Referencing my piece on Louie Anderson, Jerry W. wrote to ask…
Once a comic was big enough to get inserted into the Comedy Store lineup, wasn't he or she much more likely to be working out new material than hoping to impress Jim McCawley?
My observation was that if a comedian had never been on with Mr. Carson and it was likely his scout, Jim McCawley, was on the premises, most comics would treat their stage time as an audition for The Tonight Show. They would go with their strongest material. If they had a 1 AM slot, no, they wouldn't assume there was anyone there they wanted to impress. But they sure didn't want to bomb in front of McCawley or someone from the network or a big agent.
They generally knew. Someone would tip them off that So-and-So was in the audience. Budd Friedman at The Improv — the other comedy club frequented back then by industry people — would sometimes make an extra effort to provide a good showcase for a specific comic who'd shown loyalty to the club.
Let's say you were a comedian working his room and someone had arranged for some V.I.P. from NBC to come see you. Budd or his staff would make sure you got the time slot you needed and that your V.I.P. was treated like one. They might even make sure the comic on before you was someone strong — but not too strong — and wouldn't hog the stage and cut into your time. They might even offer/suggest a time slot the night before so you could practice the set you'd be doing for the V.I.P.
Some comics didn't need Carson (or other) exposure so they might break in new material at the Store. But I once heard a comedian say, "That's what Igby's is for." Igby's was a small comedy club over in West L.A. where few industry people went and where no one ever got discovered. Mitzi Shore, owner-manager of The Comedy Store, might feel betrayed if someone she regarded as one of "her" comics did a set at The Improv but she didn't get too angry if they occasionally went on at Igby's. She was especially forgiving if they said, "I just went there to break in some new stuff I wasn't sure was good enough to do at The Store."
I had a passing friendship with McCawley. I may never meet another human being who had his butt kissed so much and so obviously. He was a nice guy, though I don't think his talent was that he knew what audiences would like so much as that he knew what Johnny would like.
