I rarely called him that but others did often and it's obvious why. Chuck McCann was an outstanding member on any list of Funny People. His sixties kid show in New York was legendary and I don't think I was ever in a public place with Chuck without someone recognizing him and telling him how much they'd grown up on that show and loved it…and him.
Often, I'd find myself around a table with Chuck and other funny folks and here is how it would go: Someone would tell a story about a bad agent. Then almost everyone else around the table would tell a story about a bad agent. And then Chuck would tell the best story about a bad agent.
Or someone would tell a story about Milton Berle. Then almost everyone else around the table would tell a story about Milton Berle. And then Chuck would tell the best story about Milton Berle.
Or someone would tell a story about TelePrompters. Then almost everyone else around the table would tell a story about TelePrompters. And then Chuck would tell the best story about TelePrompters. When it came to telling great anecdotes, no one could follow him.
He loved to perform — any time for any audience. It could be two people or two million…didn't matter. The happiest I ever saw him was when I got him to come down to San Diego and be part of one of my Cartoon Voices panels at Comic-Con. Or maybe it was back when I was teaching Comedy Writing down at U.S.C. I drove Chuck down there to speak to my class and the students were mesmerized. At least one of them — he told me this, after — was less interested in learning from Chuck how to write funny than he was in learning how to brighten up a room and make everyone laugh and smile and have a good time.
That was a good reason to be around Chuck…to try and learn that. Another reason was that you laughed a lot. And you felt more creative. And you felt honored to have someone like that as your friend. I just started to write "I'm going to miss that guy" and then I realized: I already do.