Why I loved Danny Kaye

Pilgrim · March 15, 2012, 04:43:01 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCI42SLeELw&feature=related

Especially the part starting around 4:30. The great Jose Ferrer and the incomparable Danny Kaye....it's a very nice piece.

OldManC · March 15, 2012, 05:39:53 PM

Wow, I never realized Jose's son is a virtual clone of his daddy...

Pilgrim · March 15, 2012, 10:20:06 PM

I was watching segments of the Danny Kaye show and Dean Martin show today on YouTube....I miss the approach of those "variety" shows. They were really FUN. Those guys had real talent.

I also checked some of the "Man of the Week" roasts with people like Dean Martin, Paul Lynde, Don Rickles, Orson Welles, Red Buttons, Milton Berle...they were absolutely hilarious without needing to use profanity or tell crude jokes.

Compare that with recent roasts of Pam Anderson and Courtney Love that I saw PART of last year. Nothing but c*nt and sex jokes, idiots like Andy Dick using every bit of foul language he can think of while flaming his sexual orientation...sheer, utter crap. Not worthy of being recorded.

I know all that language and I use it myself on occasion - but it's a poor substitute for the real talent and great writing that people like Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Rowan & Martin, Don Rickles, Danny Kaye and the other long-time pros had. I miss that humor and the people behind it.

rahock · March 16, 2012, 05:16:47 AM

I'm in the same boat

. I'm a pretty foul mouthed SOB myself, but this is most of todays comedians best, if not only shot , and that's sad. That old line, "comedy is not a funny business", seems to be true these days. The majority of comedians out there right now are are not as funny as most of the people I run around with. I thought it was just me getting old and cynical

.
Rick

Dave W · March 16, 2012, 08:30:00 AM

Danny Kaye as the Swedish Chef's uncle

gweimer · March 16, 2012, 08:43:42 AM

See? Turkeys CAN fly....

Danny Kaye, like so many actors of the time, had to know how to sing and dance, as much as act. Where he was brilliant was his use of speech. He had a great sense of rhythm and timing.

Victor Borge is another great old comedian who any member of the family can enjoy.

Pilgrim · March 16, 2012, 08:48:23 AM

Ah yes, Victor Borge performing "Clair de Lune"...or as he put it, "Clear th' Saloon"....

I remember his routine where he pronounced the punctuation in a letter. It was hilarious.

jumbodbassman · March 16, 2012, 09:59:19 AM

the good old days of TV. we are showing our age.... $:-\$

Dave W · March 16, 2012, 01:09:02 PM

My favorite non-piano Victor Borge routine is Inflationary Language.

Of all his piano-based routines, I always liked his duet on Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Pilgrim · March 16, 2012, 02:12:17 PM

I can't explain why, but Charlie Callas always had me rolling on the floor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiA6fQgL5as&feature=related

Bargeon · March 19, 2012, 06:41:11 AM

Quote from: Dave W on March 16, 2012, 01:09:02 PM
My favorite non-piano Victor Borge routine is Inflationary Language.

+1 for Borge. Great humor.
One of my favorite deadpan lines:

"I'd like to thank my parents for making this possible . . . . .
and my children for making it necessary."

Sit a the piano, grab the sheet music and say: Well, let's see what it sounds like, err, hear what it looks like.