The post about Dick Shawn being "banned" from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show brought a lot of mail and before I clear up some things that were said here, I should say this: I think Dick Shawn was one of the greatest comedians of his era and that he has never been properly recognized as such.
A weekend or two ago, I saw It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Must have been the fiftieth-or-so time. I love that movie and often discuss it with others. Naturally, the question always arises: Of all the comedians in that film, who was the funniest? Many answers are possible but in the unscientific poll of me just thinking about comments from friends, I would say the winner by a slight edge is Jonathan Winters…and then tied for second, you have Dick Shawn and Phil Silvers.
All three of those men managed to wring every possible laugh out of every line or stage direction they were given. And Shawn's performance is especially remarkable when you recall how unknown he was at the time. He's still not as well-known as he should be. (He was also hilarious in another of my favorite films — The Producers.)
And no one who ever saw his one-man show would ever doubt his brilliance. I raved about that show here.
Anyway, one night when Rich Little was guest-hosting Mr. Carson's show, he had Shawn on as a guest and things got — shall we say? — "out of hand." My pal Jeff Abraham tells me the episode was on May 6, 1974. Jeff is the co-author of the book, The Show Won't Go On: The Most Shocking, Bizarre, and Historic Deaths of Performers Onstage by Jeff Abraham & Burt Kearns, and he sent me the following excerpt from its chapter on Mr. Shawn…
"Shawn just decided to tear the set apart," Little told Mark Malkoff on The Carson Podcast. "And he turned the plants over, he turned the sofa over, he turned the desk over. We got in the desk and started rowing like we're going across the Potomac. You know, like George Washington. I was out in front with the oar. And we wrecked the set, totally wrecked the set. The people were in hysterics, so Fred DeCordova and all the staff were all just standing around, going "Well, this is awful. He's ruining the set but at the same time, this is the funniest thing we've ever seen." Carson wasn't there to see the humor — 'cause it was funny, all Carson saw when he came back was the set was ruined."
Johnny Carson was offended that his set, his desk, his plants were violated, but in fact, perhaps because of his affection for the comedian, Dick Shawn was invited back to The Tonight Show many times over the next dozen years — but he appeared only with guest hosts like David Brenner. Carson eventually reconciled with the comic in 1985, and Shawn made two appearances with him that year.
So there you have it. Shawn was not "banned." He just didn't appear with Johnny for a while and then he did. Here's his appearance with Carson on the episode for November 11, 1986. It's one of those stand-up appearances where you can hear Johnny laughing in the background and showing obvious delight for what his guest was doing. Thanks, Jeff.