VHS Vault: Harland Williams

Let's keep on rolling. This next clip isn't all that vintage. Or at least, Harland Williams' act hasn't changed much in the ensuing years. Not surprising, that. I always thought he was a fairly lazy comic. That is, I think he relies a bit too much on his goofy appearance and whatever goofy thought entered his head at some point. He never goes beyond that. He's essentially a one-liner comic with really stupid one-liners. That being said, he's so damn likable he gets away with it. Who needs to write when the audience is laughing, I guess.

VHS Vault: Richard Lewis

I'm just unloading stuff now, fast and furious. This is Richard Lewis from the late 1980s on Letterman. I've always had a love-hate thing with Lewis. I think the first time you see a comic can forever slant you one way. I first saw him on The Alan Hamel Show, which was recorded here in Vancouver, when I was in high school. I'd never heard of him, but he did a stand-up set and I thought he was really funny. Since then, not so much, but he has a really endearing quality. He's kind of like Rickles in the sense you laugh and then go, "What did that even mean?" It's more in the delivery. And, of course, I'm a sucker for anything reminding me of Woody Allen (I just watched a chunk of Annie Hall tonight and, man, is it good! Still!).

Incidentally, I had the chance to interview Richard Lewis a year or so ago. The show was eventually cancelled so I never bothered transcribing it, but when I come across it, I'll definitely get on it. He's exactly – and I mean exactly – like his onstage persona. It'll be a bitch to transcribe, in other words. One half-expressed thought leads to another one, with hardly a break for a breath.

Anywho, this segment on the old Letterman show is cut off at either end. So take it for what it's worth.

VHS Vault: Jay Leno

Is there a more despised man in comedy right now than Jay Leno? I can't think of one. Maybe Kyle Cease, but he's small time. In both cases, I'm not entirely sure it's fair. Leno lost all comedy cred since taking over from Johnny Carson with his bland version of The Tonight Show, then lost even more respect when he wrestled control of the show back from Conan O'Brien. But did he? It's more like he was offered the job back and he took it. Coco fans seem to believe that if Leno had declined the invitation to return as host, O'Brien would still be there. That's faulty logic, methinks. I think NBC wanted Conan out no matter what due simply to the ratings. It's a numbers game. Had Leno refused to come back, they would have replaced Conan with someone else.

Here's an early clip of Leno on The Tonight Show. There's lots more earlier stuff available. I'm not sure exactly when this is but I believe it's from the late 1980s. Since Leno didn't take over from Carson until 1992, this would have been when he was guest hosting, as he did regularly since 1987. It was a period when he was still liked and respected. Is he that much different? I don't think so. But judge for yourself.

VHS Vault: Letterman Top Ten/Dial-It Services

How about some vintage Letterman? Here's former Mets pitcher, Bob Ojeda, doing a Top Ten list. He was a current Mets pitcher at the time, but that was long, long ago. Then Dave does a lame desk bit but, like Carson before him, manages to spin straw into gold. Is that the right expression? Good enough. Here you go:

VHS Vault: Fred Stoller

Welcome back to ye olde VHS Vault. It's been a while. But I've had some free time lately to sift through another videotape to see what I recorded back in the day.

Remember Fred Stoller? Probably not. I believe he went on to write a couple of Seinfeld episodes, had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond, and does some voice-over work. But you don't see him doing stand-up anymore. At least I don't. There are a couple clips of him online, but not this appearance of his on Arsenio. I believe it dates back to the late 1980s. Here the milquetoast comic does his best-known bit, The Thrill Seeker. I still laugh when he says, "You can't stop me." (The sound quality isn't great so turn up the volume.)

VHS Vault: Brent Butt

The success of Corner Gas has not been good for Canadian comedy. Why? Because it stole one of the best stand-up comics in the world away from what he does best. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there weren't many comedians funnier than Brent Butt. Funny thing is, I never felt he translated all that well to the small screen, stand-up-wise. Whenever I saw him do stand-up on TV, he was funny, but not great. Live, though, he was the king. I could – and did – see him perform literally hundreds of times and I never tired of his act. He was that good.

Now with his new series Hiccups getting renewed, I fear we'll never get the old Brent back. Despite what he says about stand-up being his favourite thing to do, he'll never go back to performing it full-time. It'll always be a sometimes thing for him. Sure, he'll do his big theatre shows once a month or so when he's on haiatus, but that's like going to the gym once a month. It's impossible to get in shape.

For such a prolific guy, it's amazing there's next to no representation of his stand-up act on-line. There's no logical explanation for it, since he's done lots of TV work. Chances are he just doesn't want it on-line and has taken measures to have it removed. So we'll see if this lasts. Hope so, because it represents a time when this is all he did. And, as you can see, he did it well. It's pre-Corner Gas and pre-Hollywood teeth. Enjoy.

VHS Vault: Dane Cook

Well, look what we have here. It's a youngish Dane Cook performing at the Just For Laughs gala. This is about the time I first saw him and I liked him at the time. As you can see here, he had potential. Sure, he played the nostalgia card pretty heavily, but there were jokes there. I still laugh when I hear his mom explaining the cat noises.

I read an interview with David Cross in pitchfork.com today and he had some comments on Cook that I think are bang-on accurate:

I don't have any rivalry with Dane Cook. I've been on record as saying I don't think he's nearly as bad at stand-up as everybody says. He doesn't suck. What I find distasteful is his constant self-promotion, which just smacks of a wounded little kid, like: "Look at me! You guys think I'm funny, right? Hey, I've got a million Facebook friends! That makes me good, right?" That's what I don't like. And he steals material. He's just that guy right now. Ten years ago it was Carrot Top. Ten years before that it was Andrew Dice Clay. There'll always be a very successful comic who you're like, "Really guys?" But to say that he's not funny or a bad comic is disingenuous.

Take a look at this era of Dane Cook and you can see what he had going for him. It would still be a few years before he really hit it with mainstream audiences, but you can see why he was popular.

VHS Vault: Young Doug Stanhope

Look what I found traipsing through ye olde video vault. It's a young(er) long-haired Doug Stanhope, complete with heavier Boston accent. But it's still the same Doug that we've grown to know and love. Still in-your-face funny. Not sure of the exact time-line, but it's most likely late 1990s or 2000. The recording quality isn't the best, but it's good enough. I had to clip the beginning and end and one extended bit of laughter in the middle to get it down to size to fit here, but you don't miss any of the words. Methinks you'll enjoy:

VHS Vault: Jerry Seinfeld

With the news that Jerry Seinfeld is coming to town in August, I thought I'd treat you to a little vintage Seinfeld. This is pre-Seinfeld Seinfeld. The sitcom started in 1989; this appearance by Jerry on Seattle's Almost Live! was probably 1984. Ross Shafer was still hosting the show he created and the format was still typical talk show before it became primarily a sketch show under the leadership of John Keister. Shafer went on to national fame (for about a season, anyway) when he became the last host of Fox TV's The Late Show in 1988. But this is classic Seinfeld, doing some of his early bits sitting down on the panel. I used to love his Robert Hughes material, which you can see here. It still holds up.

VHS Vault: Kevin Rooney

Dipping into the old VHS Vault™ again, here's another blast from the past. Stand-up comic Kevin Rooney used to do Johnny Carson's Tonight Show all the time. That show gets a lot of credit for breaking so many top comics, but people forget there were dozens of others who were regulars on the show who are pretty much forgotten. Bobby Kelton anyone? Maureen Murphy? Kelly Monteith? Will Shriner? Those comics were regulars with Johnny and where are they now?

I don't know what Rooney is up to these days. Presumably doing comedy somewhere. But here he was in his prime:

VHS Vault: Viewer Mail

Who knows why I used to record what I recorded? Not I. But it's fun looking back. Most of what I recorded back in the day were comedians or comedy performances, but there are random clips of things like Phil Donohue and Morton Downey, Jr. I'll leave out the newsy clips and stick to comedy here.

This next clip is of David Letterman's old weekly Viewer Mail segment. Nothing special about it, although it's funny. As happens a lot with my recordings, the end is cut off. So it is what it is. Enjoy.

VHS Vault: Dennis Miller

Back to the VHS vault I go. This next clip is of Dennis Miller on the old Late Night with David Letterman show. Miller was then in his third season on Saturday Night Live. Miller takes a lot of flack these days for his politics. And deservedly so, in my opinion. There was a time I thought he had lost it comedically because his politics got in the way. But I've seen enough of him since then to appreciate his joke writing ability. At his stand-up shows, he's political for maybe ten minutes and the rest is just vintage Miller – arcane references and spot-on analogies delivered in his unique style. Granted, some people hated his style even before he became a spin doctor for the right. But I was a fan. And still am. It's really hard to say that because I disagree with his politics so strongly, but you gotta separate the man from his act.

Early Chris Rock

Well, look what I figured out. Not sure I'll be able to duplicate it but for the time being I managed to get some private video added. I think it'll be a good addition to the blog.

I've been going through my VHS collection. Man, I used to tape a lot of comedy (and other stuff) off the TV, some of it good, some of it bad, some of it boring. But over time, everything seems fascinating. I thought I'd share some of what I find here. Seems as good a place as any.

Here's an early appearance by Chris Rock on the Arsenio Hall show. I haven't seen this on YouTube so maybe this is the only place to find it. I know there was a mini-documentary on Rock from the same era floating out there now but this wasn't part of it. I love the old references. Let's just say you won't hear to many Miles Davis jokes these days. Stick around to the end when Arsenio has to move along very quickly from Rock talking about Johnny Carson. Classic.