Here's my buddy Bill Kirchenbauer on The Tonight Show Starrring Johnny Carson. Once upon a time — before Comedy Central, a glut of talk shows, Showtime, HBO and a dozen other places where young stand-ups could get on TV — Johnny's show was the place to perform. If you made Johnny laugh — as you'll notice Bill doing here — you were flooded with job offers the next day.
The power of The Tonight Show declined a lot during Johnny's last years. There were just too many other routes to stardom. Nowadays, the value of doing the show — or any of the late night shows — is merely to be able to say "As seen on." A top comedians' manager told me a few years ago, it doesn't matter how you do on Dave's show. You do it just so clubs can advertise you as "From Late Show with David Letterman. Being on the show doesn't get you club or pilot offers like it did in Johnny's day. Your manager still has to go out and sell you.
As I recall, Bill got a lot of offers every time he was on with Johnny…especially because Johnny always gave him some sign of approval after his spot. As you'll see happen here…
