Category Archives: Video Links

Filmmaker Dan Makara has made what I'll bet is a lovely documentary about cartoonist Irwin Hasen. I haven't seen it but I know Irwin and he's just about the most delightful raconteur, spinning tales of his fascinating life. He's 93 or so and still about the same height as Dondi, the adorable little orphan he drew for years in a popular comic strip. Before that, he was a pioneer of super-hero comics and…well, let's just say he's had an interesting life. I don't know where or when you'll be able to see the whole film but I'm eager to. Here's a preview…

Last December, Stephen Sondheim was interviewed on PBS Newshour. I posted a link to a 9 minute excerpt then but here we have the full 16 minute conversation…

First off, let me warn you this runs 25 minutes. It's video of the live Beauty and the Beast show at Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida. The stage version opened there on November 22, 1991, which was the same day the movie was released. Although you'll see some cast members wearing headset microphones, I think they're all performing to a pre-recorded track that includes performers from the film such as Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach. Eventually, the longer Broadway adaptation was developed using this version as a kind of template.

I understand this stage show has also been modified a few times since it opened. While the choreography and mime work aren't spectacular, I can't help but think what a great way something like this is to introduce small kids to the concept of going to the theater and seeing a musical comedy…

I'm a big fan of the off-Broadway show (often seen off-off-Broadway and even off-off-off-Broadway), Forever Plaid. For those of you who don't know, it's a little musical about four guys who have a singing group in the style of the Four Lads or the Lettermen. Once upon a time, their dream was to record an album but that all ended one Sunday when they were on their way to be in the audience for an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show featuring some group called The Beatles. That's when tragedy struck and they were all killed in a bus accident. The show Forever Plaid starts right after that accident. It takes place in the afterlife where they give the performance they didn't get the chance to give in life.

It's a sweet, entertaining show and if you haven't seen it, you've probably been consciously avoiding it…because it's always playing somewhere. I've seen it at least six times, including once in the theater where it made its New York debut in 1990, twice in L.A., twice in Las Vegas and I'm sure a couple of other times in other places. A year or so ago, a film version was made that received limited distribution. I haven't seen that but it's turning up on most PBS channels in the next week or so. In Los Angeles, it runs on KVCR on March 18 at 9:30 PM and March 19 at 4:00 PM. In other areas, consult (as we say in the teevee business) your local listing. Here's the trailer…

Not quite as cute as a newly-born panda but darn close…

Here's 13 minutes of playwright Tony Kushner talking with composer Stephen Sondheim at a Public Forum event last November…

Let's imagine there's someone you really hate. This person did something terrible to you and you are seething with rage and a need to get even. You could try murder or arson or murder and arson…but if they have small childen, there's an easier and crueler way to go about it. Just give their kids one of these…

Oh, no! Not another video where someone plays Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" on a ukulele! Very, very frightening.

Some of you are probably sick of me showing off all these talented people I know but, hey, is it my fault I know gifted individuals? One I've featured here before is Christine Pedi, who I met when she was starring in Forbidden Broadway. She has since gone on to become a top cabaret performer, mostly in and around New York, and one of the hosts of the Broadway channel on Sirius/XM satellite radio. She's also recently been starring in the off-Broadway play, NEWSical, The Musical…or was until she fractured her ankle so she's out of it for a few weeks. Here she is with her fellow Sirius/XM deejay Seth Rudetsky, showcasing a few of her uncanny impressions…

Everyone complains the Academy Awards are too long every year. Well, in 1959, the telecast was too short and host Jerry Lewis had to fill. In our video today, Jerry gives his version of what happened. Ignore the part where he says he brought Humphrey Bogart up from the audience. That didn't happen. Bogey died in '57.

This is a two-minute excerpt from a 2.5 hour interview of Mr. Lewis that was conducted ten years ago for the Archive of American Television. I haven't had the chance yet to watch the entire thing but what I have seen has been quite interesting and it might give some folks a different perspective on Jerry. If you'd like to watch some or all of the whole video, you can do that on this page. Too bad they never got Dean to sit for one of these.

In 1958, Gene Kelly did a TV special called Dancing is a Man's Game. The unspoken (but unmissable) message of it was that just because a guy dances, it's doesn't mean he's a homosexual. I dunno if anyone ever thought that about Kelly or Fred Astaire or any of those guys but I guess that notion was around back then. Anyway, Kelly made his case by bringing on a number of men who seemed inarguably straight to dance, and he also did a lot of comparisons of dancing to the more macho sports. He likened certain dance moves to, for example, a base runner sliding into home plate.

We were shown a condensed 16mm print of this special in my seventh grade class. I don't recall anyone in our class or anywhere who thought that dancers trended towards the gay…though the teacher of that particular class made Paul Lynde look butch. I do remember everyone being impressed with Mr. Kelly's style and dexterity. For many years now, my friend Richard Howell and I have had a friendly, pointless argument over Astaire versus Kelly. No disrespect to Fred but I've always favored Kelly and even got to meet him once (anecdote here). I always felt that Fred Astaire danced in a world where everyone was impeccably dressed and the idea was just to look good and not muss your hair…but Gene Kelly danced in the real world and several others. Here's a brief clip of him hoofing with the man some think was the greatest boxer of the twentieth century, Sugar Ray Robinson…

My dermatologist told me his all-time favorite stand-up comedian was the late Myron Cohen. Okay, here's a clip of Myron Cohen…

Two pandas were born last month at the Madrid Zoo. Here's a little footage of creatures who are far cuter than you or I could ever hope to be…

Hey, how about two minutes of Ernie Kovacs?

Here's a video of my awesomely talented pal, Charlie Frye. Charlie is one of the best jugglers working today but as you'll see, he also does amazing things with cards. And anything else he can get his hands on. One time, Carolyn and I were sitting in a restaurant with him and his spectacular wife-partner Sherry, who you'll glimpse briefly in this video. Charlie was admiring the drawings in Carolyn's sketchbook and remarking how skilled she was…and he said, "I'm so jealous of people who can draw like you and have such talents. All I can do is stuff like this…" And he picked up a spoon, balanced it on his nose (stem down, bowl in the air) and then did some sort of amazing flip of his head that caused the spoon to wind up tucked behind one of his ears. Here he is doing stuff like that for a very appreciative (I'm sure) audience…