he’ll forever be known as a great comic. And to a lot of your Greatest Generation stand up fans, possibly the best ever. RIP, ya hockey puck.