Today's Video Link

This is a clip from a 1977 HBO special, back when most of what that network offered was stand-up comedians. This was because HBO wasn't signatory to the Writers Guild so they couldn't hire good comedy writers. Stand-ups, however, could do their acts.

This is Ed Bluestone, a wry comic I always liked. He had been a writer for National Lampoon, where he contributed some great articles and was credited with the idea for the "If you don't buy this magazine, we'll shoot this dog" cover, one of the most famous in the history of magazines. He became a stand-up, appeared on a lot of shows, then disappeared. I have no idea what became of him and gathering from the response the last time I mentioned him on this blog, neither does anyone else.

But I always found him to be very funny with quotable lines that have since found their way into the acts of others. Here he is, introduced by David Steinberg. If you look fast at the end, you'll catch a glimpse of a very young Jay Leno, who I think had been in show business for about the length of Bluestone's performance…

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