The other day, I linked to a clip of the master mime/comic George Carl on The Tonight Show. Here in two parts is George Carl on one the Jerry Lewis telethons.
You know, it dawns on me: I think I saw George perform twice, not once like I said, both times at the Stardust. They're tearing the place down in March but even in its mid-to-latter glory days, that was a great place to see him. Why? Because the Stardust was then the last of the major showrooms with a production show and live musicians. They had an actual orchestra — maybe the last of its kind in that town for a show that featured dancers and variety acts. That was important for Carl's act because…well, listen to the drummer here and on the Carson clip from the other day. You couldn't do that with a pre-taped track and the routine would be so much less without that kind of punctuation and accompaniment.
Further thinking back, I seem to recall that Carl was briefly the headliner in a small revue at (I think) the Riviera around or about 1988. It was him and a line of almost-naked dancing ladies and when I saw it advertised, I thought, "Next time I get to Vegas, I have to go see that." But the next time I got to Vegas, I couldn't see it. It had closed, apparently without much notice. I was disappointed at the time but now that I mull it over, maybe it was for the better. Because he was in a tiny showroom and almost certainly working without a live band so it wouldn't have been the same.
Anyway, here's Part One of George Carl, extracting all the poetry there is to be found within total clumsiness…
That's the first part. Here's the second part. And by the way, what the hell am I doing up at this hour? I had a very busy day. I should be in bed.
Sorry. Here's Part Two. Good night…