A lot of once-great comedians wind up running on fumes: You laugh, if you laugh at all, not because they are funny but because they were. An exception to this is Shelley Berman, who practically invented the modern stand-up comedy act…in part, by not standing-up. He'd sit on a stool, pretend his fist was a phone and draw you into hilarious, insightful little scenes.
The last few years, I've been fortunate enough to see him live about a half-dozen times and I was in the audience when he recorded his recent, sadly-underdistributed CD. Even doing material off his classic record albums — material I know by heart — he makes me laugh as hard as anyone. He also has an amazing repertory of new, non-recorded monologues…and you know what's really neat? He actually answers questions on the message board over at his website.