Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy with Randy and Steve Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan

Meet Leo Bloom, The Waco Kid, Willy Wonka, Dr. "Fronk-un-steen" and so many more when you meet this week's Legend -- actor, writer, and director Gene Wilder. From a serendipitous meeting with Mel Brooks, Gene would build an astounding career with characters that always balanced the comedy with some human heart. Gene made just 37 movies over the course of his career, but for people born in the 1950s he was seemingly ubiquitous. Gene ended his most active years with a series of films with fellow Legend Richard Pryor, and he went into semi-retirement after the tragic death of his wife Gilda Radner. But occasionally, Gene would pop up on television in small but juicy role such as his guest spot on Will and Grace which earned him an Emmy for best guest actor in a comedy series. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!
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Gene was essential to Mel Brooks' raunchiest and most provocative movie -- Blazing Saddles. Here's the full clip of Gene's Waco Kid explaining the facts to Cleavon Little's Sheriff Bart. https://youtu.be/hYTQ7__NNDI?si=qlE_g3kh6KHxZJoM
Gene's breakout film role was as nervous accountant Leo Bloom in The Producers. Paired with Zero Mostel, the duo made a irresistible comedy movie team. https://youtu.be/QgJBvEMOpWQ?si=zccr3lJNF65XnTXW
Young Frankenstein is the pinnacle of Gene's work with Mel Brooks -- it's elegant, even touching in places -- yet filled with the clever and often naughty comedy expected from the duo. https://youtu.be/2p5AG0Tqh3A?si=nSahuc1C_0Po-U6G
Gene made a series of highly successful films with Richard Pryor including Stir Crazy in which their wildly different personalities come in handy when they are sent up the river for a robbery they didn't commit!https://youtu.be/oyU6En9HN8E?si=1M4iLuToIAhjsxmr

Come on brothers and sisters, let it all hang out. So sayeth Brother Dave Gardner who built a huge following in the 1950s and early 60s by telling long and sly stories, often in the mode of a Southern preacher -- but a hip one. Originally a musician, Dave brought a jazz cadence to his work. He also was a devotee of the demon weed, and a 1960s marijuana bust sharply curtailed his career. He remained a favorite on campuses and in clubs before a sharp turn into conspiracy theories, coupled with a Lenny Bruce-like shift into dispensing such theories from the stage sent him to the sidelines. But look at any used record store and you'll still find Brother Dave albums from his glory years, a pretty good indicator of how many he sold back in the day. Find extra cuts below and, as always, thanks for sharing our shows!



 
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Dave's signature bit was called The Motorcycle Story. He reworked it and retold it for his entire career, but here's the original incarnation. https://youtu.be/f-PtWvQuIdk?si=LWvajJG9Y9LlGoIt
 
Dave's stories were a wild mix of beatnik slang, southern asides, and flights of imagination. Here's one of his best and most popular, his reworking of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. https://youtu.be/QpZPqAwXWZ4?si=tKd8zOHfWlYhuEX9
 
Brother Dave was mostly known as a storyteller, but he could deliver a punchline as well, especially when it came to contrasting southern and northern folks. https://youtu.be/hAGgupJv0Wk?si=r2_xPQ98q0pWFACV
 
Here's a little something extra. Dave was fond of telling his audience to just "let it all hang out". Around the same time The Hombres took that phrase and a great beat to the top of the Billboard charts, reputedly inspired by Dave's bit. Here it is in all it's one hit wonder glory!https://youtu.be/kRIr1PPz2uM?si=LSiEwuBgeWh6_zL_

"How are ya?" To fans of SCTV that can mean only one thing -- Bobby Bittman is in the house. The creation of Eugene Levy, Bobby is the epitome of a certain era of comic -- very loud, very full of himself, and very Vegas. Whether as a guest on the Sammy Maudlin show, his own special, or on other shows within the SCTV universe, a Bittman appearance would guarantee lame jokes, false sincerity, and a lot of shtick. Levy played the character throughout SCTV's six seasons and a few years after that show wrapped created a faux-documentary for Cinemax called The Enigma of Bobby Bittman. So take yourself back to the era when Johnny still ruled late night tv and the Vegas shtick masters still roamed the strip and prepare yourself for the comedy magic of Bobby Bittman. As always, find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!
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Bobby always greeted fans with his catch phrase -- well, it was really just "How are ya?" but delivered in a way you could feel the bombast on it's way. This time out Bobby cuts a library PSA though he appears to have little familiarity with the services they provide. https://youtu.be/PDHiHIKIOFs?si=GLlLaE96kbfDYnaJ
Bobby's main hang on SCTV was on the Sammy Maudlin show, a parody of celebrity "love fest" talk shows. This is worth every minute of its run time -- it's the Sammy Maudlin 23rd anniversary special. You're welcome!https://youtu.be/eqsGIMHNNcI?si=UzDwgd9S-gv_ZKy3
Bobby (as played by Eugene Levy) had an ego that knew no bounds. The same could be said for John Candy's Orson Welles. Put them together in a show called The Mirthmakers and allow them to over-intellectualize about comedy and the result is SCTV magic. https://youtu.be/xA_xROmH-oc?si=d4ObQEELAhQKx3C4
Unlike SNL, SCTV often built entire shows around extended movie parodies and one of the best was Maudlin's Eleven, a razor sharp parody of the Rat Pack movie Ocean's Eleven. Painfully on point, and Bobby Bittman is right in the middle of it all. https://youtu.be/qbd25kYIiuQ?si=I5Ga1PRROENolfbt

How sweet it is! While we hope you say that after every episode, this week it's mandatory as we feature Jackie Gleason who ruled over variety television in the 1950s and 60s, as well as inventing iconic characters and sketches that influence pop culture to this day. Originally an MC and nightclub comic, Gleason caught the eyes of network execs who tapped him to host a variety show called The Cavalcade of Stars. The show was later moved from New York to Miami Beach and renamed the Jackie Gleason show, recognizing the star power of the host. It was on that show that Jackie invented his most enduring character, loudmouth bus driver Ralph Kramden who anchored the "Honeymooners" sketches. Not just a comedian, Gleason was a master actor, able to play both comedy and dramatic roles and he earned an Oscar nomination for his role as pool legend Minnesota Fats in The Hustler. He also could do broad comedy as his long run as Sheriff Buford T Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit movies proved. And what about those Saturday nights alone with your lover -- well Jackie had you covered there as well with a string of highly successful "romantic music" albums. It all adds up to a unique and legendary career. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows.
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In pop culture Jackie Gleason and Ralph Kramden are joined at the hip. Through sketches on the Jackie Gleason show and a standalone sitcom, The Honeymooners were must see television and inspired another iconic show -- the animated Flintstones. Here is the full bit where Ralph decides he just won't mambo. https://youtu.be/_-FhWB1POWQ?si=sinTj3YRAqY3hbw8
While Ralph Kramden is Jackie's best known character, he had many other gems including sophisticated playboy Reginald Van Gleason who was responsible for delivering his "How Sweet It Is" catchphrase. https://youtu.be/f-aR6IoiN-Q?si=7rfepLuKmvT5fxmI
When the part called for broad comedy Jackie could deliver, as in his long run as the blustering Sheriff Buford T. Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit franchise. https://youtu.be/TjLUPXLPvKo?si=naEK5z7M86ODk8nR

What better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day -- and the 200th Episode of Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy -- than by turning the spotlight on Ardal O'Hanlon, a masterful Irish stand-up comic and television star. Launching into a late 1980s Dublin scene that didn't have much comedy, Ardal had a solution! With a couple of college mates he started a comedy club, then went on to win a "New Act of the Year" award at the Hackney Empire comedy competition in 1994. A long tv career followed with Ardal playing everything from a child-like priest to a superhero to a detective investigator in the recent "Death in Paradise". He has also dabbled in stage and voice acting, and he still finds time to work the standup stages of the UK. As always, find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!
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Ardal's big break came in 1995 when he was tapped for a key role in the British sitcom "Father Ted". Playing the child-like Father Dougal McGuire, Ardal was a fan favorite. https://youtu.be/bZ4XdqQrT20?si=0kaD5mCDc8XXOqaE
After his initial series "Father Ted" had concluded it's run, Ardal took a left turn for his next show -- starring as George Sunday -- a simple man who in reality is Thermoman from the planet Ultron. High concept? Yes. Very funny? Absolutely. https://youtu.be/ZimdnUvfs0I?si=dhAisyQ6MKg2cV0r
While he has become a television star with many series under his belt, Ardal continues to perform standup to the delight of fans. This is a fine bit from the BBC Comedy Roadshow a few years back. https://youtu.be/8LrY-Usdc54?si=-VM-Ib19rP0Q4TUf
 

Might want to put on the asbestos underwear this week -- the modern king of roasting is in the house. Greg Giraldo might have started out as a corporate lawyer, but he soon found out that the stand up stage was his natural habitat. Possessed of a blazing wit and the ability to turn complex issues into sharp gags, Greg was a favorite on Comedy Central in its early days, becoming a fixture at their Celebrity Roasts. But, unlike the heavily sanitized Dean Martin versions folks were used to, the Comedy Central roasts were no holds barred. Similarly, he was a standout on the show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, on which a panel of stand up comics shredded each other along with the day's news. As always, find extra cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows!
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Greg believed comedy was art -- but he knew it wasn't exactly the same as Shakespeare. This short bit from a documentary tells why. https://vimeo.com/11839333
Greg was a first rate standup and this routine, taken from an early Comedy Central special, captures why audiences loved him and why fans today wonder what he would say about our current condition! https://youtu.be/YLz1XujQlBQ?si=X6K1xv5kIAp6LIRD
Greg pretty much owned the Comedy Central roasts and this video collects his finest work. When a joke goes too far -- and one almost always does -- in true roasting fashion Greg dishes it back to the audience and plows straight ahead. Warning -- this one is NSFW! https://youtu.be/0_TrrWWkMXU?si=R9YjlVPI4NsdZOEB