It may surprise some people who know me that I’m not a huge fan of stand-up comedy. Lewis Black, for example, may have much to say that’s worth hearing, but his delivery grates on my nerves. Having a sense of outrage and/or being outrageous only go so far with me. Sketch comedy, and comic acting, are much more my thing. Stephen Colbert I consider to be a uniquely gifted comic actor with no equal.
With that bit as background, I was very impressed with what David Letterman did last night on behalf of the late comedian Bill Hicks. Since becoming a father and having coronary bypass surgery, Letterman’s turned into a real human being. The man is still wry and ironic, but he now displays humanity and sympathy to a degree that I don’t recall seeing in years past.
I’m not overly familiar with the work of Hicks, who died of pancreatic cancer in 1994, less than five months after what would have been his twelfth, and final, appearance on Letterman’s show. But I know his material was challenging and ahead of its time on hitting every controversial social topic there is. Letterman, not knowing Hicks was dying, cut the segment. Last night, Letterman apologized to Hicks’ mother, because his action had hurt her son in his final months, and he aired Hicks’ routine in full.
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Hi, Casey! Yes, I miss the late Larry “Bud” Melman, too. My ex-husband and I were huge Letterman fans, but I can’t help thinking I missed a lot of the great Carsoni in his later years by watching Dave in his early years. Remember Dave throwing watermelons off of tall buildings just for the hell of it? Then he’d turn around, grin, and say, “Well, I’m tired now, but it’s a GOOD kind of tired, ya know?”
I can see your point, but it’s tough to stay cutting edge when you’re over 60. Somewhat ironically, he was doing that by playing Hicks’ routine after all these years.
Letterman used to push the envelope and then he mellowed out. I didn’t like the changes he made to his show when he moved into the good spot because, frankly, the show was better when it was nothing but no-name guests and Dave dropping things off of buildings while checking in with Paul and Larry E.G. “Bud” Melman. When the show stopped being about Dave and started being about his guests is about when I quit watching…
That was a fantastic bit by Hicks, funny all the way through, and boy, does he push the envelope. He was one of the goes who “made it look easy.” I have to agree, now that Letterman nearly croaked and then became a father, he’s become much more human. I’ve read several places that he was surprised that he could love something so much when his son was born.