Nuttin' Funny

This is one of those tough weeks.  Aside from the unusually cool weather we’re experiencing here in Paradise (San Diego, California, USA for those unfamiliar with the details of this blogger’s life) nothing is noteworthy.  The daily high this week will average less than 70^o and I am talking about the inland foothills where I live, not the beach.  You know I’m desperate when I retreat to the weather for my headline.

Today (May 20^th , the date I write this) marks the end of an era.  David Letterman will air his last show (as host of “Late Show”) tonight.  Yawn!!!

I’ve never been a big fan of Letterman, whose comedic strategy seems to have relied on smug delivery rather than humorous content.  But don’t get cocky, Jay Leno fans; his cornball approach, while more humble, was just as lackluster.  At least Leno put a lot of his effort into biting the hand that fed him.  And that probably made him the richest TV failure in history.

Johnny Carson

Now I was a working stiff and generally had been asleep for over an hour before either of these buffoons aired.  But I did see clips from time to time.  And for my money, Johnny Carson was ten times the comedian that both of these guys together pretended to be. 

Jack Paar

Steve Allen

If you liked Carson, you should hunt up some of the The Tonight Show clips available from his predecessors, Jack Paar and Steve Allen.  Paar (1957-1962) relied on an understated, sneak up and grab you from behind delivery.  No one has been drier.  Allen (1954-1957) was more the master of the bad one-liner (insert rim-shot here, pause… timing is everything) and sketch artist.  He is also credited by some as the inventor of the “man on the street” gimmick. Either of these guys will make you laugh, even if you are sad that Dave is going away.  Look for some of their clips on YouTube.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find behind the mists of television history.

Okay, that’s it this week.  I made it a short one in case any of you are on the road and just getting a chance to take a brief peek at you smart phone.  Hopefully the weather will warm up by next week, sweat jokes are always funnier.