This is so evident in this amazing video. I long for the days we did not have to swear and be vile in order to be funny! It wasn't funny then and it certainly isn't now! B"H
Jon Stewart mentioned this guy in a bit, so I googled him - what a lovable act! Cynicism to puncture inflated people is great and necessary, but... I wish we could still have some more just... nice comedians once in a while. Who poke gentle fun. Thanks for uploading it.
While in HS I found a cassette that was filled with taped stand up from Myron Cohen from '47 & '49. Was devastated when, ironically, I lost the tape. He was one of the first comedians that I heard at a young age. I wanted to become a comedian but never got the nerve to pursue it. Still love listening to stand up comics of all genres and backgrounds.
My favorite Cohen joke: Abe walks in on Eli and asks, "Whatcha doin?" Eli says, "Watching the game". Abe asks, "What's the score?" Eli says "86 to 74". Abe: "Who's winning?" Eli: "86".
Stranger walks into a bar outside of Dublin and asks the old man at the bar: "What's the best way to get to Dublin?" "Are you driving or walking?" "Driving." "That would be the best way."
@@sportsamania it was spozed'ta have been Goldberg, but when I first set it up it was after a few cervezas so I forgiot the PW...next choice was Cohen... Hadda get two names together that didn't 'compute' like 'Hakeem Shapiro' or 'Nunzio O'Brian'...
Myron Cohen was one of the Greatest "Borsch Belt" comics ever!! I have his book, "Laughing Out Loud" which I treasure. Myron started out in life as a furrier salesman. He always warmed up to the buyers with some good funny stories, not jokes but funny stories about the business. After hearing that he should try comedy, he did & we are all the better for him. R.I.P.!!
Completely new to me. A gentle humour delivered in a style which I'm guessing was rare in the early 1950s? He clearly drank from the wellspring of a rich cultural background ... his reference to WW2 .... extraordinary to think it had only ended 6 years before this broadcast.
My grandparents had a scrapbook of all the hotels that they had visited in the Catskills way back when--flyers and postcards..etc--there was also a photo taken at a dinner table with them and a man who was a dead ringer for Myron--i wonder?
The Kate Smith show. Wow. I'm 74years old. This is a dim memory. I remember those flowers in front of her. Her theme song, I think, was "when the moon comes over the mountain" . In 1951 I was four years old. I think I must have seen a later season. But, maybe, we had a tv then. I'll have to look up the dates of the Donald O'Connor show. I remember that one too.
Absolutely hilarious! I am new to his work, but I'm hooked! This is proof that you don't have to use fowl language or put anyone down to be funny. He was raw and natural talent!
Foul language back then would have gotten him censored and blacklisted. Look what happened to Jackie Mason, who only used a gesture, and the Smothers Brothers. Their careers were ruined for years.
In my youth, I won a deluxe dinner and show for two as a prize for having the correct answer in a call-in radio show. I remember only my date that evening, the dessert ("flaming" cherries jubilee), and one of the best live shows in my lifetime, with great seats, featuring not one, but three great entertainers performing onstage: Myron Cohen, Joel Grey, and Michel Legrand.
Nicky Depaola Yes. You could buy a nice house on one salary, the media was actually independent (not owned by one of six major corporations and the police patrolled on foot and knew (and spoke with) people that they passed on the street. On the other hand, Afro-Americans were riding at the back of the bus, could not drink from the water fountains of white people and could not enter certain restaurants. The "good old days" were not without flaws. We seem to often think that the past/future was/will be better than the present. Fascinating.
I remember him on Ed Sullivan; this is right after the war and a lot of comedians coming up were Jewish, from New York and trained on the Borsht Belt. The addition of Yiddish is something I haven't heard in a long time; really miss it.
the Borscht Belt was the name of an area of the Catskill Mountains in New York State. There were a lot of summer resorts that catered to New Yorkers. Places like Grossingers, Fallsview, the Nevele, etc. They had evening entertainments, where the up and coming comics would try out new material and try to get noticed. Again, this is in the 50's and 60's. Did you ever see Dirty Dancing? That takes place in one of those resorts.
I did see Dirty Dancing and I see the coralation. The kids stay in the cabin and the parents go to the show. I miss the simple jokes by Dangerfield and Youngmen. Thank You.
Dangerfield when asked if he thought his operation would go well repled, "If it goes well I will be out in two weeks, if it goes bad I will be out in one hour." He died of complications. True story.
True. TV has standards for families as do cruise ships and churches. However, if I'm in a nightclub or a bar I want to hear the language of my environment. And if I brought my mom or minor daughter there I should be chastised, not the comedian.
Wow. Just as I remember Myron from his Ed Sullivan show appearances. Haven't seen anything like this on youtube before. And farblunjet is French, hmmmmmmmmm. Myron began his career as a garment salesman who told jokes to customers. He was so funny that people suggested he become a comedian, which he did. Please keep posting these great items.
I'm curious about that ... can you please tell me if they still have a lot of Comedy going on nowadays in this sickeningly "politically correct " environment where NOBODY is allowed to say ANYTHING about anyone or anything at all without being made to look like a monster ...and people being so HURT and offended . Can you please tell me if you would know if comedy is Alive and Well in that area ? ... or if that is a thing of the past anyway irrespective of the political climate of today ?
You mean the places that allowed Jews to perform? Like the Grits Circuit, the Chitlin' Circuit and the Bible Belt there were areas that only allowed certain races, religions, etc to perform. Maybe because anyone can perform anywhere now? If you want to perfect your act, you have to appeal to more than one group.
I loved Myron Cohen and the other Yiddish comics like Gertrude Berg. One thing I've wondered about though is as Jewish as they were in voice and appearance, did the word "Jew" ever come out of their mouths. Joe in Israel.
@@billknoop What WHO call funny? AARP long standing members?! He worked me into a smile. However, if TODAY'S comedians and audience are both clueless then both are happy, right? Are you saying Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle and Felipe Esparza aren't funny? Maybe you need a time machine and a MAKE AMERICA BORING AGAIN cap.
Myron, Benny, Sid, Hope, Berle, Buttons, Skelton, et al, were all products of doing the Catskills and the “Borscht Belt” for years and 1,000’s of show during the height of the Burlesque days. I remember watching in B&W on Sunday evenings the great “leftover” shows of burlesque times , shows like Sullivan, Allen, Burns etc. Last show I remember doing that was Carol Burnett, and that was a hoot as well. You can’t return to the past, but I wish the past would catch up to these days and show this entitled, me-first generation what true showmanship was. But...that’s just me.
I remember him on Ed Sullivan like, in the early 70's. He had become a shrunken little old man and had lost that urbane quality. Told a joke about a man entering a bake shop at night from a blizzard to buy a single bagel. One bagel? In a snowstorm? Is it for your wife? What, the customer retorts: My MOTHER would send me out on a night like this? My parents were rolling, but they had grown up in the east, and we were just little Floridians..
Lovely Thank you for posting I miss Norm MacDonald Triple-jabbed Gilbert Gottfried, who died of a “heart condition,” is another lost legend I miss I will pray for America. Please pray for me. God Bless you.
Very good Jewish comedian !, Always love to hear and see Kate Smith! I must admit though I was expecting to see a guy with an accordion with a big smile and playing very fast! (Let's see if anybody gets the reference).
I remember Myron Cohen, we watched Kate Smith on some friends of our families television. KATE SMITH. KATE SMITH. And, once more for good measure : KATE SMITH
@@majordendrocopos I think you are correct, majordendrocopos. Almost as racist as hip hop, if not more, depending on your propensity for being offended and loyalty to whichever racial, cultural or gender grouping.
mu99ins America in 1931 was openly and unashamedly a segregated racist country, but I am unable to decide whether the song is meant to be serious or ironic. Even the title feels very wrong in 2019.
I met Cohen at Lewis's Bistro & Delicatessen in San Francisco back in the old days. Proprietor Freddy Lewis always told me that Myron was a lousy tipper ...until his 3rd glass of Manischewitz.
For those of you wondering at some of the words and laughter: Mr. Cohen is Jewish (duh...) and so is his audience. Hence all the laughing at his clever mention of Yiddish words every here and there.
