In order to do comedy, one must be self-deprecating. This is the reason why the best comics are usually from marginalized communities, such as Jewish comics. It is also the reason why the woke never make good comedians; unfortunately, they take themselves way too seriously and cannot be self-deprecating in any way shape or form.
It is also the reason why they're so few good female comedians. They simply cannot stoop to comedy, if you know what I mean.
The success of this film is probably great news for the Daily Wire. Thanks to its success, they will probably make more forays into film.
Perhaps the decline of Hollywood is not all bad news: it may signal the start of many independent and subversive studios that will drive a potential renaissance of the industry. One can only hope.
Excellent observations, and I note from personal experience that comedians are also very dark people and quite often suffer from depression. when you read about the Stooges, or Laurel and Hardy, or Lenny Bruce, you see a common thread of pain that drives them to make others laugh.
Playing the fool is key to comedy, and you're right to say few women can do this -- notable exceptions for Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller and Mae West. The Woakians take themselves far too seriously to do such a thing. You don't hear a lot about great comedy coming out of China or the USSR (even though Russians have a great sense of dark humor). Great comedians aim at themselves, the Woakians aim at their ideological enemies. Good comedy never attacks head-on.
You are right that the demise of Hollywood can be a wonderful renaissance for film/TeeVee. Need to put the reins on the unions, as well. Combined with a brave new world of distribution outlets, the studio system is doomed, methinks. "Am I Racist?" now has a score of 8.2 on IMDB and is raking in the box office returns, though the lapdog media won't cover it. I love a good underdog story.
While my taste in comedy is a tad more restrained (The Wrong Box, The Lady Killers - original version, Kind Hearts and Coronets, etc.), parody and satire are neccesary weapons against the over-inflated balloon of righteousness and the ever increasing lack of sense of humour in this world. Pointing out the ridiculousness of humanity keeps us sane....and laughing. A shared joke opens the heart and lightens what can sometimes be experienced as the darkness of living here. May we always be able to laugh at ourselves, at Life, at our foibles. Perhaps then, we would be less likely to want to kill each other.
You have a most eclectic taste and appreciate the British penchant for wry tongue-in-cheek humour Being a fan of Peter Sellers, Michael Caine and Alec Guinness, I have at least two of your references in my collection, though "The Lady Killers" is sadly missing. I must remedy that. As a child of the theatre, I love Shaw, Wilde, Coward, and of course old Billy Shakespeare. I suppose we could say American humor cuts wide, and British humour cuts deep. For sheer laughs-per-minute, though, I always come back to Brooks. His sight gags are accessible to anyone, regardless of cultural background or language. I can always cleanse the palette with "The Importance of Being Earnest," if Brooks gets to cloy. Thank you for reminding me of some forgotten gems.
Oh my, you are an aficionado, aren't you? Alistair Sim is sadly not amongst the ready names most folks would have on the tips of their tongues. His Scrooge in the 1951 production of "A Christmas Carol" is legendary. You got me again. I don't have Happiest Days in my collection, so Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead..
For another comedic look at Alastair Sim, try "Laughter in Paradise". A compilation of stories of how one event triggered the transformation of 4 people. Both funny and touching.
I love film! And film scores - I have nearly 200 movie scores stretching from the 1930s to the present. Listening to a film score is akin to watching the movie.
Ah! This time I'm ahead of you. I have this in my library, though I need to dust it off since you've brought it to mind again. Cheers!
A great film score is the modern form of opera -- emotional and evocative. John Williams is a master of this genre. A favorite that I frequently listen to is Anton Karas' "The Third Man". Maurice Jarre's "Lawrence of Arabia" is another favorite.
Anything by Bernard Herrmann, Miklos Rozsa, Franz Waxman, Eric Korngold, Max Steiner, Alexander Desplat, Dario Marianelli, Michel Legrand, Michael Nyman, John Barry, Hans Zimmer, Max Richter, Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Victor Young, Elmer Bernstein, Georges Delerue, Richard Rodney Bennett, Sir Malcolm Arnold, Olafur Arnalds........Life is not long enough
Excellent summary of past and present. Also thanks for the flood of memories from the 1970's when we snuck into the drive in with my friends older brother at the wheel to see "Easy Rider". Also 8th graders, it changed my life. You are a writer of fresh perspectives and honest dialogue. I appreciate what you do very much. Thank you.
Ha! The drive-in sneak. Haven't thought about that in years. And "Easy Rider," no less. I'm sure the graveyard scene was a mind-blower at your tender age. I'm honored by your comment. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to share your thoughts. There are plenty of folks shouting in the cave. I strive to offer something a little different, and you let me know I'm at least inside the target zone. Cheers!
Well said! I also put Blazing Saddles very high on the list of favorite movies; at the top is Dr. Strangelove. It has that perfect quality of being both patently ridiculous and entirely believable at the same time.
Strangelove is a form of brilliance that is in a class by itself. The performances of Sellers, Scott and Hayden are iconic, and the writing is delicious if that can apply here. That film clearly tweaked the intel community. Too close to home.
I read somewhere that Scott was upset that Kubrick had semi-tricked him into giving more outlandish performances than Scott otherwise would have, saying it was just for practice, then included those takes in the final cut. If that's true, I can't fault Kubrick: his eye was unerring in this flick. And I'd call the writing delicious too, as only the most perfectly absurd writing can be. Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest comes to mind as another sterling example.
Kubrick was well known to tease (even abuse) performances from his actors. It shows in all his films. Wilde is one of my favorites for his turn of phrase and layered meanings. In the same vein is Vonnegut, with "Cat's Cradle" and "Breakfast of Champions" being prime examples. These artists exist at the cerebral realm and force the viewer/reader to "come up" to their level. What i appreciate about Brooks is that he meets the audience where they are, classic Borscht Belt Vaudeville, essentially clowning at its finest.
All that said, Turgidson is Patton on nitrous oxide, much like Orson Wells' Dreedle in "Catch-22".
There are only 7 Bond films, and you mentioned them all, though I do give an honourable mention to "Casino Royale" with David Niven and Peter Sellers. I must admit that an random selection from a Bond film was far more interesting than the Sears catalogue for adolescent male minds.
I've got one of his jazz albums and a copy of "Rejoice, Dear Hearts!" He speaks directly to my southern heritage in the same vein as the Geezenslaw Brothers did. Definitely a worthy addition to the comedy hall of fame. Thanks!
Great article. Comedy, and satire, keep me going. I liked "Blazing Saddles", but thought Gene Wilder's "Young Frankenstein" was funnier.
My folks drove us three kids to the Cinerama Theater in Omaha to see "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." It's one of my favorite movies.
Jonathan Winters said that they were filming the gas station destruction scene and broke for lunch. Winters was duct taped to a gas pump at the end of the morning's filming. The crew left him there (I think on Stanley Kramer's orders.) Kramer, the director, wanted Winters good and angry for the afternoon's filming of the final destruction of the gas station. (It was filmed outside of Palm Springs, CA and 110F.)
As the old Jewish writer said on his death bed in NYC when he was asked by his son, "Dad, are you doing okay?"
"Dying is easy." The writer answered, "Comedy is hard."
I am compelled by my oath to the Cult of Thespis to correct you: The quote "Dying is easy, comedy is hard" is often attributed to Edmund Gwenn, a British actor best known for his role as Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947). According to popular legend, Gwenn said this on his deathbed when a colleague asked if dying was hard. While it's difficult to verify the exact origin of the quote, Gwenn is commonly credited with it in the world of theatre and film.
"Young Frankenstein" is brilliant as a send-up of the horror genre, but for all-around lampooning, "Blazing Saddles" takes the cake. It was also the first film I saw that broke the fourth wall...well, not broke it, but literally smashed it to pieces. I can't think of anything that has more gags per second.
IAMMMMW is in my top 5. Winters is brilliant and the running gag with Ethel Merman and Dick Shawn gold. It sits right next to "The Great Race" on my shelf.
Rufus, I always liked Edmund Gwenn in "Miracle on 34th Street." We watch the movie every Christmas. The "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard" joke, works a lot better if a NYC Jew says it.
I like Mel Brooks, but not in large doses. Gene Wilder is a better writer, in my opinion, and his humor is both broad and subtle. Brooks tends to be just broad humor, which is fine, but I prefer Laurel & Hardy for that kind of comedy.
Everyone has a unique sense of humor. I've always found that interesting and wondered why? People tend to cry at the same tragedies, but then again, some people find tragedy hilarious.
Richard Pryor was supposed to be the black cowboy in "Blazing Saddles", but he was too strung out on drugs so Mel Brooks replaced him. That's sad. Pryor would have made "Blazing Saddles" ("BS") a funnier movie for me.
My school chums, Mark, Joe, and Patrick, share my sense of humor. Maybe it is because we all went to the same Catholic School and grew up in the same Midwest town. Folks tell me, here in California, that they don't appreciate my Nebraska/Minnesota humor.
Mark, Joe, and I all moved to Seattle after Nebraska. We went to see "Young Frankenstein", "Holy Grail", and "Life of Brian" together. We all laughed like schoolboys again. They are some of my favorite memories. Patrick moved to Los Angeles after Nebraska to pursue his career in film. Patrick and I wrote a screenplay together and lots of Powder Blue Tuxedo Boys skits.
My wife, who is Californian, thinks my sense of humor is "not funny" most of the time. Sigh. I've come to treasure folks who laugh at my stories and jokes.
One more story:
Jonathan Winters would return home to Ohio from time to time to see relatives. He told Johnny Carson (they were the same age and horoscope sign), that when he went back to Ohio, there was always some guy with a toothpick in his mouth:
"Hi, Jonathan. Good to see ya. You do that stuff on TV. I don't get it."
Python is a genre unto itself, and Grail is the pinnacle of their output. My uncle and I could recite the entire film by heart My experience with Python and Gilliam is a column unto itself.
Brooks is very broad, but that makes him accessible. I can't sit through more than one of his flicks per year, but when I do, it's a side-splitter. I have lived "The Producers," so that one in particular will never die for me.
I have been a Winters fan since I can remember, and I know the precise Carson moment you are talking about. I would beg my mother to let me stay up and watch when he was on Carson (him and Orson Wells).
Humor of any kind requires a very high intelligence, both to create and appreciate. It requires an sense of irony and an appreciation of the non sequitur. The capacity of humans to laugh is one of the things that cannot be quantified or analyzed. It simply is, and that makes it even more beautiful.
Indonesian humor is Candid Camera. They love catching people off guard, and they laugh hardest at goofy looks, double takes and spit takes. They don't get satire and innuendo, so I fit like a pair of white socks at a tuxedo convention. If you have occasion to watch the series "Opera van Java," you'll see what I mean. No translation needed.
In the end, our greatest friends are the ones who share our sense of humor. That is probably the greatest test of any relationship.
Rufus, My Dad and I were always Jonathan Winters fans. Dad would watch him on Jack Paar and laugh and laugh. He also bought his comedy records.
My wife's parents lived in Morro Bay, CA west of San Luis Obispo. My father-in-law was a famous local architect. He designed many buildings in the area including a church and bank in Cambria, CA just north of Morro Bay.
There is a restaurant in Cambria, a kinda dive restaurant, that serves potato fritters using a German recipe. My father-in-law loved those fritters so I'd drive the four of us up to Cambria for breakfast.
Imagine my surprise to learn that Jonathan Winters loved these fritters, too. He would drive up the coast from his home in Montecito to Cambria
which is a 2.5 hour drive just to eat those potato fritters. It's a pretty drive along the ocean, too.
PS: One of the hippies in our clan in Lincoln was always doing that Off Guard humor on us. "Off Guard!" he'd yell when he caught us off guard. Drove me nuts! I avoided the guy.
You got me hankering for fritters now. I just sent Mrs. FarSide to the market for potatoes. To get to Cambria would take me roughly 24 hours, mostly flying, or several months of swimming. Don't know if mine rate a Winters visit, but it's the best I can do in a pinch.
Winters got me into improv comedy, which was a staple at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, where I worked for a year or so with the likes of Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison. One night, Winters stopped in for a show, sat in a corner by himself, then stayed after the curtain to chat with us. I wrote about the experience some time around his death. I felt like Kilgore Trout meeting his maker in "Breakfast of Champions". One of those amazing moments life occasionally throws at us.
Welcome friend, and yes, "Clerks" is a masterpiece. I saw that one in theaters at least twice. It was a kind of anthem amongst my running crew, who were stuck in nowhere jobs. It is obviously putting real life up on the screen to show its absurdity. The best double-feature for this one is "Office Space," which is what happened to the clerks after they got "real" jobs.
In order to do comedy, one must be self-deprecating. This is the reason why the best comics are usually from marginalized communities, such as Jewish comics. It is also the reason why the woke never make good comedians; unfortunately, they take themselves way too seriously and cannot be self-deprecating in any way shape or form.
It is also the reason why they're so few good female comedians. They simply cannot stoop to comedy, if you know what I mean.
The success of this film is probably great news for the Daily Wire. Thanks to its success, they will probably make more forays into film.
Perhaps the decline of Hollywood is not all bad news: it may signal the start of many independent and subversive studios that will drive a potential renaissance of the industry. One can only hope.
Excellent observations, and I note from personal experience that comedians are also very dark people and quite often suffer from depression. when you read about the Stooges, or Laurel and Hardy, or Lenny Bruce, you see a common thread of pain that drives them to make others laugh.
Playing the fool is key to comedy, and you're right to say few women can do this -- notable exceptions for Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller and Mae West. The Woakians take themselves far too seriously to do such a thing. You don't hear a lot about great comedy coming out of China or the USSR (even though Russians have a great sense of dark humor). Great comedians aim at themselves, the Woakians aim at their ideological enemies. Good comedy never attacks head-on.
You are right that the demise of Hollywood can be a wonderful renaissance for film/TeeVee. Need to put the reins on the unions, as well. Combined with a brave new world of distribution outlets, the studio system is doomed, methinks. "Am I Racist?" now has a score of 8.2 on IMDB and is raking in the box office returns, though the lapdog media won't cover it. I love a good underdog story.
While my taste in comedy is a tad more restrained (The Wrong Box, The Lady Killers - original version, Kind Hearts and Coronets, etc.), parody and satire are neccesary weapons against the over-inflated balloon of righteousness and the ever increasing lack of sense of humour in this world. Pointing out the ridiculousness of humanity keeps us sane....and laughing. A shared joke opens the heart and lightens what can sometimes be experienced as the darkness of living here. May we always be able to laugh at ourselves, at Life, at our foibles. Perhaps then, we would be less likely to want to kill each other.
Follow up: "The Ladykillers" (1955) acquired and placed into the queue. Cheers!
You have a most eclectic taste and appreciate the British penchant for wry tongue-in-cheek humour Being a fan of Peter Sellers, Michael Caine and Alec Guinness, I have at least two of your references in my collection, though "The Lady Killers" is sadly missing. I must remedy that. As a child of the theatre, I love Shaw, Wilde, Coward, and of course old Billy Shakespeare. I suppose we could say American humor cuts wide, and British humour cuts deep. For sheer laughs-per-minute, though, I always come back to Brooks. His sight gags are accessible to anyone, regardless of cultural background or language. I can always cleanse the palette with "The Importance of Being Earnest," if Brooks gets to cloy. Thank you for reminding me of some forgotten gems.
A British palette cleanse would be The Happiest Days of Your Life starring Margaret Rutherford and Alastair Sim.
Oh my, you are an aficionado, aren't you? Alistair Sim is sadly not amongst the ready names most folks would have on the tips of their tongues. His Scrooge in the 1951 production of "A Christmas Carol" is legendary. You got me again. I don't have Happiest Days in my collection, so Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead..
For another comedic look at Alastair Sim, try "Laughter in Paradise". A compilation of stories of how one event triggered the transformation of 4 people. Both funny and touching.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043727/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_0_in_0_q_laughter%2520in%2520Paradise
I love film! And film scores - I have nearly 200 movie scores stretching from the 1930s to the present. Listening to a film score is akin to watching the movie.
Ah! This time I'm ahead of you. I have this in my library, though I need to dust it off since you've brought it to mind again. Cheers!
A great film score is the modern form of opera -- emotional and evocative. John Williams is a master of this genre. A favorite that I frequently listen to is Anton Karas' "The Third Man". Maurice Jarre's "Lawrence of Arabia" is another favorite.
Don't get me started🤣
Anything by Bernard Herrmann, Miklos Rozsa, Franz Waxman, Eric Korngold, Max Steiner, Alexander Desplat, Dario Marianelli, Michel Legrand, Michael Nyman, John Barry, Hans Zimmer, Max Richter, Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Victor Young, Elmer Bernstein, Georges Delerue, Richard Rodney Bennett, Sir Malcolm Arnold, Olafur Arnalds........Life is not long enough
Excellent summary of past and present. Also thanks for the flood of memories from the 1970's when we snuck into the drive in with my friends older brother at the wheel to see "Easy Rider". Also 8th graders, it changed my life. You are a writer of fresh perspectives and honest dialogue. I appreciate what you do very much. Thank you.
Ha! The drive-in sneak. Haven't thought about that in years. And "Easy Rider," no less. I'm sure the graveyard scene was a mind-blower at your tender age. I'm honored by your comment. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to share your thoughts. There are plenty of folks shouting in the cave. I strive to offer something a little different, and you let me know I'm at least inside the target zone. Cheers!
Wholeheartedly agree
You obviously have extremely good taste. :)
Well said! I also put Blazing Saddles very high on the list of favorite movies; at the top is Dr. Strangelove. It has that perfect quality of being both patently ridiculous and entirely believable at the same time.
Strangelove is a form of brilliance that is in a class by itself. The performances of Sellers, Scott and Hayden are iconic, and the writing is delicious if that can apply here. That film clearly tweaked the intel community. Too close to home.
I read somewhere that Scott was upset that Kubrick had semi-tricked him into giving more outlandish performances than Scott otherwise would have, saying it was just for practice, then included those takes in the final cut. If that's true, I can't fault Kubrick: his eye was unerring in this flick. And I'd call the writing delicious too, as only the most perfectly absurd writing can be. Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest comes to mind as another sterling example.
Kubrick was well known to tease (even abuse) performances from his actors. It shows in all his films. Wilde is one of my favorites for his turn of phrase and layered meanings. In the same vein is Vonnegut, with "Cat's Cradle" and "Breakfast of Champions" being prime examples. These artists exist at the cerebral realm and force the viewer/reader to "come up" to their level. What i appreciate about Brooks is that he meets the audience where they are, classic Borscht Belt Vaudeville, essentially clowning at its finest.
All that said, Turgidson is Patton on nitrous oxide, much like Orson Wells' Dreedle in "Catch-22".
I'm a little older than you. Mine was sneaking to see the Bond movies with Connery and watching him with beautiful women like Pussy Galore, etc.
Danny Huckabee
There are only 7 Bond films, and you mentioned them all, though I do give an honourable mention to "Casino Royale" with David Niven and Peter Sellers. I must admit that an random selection from a Bond film was far more interesting than the Sears catalogue for adolescent male minds.
Absolutely terrific. Yes. I need your epiphany on a bumper sticker or something. Excellent
Thank you most kindly! A bumper sticker? Hmmm...maybe a merch store could work...
Try Brother Dave Gardner for fresh laughs from back in the day.
I've got one of his jazz albums and a copy of "Rejoice, Dear Hearts!" He speaks directly to my southern heritage in the same vein as the Geezenslaw Brothers did. Definitely a worthy addition to the comedy hall of fame. Thanks!
Great article. Comedy, and satire, keep me going. I liked "Blazing Saddles", but thought Gene Wilder's "Young Frankenstein" was funnier.
My folks drove us three kids to the Cinerama Theater in Omaha to see "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." It's one of my favorite movies.
Jonathan Winters said that they were filming the gas station destruction scene and broke for lunch. Winters was duct taped to a gas pump at the end of the morning's filming. The crew left him there (I think on Stanley Kramer's orders.) Kramer, the director, wanted Winters good and angry for the afternoon's filming of the final destruction of the gas station. (It was filmed outside of Palm Springs, CA and 110F.)
As the old Jewish writer said on his death bed in NYC when he was asked by his son, "Dad, are you doing okay?"
"Dying is easy." The writer answered, "Comedy is hard."
I am compelled by my oath to the Cult of Thespis to correct you: The quote "Dying is easy, comedy is hard" is often attributed to Edmund Gwenn, a British actor best known for his role as Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947). According to popular legend, Gwenn said this on his deathbed when a colleague asked if dying was hard. While it's difficult to verify the exact origin of the quote, Gwenn is commonly credited with it in the world of theatre and film.
"Young Frankenstein" is brilliant as a send-up of the horror genre, but for all-around lampooning, "Blazing Saddles" takes the cake. It was also the first film I saw that broke the fourth wall...well, not broke it, but literally smashed it to pieces. I can't think of anything that has more gags per second.
IAMMMMW is in my top 5. Winters is brilliant and the running gag with Ethel Merman and Dick Shawn gold. It sits right next to "The Great Race" on my shelf.
Cheers!
Rufus, I always liked Edmund Gwenn in "Miracle on 34th Street." We watch the movie every Christmas. The "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard" joke, works a lot better if a NYC Jew says it.
I like Mel Brooks, but not in large doses. Gene Wilder is a better writer, in my opinion, and his humor is both broad and subtle. Brooks tends to be just broad humor, which is fine, but I prefer Laurel & Hardy for that kind of comedy.
Everyone has a unique sense of humor. I've always found that interesting and wondered why? People tend to cry at the same tragedies, but then again, some people find tragedy hilarious.
Richard Pryor was supposed to be the black cowboy in "Blazing Saddles", but he was too strung out on drugs so Mel Brooks replaced him. That's sad. Pryor would have made "Blazing Saddles" ("BS") a funnier movie for me.
My school chums, Mark, Joe, and Patrick, share my sense of humor. Maybe it is because we all went to the same Catholic School and grew up in the same Midwest town. Folks tell me, here in California, that they don't appreciate my Nebraska/Minnesota humor.
Mark, Joe, and I all moved to Seattle after Nebraska. We went to see "Young Frankenstein", "Holy Grail", and "Life of Brian" together. We all laughed like schoolboys again. They are some of my favorite memories. Patrick moved to Los Angeles after Nebraska to pursue his career in film. Patrick and I wrote a screenplay together and lots of Powder Blue Tuxedo Boys skits.
My wife, who is Californian, thinks my sense of humor is "not funny" most of the time. Sigh. I've come to treasure folks who laugh at my stories and jokes.
One more story:
Jonathan Winters would return home to Ohio from time to time to see relatives. He told Johnny Carson (they were the same age and horoscope sign), that when he went back to Ohio, there was always some guy with a toothpick in his mouth:
"Hi, Jonathan. Good to see ya. You do that stuff on TV. I don't get it."
"Do you get any of it?" Jonathan asks.
"Nope."
Python is a genre unto itself, and Grail is the pinnacle of their output. My uncle and I could recite the entire film by heart My experience with Python and Gilliam is a column unto itself.
Brooks is very broad, but that makes him accessible. I can't sit through more than one of his flicks per year, but when I do, it's a side-splitter. I have lived "The Producers," so that one in particular will never die for me.
I have been a Winters fan since I can remember, and I know the precise Carson moment you are talking about. I would beg my mother to let me stay up and watch when he was on Carson (him and Orson Wells).
Humor of any kind requires a very high intelligence, both to create and appreciate. It requires an sense of irony and an appreciation of the non sequitur. The capacity of humans to laugh is one of the things that cannot be quantified or analyzed. It simply is, and that makes it even more beautiful.
Indonesian humor is Candid Camera. They love catching people off guard, and they laugh hardest at goofy looks, double takes and spit takes. They don't get satire and innuendo, so I fit like a pair of white socks at a tuxedo convention. If you have occasion to watch the series "Opera van Java," you'll see what I mean. No translation needed.
In the end, our greatest friends are the ones who share our sense of humor. That is probably the greatest test of any relationship.
Rufus, My Dad and I were always Jonathan Winters fans. Dad would watch him on Jack Paar and laugh and laugh. He also bought his comedy records.
My wife's parents lived in Morro Bay, CA west of San Luis Obispo. My father-in-law was a famous local architect. He designed many buildings in the area including a church and bank in Cambria, CA just north of Morro Bay.
There is a restaurant in Cambria, a kinda dive restaurant, that serves potato fritters using a German recipe. My father-in-law loved those fritters so I'd drive the four of us up to Cambria for breakfast.
Imagine my surprise to learn that Jonathan Winters loved these fritters, too. He would drive up the coast from his home in Montecito to Cambria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambria,_California
which is a 2.5 hour drive just to eat those potato fritters. It's a pretty drive along the ocean, too.
PS: One of the hippies in our clan in Lincoln was always doing that Off Guard humor on us. "Off Guard!" he'd yell when he caught us off guard. Drove me nuts! I avoided the guy.
You got me hankering for fritters now. I just sent Mrs. FarSide to the market for potatoes. To get to Cambria would take me roughly 24 hours, mostly flying, or several months of swimming. Don't know if mine rate a Winters visit, but it's the best I can do in a pinch.
Winters got me into improv comedy, which was a staple at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, where I worked for a year or so with the likes of Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison. One night, Winters stopped in for a show, sat in a corner by himself, then stayed after the curtain to chat with us. I wrote about the experience some time around his death. I felt like Kilgore Trout meeting his maker in "Breakfast of Champions". One of those amazing moments life occasionally throws at us.
Rufus, Wow! You met Kinison and Winters! Amazing! Two of my favorite comedians. Sam Kinison's first appearance on Letterman blew me away.
And then came "Clerks" lol.
Good stuff! The best medicine no doubt.
Welcome friend, and yes, "Clerks" is a masterpiece. I saw that one in theaters at least twice. It was a kind of anthem amongst my running crew, who were stuck in nowhere jobs. It is obviously putting real life up on the screen to show its absurdity. The best double-feature for this one is "Office Space," which is what happened to the clerks after they got "real" jobs.
Thanks for stopping by!