Before he passed away, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca did a theatre tour together, reviving some of their old bits. I was lucky enough to see it up close. I was the youngest person in the theatre. Amazing!!
you are really lucky i wish i had gotten to not only meet them but to see them live as well. well Sid did do movies he's in a favorite of mine of all time and that's Mad World.
Suz Phillips: We saw that show in San Francisco. We both grew up on Show of Shows. Not only was Sid gifted, but Imogene, who was quite elderly, could still put together some of her wonderful and very funny solo pieces from Vaudeville. The two of them never faltered. I feel honored to have watched their last live show in SF.
what an awesome story. Sid Caeser was an absolute legend, everyone looked up to him in the business from what I've read. may he rest in peace. Mel Brooks is a legend as well obviously. This was very cool.
Sid Caesar isn't immortalized as a name or a face, he's immortalized as a genre of art. His contribution and the result of such hard work transcended him as a person and that has bears no name, yet its entire existence is owed to him exclusively. That is the most prestigious legacy.
God bless Mel for being so gracious to his old mentor. But then they truly had a father-son relationship. And in the old days, you showed your papa some respect. God bless Mel Brooks for giving Sid Caesar his due. Mel was worth a 100× more than Sid, so this homage really means a lot. Sid, of course, supported Mel in the early days. Both these guts were ans remain class acts. Thx for posting.
I had the honor of guiding Sid Caesar with my flashlight backstage at an awards ceremony. Having known his greatness I had goosebumps just doing that for him. A comic giant as well as Mel Brooks whom I feel should be our president. The world would be a happier place IMHO…
@@viktormuerte Sid and his proteges (Mel B. and Carl R. above all) were always very respectful of other talents of both their own and subsequent generations. And they weren't above admitting they were jealous if someone else was funnier. I always appreciated their humility and selflessness in that regard, and I think that's a big part of why they should always be remembered. Thanks so much for posting.
Though they were only 4 years apart in age, Sid was like a father to Mel. In fact, I believe Sid paid Mel out of his own pocket for several years when NBC wouldn't hire the latter for Your Show of Shows. I think Sid recognized how talented Mel was and also genuinely cared about him. Mel later returned the favor by hiring Sid when no one else would. They were both solid guys. Flawed as he**, sure -- but, ultimately, mensches.
Saw Sid Caesar in ' Its a mad,mad,mad...world '. The aeroplane scene and when he got locked in the store basement were two gems in a diamond tiara of comedy. Shame he didn't do more. S'pose the lure of that 25k dollars per tv show was too much.
He was a last minute replacement for Ernie Kovacs, who had just died in a car crash. In fact, Ernie's wife, Edie Adams, still played the wife of Sid's character.
its good to know what makes great people tick and inspired, and know the stories that shaped their successes.. and in 2014 $5000 a week are still a fortune somehow!!
remnant24 a few years ago when they were making friends still each one on there was getting paid a mil per episode so its not that crazy to imagine him getting paid 25k per
You can see some of Mr. Caesar's genius in MAD MAD WORLD...he is awesome in that movie, especially love his fanatic attempt to escape the hardware store cellar....so funny..
I don't think we have to worry about people forgetting Phil Hartman. I come across more people who forget that he's gone (and get sad all over again when reminded) than people who don't remember him at all.
I can remember rolling on the floor watching him on our black and white and I was, maybe 10 years old at the time. He was a very funny comedian and it is a shame more of his work is not remembered.
All of these comics - we'll never have anything like them again. Today's comics, some are great, but we'll never have what these men and women gave us for so many years. Their geniuses beyond anything we can imagine
Mel Brooks was right. Sid Caesar would've been immortalized forever if he had done movies. Instead, only people that are old enough or that have bothered to do some research even acknowledge him. What a shame. Because he was a genius.
mel said sid was very like how he was portrayed in my favourite year the movie about him and errol flynn.he was physically one of the toughest guys in the business and did in the early days in new york when tv was the new thing flatten several thugs who tried to muscle in on the new medium threatening hold ups and union problems.the typical shakedown .in fact he and steve allen were notorious for ignoring these low lifes and going to the top mobsters of the time in restaurants saying did you send these guys over to me? the answer was always no it was local hoods dropping names to extort money.sid was eqaually tough with the fearsome studio execs as well physically throwing them off the set.guy was scared of nothing said mel.never a bully either hed try to avoid fights but if you pressed him wow bam hed let you have it.always stuck up for the little guy was incredibly loyal to his cast and crew helped all his writers like brooks and neil simon get on in the business and never played the big star.he was always giving away money to anyone who hit hard times or had a problem. his only vice mel said was before a show he was comically insecure hed drive the writers mad convinced they were using last weeks material! hed sack everyone only to forget he had moments later.live tv as well.after when the show had gone down a storm hed say i knew it ! hed then praise everyone but himself of course knowing theyd all say its down to you sid.you had to allow for his bit of pride said mel he earnt it!
Speaking of that “cellophane” Mel mentioned: Without Sid Caesar, Jackie Gleason and Milton Berle requesting personal kinescopes of their work in their contracts, we wouldn’t even have what still remains of Texaco Star Theater, The Jackie Gleason Show (The Honeymooners sketches) and Your Show of Shows/Caesar’s Hour that are extant currently.
Jesus, 25k a show? That's over 200 grand a show in 2017. Think about how good you have to be, live, for you to be pulling in such an audience someone feels they can pay you 200k and still make a great profit each show
compared to how much certain people get paid for certain shows that's peanuts today. i mean look how much the cast of friends were making at the end of it's run
@@harlow743 it's still a lot of money, they prolly did get paid good money back than but on how much the cast for The Big bang theory was getting paid it's enough money that i could retire on i'm sure if i was on that show and saved up and didn't spend everything ya know?
@@rolandofgilead43 In 1916 Charlie Chaplin was was making $20,000.00 per week.....A new home cost $3,000.00....a new car cost $360.00....So Charlie could buy a new home on one day's wage and a new car on 90 minutes wage...
Mel Brooks wrote/directed a movie called "The Producers" which is a satire about a musical stage play about Hitler, called "Springtime for Hitler"... Sid Caesar was referencing this film... See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Producers_(1968_film)
Mel Brooks made the Producers which featured a play about Hitler and he also had a hit song with a "Hitler rap song" called "to be or not to be". So he went from working with Sid to Hitler.
+Mexxer Mel Brooks first film he directed was The Producers starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel. I won't explain the entire plot but in the movie they put together a play called "Springtime for Hitler".
Pardon my intrusion but I've seen some of Sid Caesar's work when he appeared on various variety programs as a guest and I never found it funny or entertaining. I don't know what these tv programs that Sid did that Mel Brooks talks about contained but if it was anything like the bits I've seen of Sid and Imogene on other tv programs then sorry I'm not interested. I mean, how many times can you look into the camera and make a silly face ? or play the part of a dummy ? I think Mel Brooks is "gaslighting" the audience when he calls Sid Caesar a comic genius. I guess comedy is in the eye of the beholder. To my eyes and ears, Buster Keaton = genius Jack Benny = Genius Very few can be called genius.
Sid Caesar is overrated and only relevant because of his death. And Mel Brooks has made a lot of crappy, unfunny movies. BUT, for Blazing Saddles and (especially) Young Frankenstein alone, the man will go down in movie history. Marty Feldman's Igor has to be one of funniest performances ever filmed.
You never saw "To Be, Or Not To Be"? Humor, slapstick, glamor, show tunes, pathos, and Anne Bancroft. Perhaps the best of Brooks' movies. And Sid Caesar "overrated and only relevant because of his death"? You should be one thousandth as funny!
History Of The World: Part One is hilarious. High Anxiety is awesome. It's very 70s and very tailored to the humor of the era, but is still incredibly funny. And Robin Hood: Men In Tights is hysterical. Either you just haven't seen enough of them or you were asleep while they were on.
I’ve seen several comments on here they didn’t thanks incision was funny. This was black and white television. We had never seen anything like this. At that time it was comic genius. Mel Brooks wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for said Cesar. Says Cesar, imagine CoakA Carl Reiner, just funny. Maybe you were comparing people to today. And many of those people are absolutely not funny
No laugh tracks back then. Live performances in front of the camera as it aired. Laughter was genuine. And there was a lot of it. Love Sid and his Show of Shows. Comedy geniuses, Sid and Mel and the rest of the show cast and the writers too.God bless them.
