I’m 71 years old I have anxiety and depression… Medicine doesn’t help me. The only medicine that I have now is music, and comedy. God love Johnny Carson God love Garry Shandling and all the other wonderful comedians and people who are no longer on planet earth as we know it. 😊❤❤❤
Exercise- nature- sun- good diet- solid sleep schedule. Supplements. Exercise. Sun. Purpose. Go volunteer for the local animal or homeless shelter or something like that.
When the talent coordinator for the Tonight Show first saw Shandling at the Comedy Store, he told Garry that he'd have to come back the next day to confirm that he was that good.
I read a lot of comments here wondering why he wasn’t called over to the couch. It was probably a timing thing. I was a comic and I can tell you this was the best first Carson set I’ve seen. I loved, though, that Carson looked at his staff off camera and said, “ Thanks, Jim” referring to the talent coordinator who scouted new talent at the clubs for the show. Never heard Carson do that “ on-air” before. That may have been the ultimate compliment to Garry. What an enormous talent. RIP, Garry.
The best part of that was. Jim saw Shandling at the comedy store on the weekend and booked him right after his regular set. He said “ How’s Tuesday?” Carson was brilliant and he was responsible for making many many multi millionaires!
I hadn't even noticed that on first watch but I'm so glad you pointed it out. Very unusual for Johnny, he must've been really blown away. Can you imagine that feeling for Shandling right after finishing his set? I'll never experience such intensity.
I read that he went back stage after his performance ( he had a small group of his friends) and just collapsed. He had worked so hard for that moment and he was overcome by emotion.
@@craigregan4862 many times with total noobs, they would only get a quick stand up the first time, then if they ever made it back they'd get some couch time after as well
I was SO forturnate to have seen him at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa just before he went on Carson... We were sitting right up front and he did his "Dad's Gross" routine...I never laughed so hard, Gary looked down and said. "I gotta take this guy to all my gigs.." Miss you man.
He was unique. He became a spiritual seeker, a buddhist, I think. A complex guy. he went out with sharon stone for a time. I dont think he ever got over her. Anyway I miss him too
@@tubergetrude333 He was not a Buddhist. He made sure to tell people that. He was a Jew, through and through. Terribly funny and extremely clever. I once read an interview of his in a magazine at the doctor's office. His answers were so clever it was scary.
The Larry Sanders show was absolutely incredible. Great actors on the show, lots of cameo guest appearances, incredible writing, and Garry himself showed that he was actually a superb actor. What a loss for the world!
And Carson didnt even invite him over to the chair? He invited Freddie Prinze over and that dude wasnt even slighlty funny. A bunch of lame Puerto Rican jokes?
True story: My wife used to date a guy called Scott who came from a very rich family and she was invited to his parents' house in Palm Springs and Johnny Carson was there. She says that Johnny was a very quiet and shy person.
I'm sure he wanted to have him come over cuz I know he really liked him... but in those days they really did have to move on.. take those breaks for commercials
The talent coordinator for the Tonight Show told Garry after seeing his set for the first time at the Comedy Store, he'd have to watch him again the following night to prove to himself that he was really that good and the first time wasn't just a fluke
I crossed paths with Garry Shandling Once...I was a Chef for Wolfgang Puck at the time....we were at the Science Center in L.A. That Night... "The Who", was the entertainment. A long line of Celebrities were crossing my path...I had to get through them...Garry Shandling's Wife said, " Garry The Chef Needs To Get Through." So He Said, Oh Sorry Wolfgang, I Don't Want To Get In you're Way". It was a little dark that night. He acually thought I was Wolfgang Puck lol. I said in an Austrian accent, I'm a Big Fan Garry"!!!
@@trvman1 Johnny never invited comics to sit down on their debut performances. But if he gave the thumbs up -- as he did with Gary here -- that meant you would be invited to come back again. It was usually after three or four appearances that Johnny would then invite them to sit on the panel.
And Carson didnt even invite him over to the chair? He invited Freddie Prinze over and that dude wasnt even slighlty funny. A bunch of lame Puerto Rican jokes?
Carson made so many careers just by greenlighting them on his show. A man who could hold 20 million people captive on any given weeknight but couldn’t maintain a close personal relationship for a length of time.
Johnny was right when he said more would be heard about Gary Shandling. It's too bad he is no longer of this planet. Rest in Peace Gary. Thanks for the yuk-yuks, guffaws, chuckles, belly busters, and, of course, the laughter.
His delivery was spot on, the timing perfect, especially for the little throw away line after the main joke. I love how his face would illustrate the joke, and then he would break into that innocent boyish grin that said “I’m so happy that you think I’m funny.”
That was possibly the best 6-minute comedy set I ever saw. He was hitting one home run after another. I don't ever remember hearing Carson laugh so much off camera.
The episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with him and Jerry is a great nostalgic walk down memory lane. So glad it was captured before he passed.
I met him once in Atlantic city. I was star struck and shook his hand,telling him how much I appreciated his humor.I wouldn't let go off his hand and he told me he had to go to the bathroom..the look on his face was hysterical. He was a comedic genius.May he rest in peace with our Heavenly Father . Q
Garry had already written for "Sanford and Son" and appeared on "Make Me Laugh" by the time he was invited to perform on Mr. Carson's "Tonight" show. This is great! Thanks for sharing.
Have seen this before, know some of these classic Shandling jokes and still laughed out loud (and hard) at this -yet again. Gary’s act has aged well because it’s excellent and fairly timeless stuff and he was a great stand up. This isn’t always the case for some other 80s comedians.
Garry was inspired to give a comedy career a go when George Carlin looked over several pages of material this kid from Tucson nervously asked him to assess. Shandling said Carlin tore much of it apart, but ended with, “If you’re thinking of pursuing a comedy career, I’d do it.”
I remember that story. Garry finished college and then left for LA not knowing anyone in the business, aside from meeting Carlin at that AZ comedy club.
Thanks for this. I forgot how funny Garry Shandling was back then. In those days, he and David Brenner were my favorite stand up guys, until I got into Rodney Dangerfield.
I love them all. It is such a wonderful thing to see this first appearance by Garry shandling I have a lifetime obsession with comedians sort of like a groupie without the sex.
Garry is one of the funniest of them all. He wrote for Sanford and Son and other shows. How he and Steve Martin didn't end up doing a vaudeville act is a mystery.
I don't know what excited a comedian more the crowd laughing or hearing Johnny laughing. Robin Williams was one of Johnny's favorite guests. When he did his last shows Robin Williams was one of his guests and Bette Middler. He said before he did his last shows that these were some of his favorite guests.
Wow that was solid stuff. There was a kind of exaggerated story about how a comedian knew they'd really 'passed' if Johnny invited them to the desk. Later, people from the show said that was not actually a strict rule at all and I believe they mentioned Garry Shandling by name as an example. They said it just depended on the schedule, time leftover, commercials etc. Johnny MIGHT shake their hand or MIGHT invite them IF possible but you see here: Shandling had Carson dying in laughs but time didn't allow. Shandling would come back again and again.
There were a few ways that Johnny gave comedians approbation. Indicating to the comic that they take a bow (which happened here), giving them the ok👌sign, calling them over to the couch, and laughing his ass off (which also happened here, and must surely have been the most gratifying to a comic). Unlike the bow, ok sign and Johnny's laughter, the call to the couch was often contingent on how much time they had left over to do it.
@@NxDoyle Yes, I think that's what i was saying... well not that I said it but Johnny Carson people have said that. I do recall Carson himself saying that but certainly producers have since. Nevertheless, a kind of showbiz urban legend developed that being called to the couch for an interview was a kind of Roman 'thumbs up/down' that meant the comic was .. 'being made' like in the mafia OR being rejected as a made-man.
@@jonathandewberry289 Funny, the 70's were my teens and 80's my 20s and even recall seeing Letterman do HIS first appearance on Carson in the 70's. Still, I watched both Carson and Letterman virtually every night. Then, many years later I saw many of these same comedians interviewed about their first time appearances on Carson, knowing that it could literally make or break them. And virtually all of them said that getting the OK finger salute 👌 was a big mark of 'you made it' from Johnny, but getting the wave over to have a seat and chat for a few minutes was the holy grail for these guys. Since I heard it from the mouths of the actual comedians themselves I guess that's where that 'urban legend' came from. Time permitting of course.🙄
@@ntvypr4820 The last sentence is the key and turns it into what I passed on to you: Time permitting. Time permitting. So that means, if a comedian was NOT waved over to the chair it really didn't mean it would 'break you' or not make you. It may or may not mean they had 2 seconds to commercial or had big guests with a tight schedule etc. How do we know this? You just saw an example where Garry Shandling was NOT invited to the chair. Wait.. so Carson didn't like him and 'make him' and that broke him? Of course not. Shandling was invited back and back over and over as a guest and then fills in for Carson, hosting the show. So there you have it. The Carson people were correct when they say that it wasn't that way the showbiz legend was turned into some absolutist thing.
Every time I see it, he seems to kill just a little bit harder. And even though I've seen it at least a dozen times over the years, there are still laughs. He was just great.
What Gary did here was to go from prepared material to completely fresher material. Once the very first rough-draft joke worked on the audience, he got his 'Read' of the audience and went for the 'work-in-progress' material. This and Eddie Murphy's first appearance on JC are absolute Study material for future comedians.
To that end with the Seinfeld comparison, they were great friends for over 30 years coming up as comics and both appearing on Carson which really propelled their careers. Last I saw of Shandling just happened to be with Seinfeld on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Saw Mr Shandling on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee several years ago no long before he left us. It was just excellent to see the two of them interact. He was genius
Rest in Peace to one man who made me laugh more then I had a right to. His book as Larry Sanders made me laugh out loud while reading it besides the show being hilarious groundbreaking and started a whole new genre of Television it made me laugh. Brilliantly funny and so much laughter put out in the world it was was a great gift and legacy.
Love Garry, RIP ❤ After moving to a predominantly Dutch area of Michigan, he inspired me to create my own restaraunt joke. After walking in I book our reservation under the name Vandermuelengraffendykanlan. Then when our reservation is called everyone stands up to approach the hostess 😂
Couldn't have gone better. "Thank you, Jim" says Johnny, for finding him that serious talent. "[Jim] McCawley discovered many of today's comedians and supported the likes of David Letterman, Garry Shandling, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Roseanne Barr, Victoria Jackson, A. Whitney Brown, Paula Poundstone, Jon Lovitz and many more who got their start on The Tonight Show thanks to him." Garry didn't join the pantheon of first-timers who got called over to the couch though. Probably just short on time.
I loved Gary's "self absorbed" girlfriend whose dress caught on fire at a picnic. "Help, help, put ME out. Help ME." Everything always had to be about her.
Saw this show on Pluto and Carson was right - this crowd was amped up well before GS came on. To see Garry basking in this dream come true audience response - taking his time to appreciate the moment (looking at Johnny and the band) - is still an uplifting moment… Along with Johnny, George Carlin (another late great comedic mind) deserves huge credit too. He took the time to look at Garry’s unsolicited raw material, meet with him again the next night and encouraged him to forget his senior year at ASU, that he did have potential!
In his last TV appearance on Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars," Shandling said he had finished a set at an L.A. comedy club when a man walked up to him, identified himself as a Tonight Show rep, and said, "How's next Tuesday for you on Carson?"
Interestingly, some people don't know this.... there were some comics who Johnny Carson wanted dead, he couldn't stand them. So Johnny would also invite them over to sit down too. Then the next day they would get whacked
The word "underrated" is overused on RU-vid, but Shandling really doesn't get mentioned too much. "The Larry Sanders Show" gets overlooked behind Seinfeld and Chappelle Show, but it really was one of a kind.
“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” is still hilarious all these years later. I watched it several times a week in junior high school, having taped each week onto VHS.
Garry was the original Jerry Seinfeld. Seeing Garry cry when talking about the day Johnny died made me tear up. Garry was closer to Johnny that Garry realized.
That's why I like clean comedians. They don't rely on vulgarity and sexual jokes. They seldom curse or grab themselves. I respect that level of integrity. Anybody can get a laugh from a dirty comedian, but it takes a real skilled person to keep it clean. Real class acts don't need potty training.
I think on his next appearance Gary had another great joke about a dog seeing his human using the toilet. "Hey what are you doing I drink outta that thing".
