Rickles' RIP

A comedy legend passed away this morning, but what most people probably don't realize is that Don Rickles was one of the last living unofficial members of the Rat Pack.

A mainstay in Las Vegas stand-up comedy for years, Rickles gained popularity performing what is known as insult comedy. He didn't care who it was that he ribbed. Rickles would poke fun at the average Joe and even the biggest of celebrities. In a Miami nightclub, he spotted Frank Sinatra and poked the future pack master of the Rat Pack. Some were scared of how Sinatra would take it, but Sinatra knew Rickles did it all in the name of laughter and didn't actually hate the people he "insulted".

From then on, Sinatra would often call on Rickles to be by his side, even asking Rickles to open up for himself and other Rat Packers in Las Vegas at the peak of their fame.

Rickles would often be seen on many classic television shows such as The Addams Family, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, and on one of his best friend's (Don Adams) shows, Get Smart. 

He was also a frequent guest on talk shows. Before either one hit it big, he often would appear on Larry King's late night radio show in the Miami area. The two would remain friends for life.

Another fellow unofficial member of the Rat Pack, Johnny Carson, had Rickles on his show over 100 times. At times Rickles even guest hosted the Tonight Show.

Years later, Rickles found himself excited to be cast as a pit boss in the mafia movie, Casino. He loved to rib Robert DeNiro in front of the others and even Scorsese about the amount of lines he had in the film.

A short time later, he was approached to voice Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story. At first, he was reluctant to do so, not believing himself to be kid-friendly and unsure about an acting role that he couldn't be physically seen in, but he took the part anyway. When the movie debuted and became an instant success, Rickles stated that he called John Lasseter right away, asking when the sequel would go into production.

He also performed for royalty and presidents during his lifetime. He was even "ribbed" himself by Barbara Bush who asked why he performed in the Frankie and Annette beach party movies when he had so much success.

Rickles continued to work into his 80's. He never felt the need to retire.

As for me, I loved Rickles' comedy because I knew he never was mean spirited. In some ways, I feel like I have secretly jinxed him as I literally finished reading his autobiography, Rickles' Book, last night, only hours before his death.

There's almost the desire to say that there won't be another comedian like him, but then I would be lying. He was just the godfather of his style of comedy. It would be hard to find a comedian with as much history under their belt as Rickles had, but because of him, comedians such as Ian Bagg, Dave Attell, Louis C.K., and more can do what they do today.

R.I.P. Robin Williams



Photo from Wikipedia (taken by Tabitha M. Mans)

It's said that comedians are some of the most depressed people in the world. With great pain and sorrow, comes laughter. One of the funniest men of all time, unfortunately suffered from such a severe depression, that he committed suicide by asphyxiation today.

Robin Williams first gained national attention from his TV show character Mork, but quickly made a name for himself. His standup comedy was legendary and he was a favorite guest among late night talk show hosts because of his spontaneity. He could improvise so well, that the writers for Mork And Mindy left script pages blank with a note telling Robin to go wild.

His career rocketed upwards after playing Mork and he was nominated three times for an Academy Award (Dead Poet's Society, The Fisher King, and Good Morning, Vietnam) and won once for Good Will Hunting. Despite being known for his comedy, he was a versatile actor. He could tug at your heart strings in movies like What Dreams May Come and Patch Adams and he could scare you in role such as Insomnia and One Hour Photo.

His presence in entertainment transcended just comedy, television, and film. He was a cultural icon. The type of person that when they pass, his death hits everyone hard, just as other cultural icons such as John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, or Marilyn Monroe. Passing away from a suicide just makes it even harder for his fans to deal with the grief. It leaves a feeling that as a fan base, we were robbed of future laughs.

And not to spotlight what was robbed from his fans, the man was more important than that. He himself dealt with tragedies when some of his best friends such as fellow partier John Belushi overdosed. This inspired Robin to clean up his act, which held for years. He had a relapse with alcohol while shooting in Alaska, but again admitted himself to rehab to recover. Christopher Reeve was also one of Williams' friends who was dealt a tragic hand.

Despite being a first hand witness to these tragedies, in the end, he must had dealt with so much depression, that he felt suicide was the only way to end the pain. As a fan myself, I wished he would have reached out to someone. Too many comedians over the years have died too young and even though he was sixty-three years old, I believed he had many years left.

If a hall of fame was created for comedy, on the scale of Cooperstown for Major League Baseball or the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Robin would surely be in the first class along with legends such as Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, and George Carlin.