Posts Tagged Dick Cavett
Classic Interview: Dick Cavett on Charlie Rose
Posted by admin in episodic TV, late night TV, talk show on November 27, 2009
I should have mentioned this earlier in the week, but due to the U.S. holiday, I opted not to run a new interview this week. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the slightly increased posting level this week, however.
I love a good interview, and Dick Cavett is a damn good interviewer. So is Charlie Rose. So a chance to watch the two of them talk (from back in 2001)–a good opportunity.
I hope you agree.
Mike Sacks on And Here’s The Kicker
Posted by admin in comedy, episodic TV, late night TV on September 17, 2009
And Here's the Kicker
I fancied myself fairly well-informed about the art of comedy and the folks who practice it. But then I started reading some of Mike Sacks‘ And Here’s The Kicker: Conversations with Top Humor Writers About Their Craft, and soon realized I was not as informed as I thought. Sacks, who is presently on the Vanity Fair magazine editorial staff, interviewed 21 humor writers as well as a variety of editors and entertainment executives for the book. I was really impressed with the variety of writer he was able to interview–and I consider myself fortunate to get to interview him about the book. Please be sure to visit the book’s website as Sacks provides excerpts from each of the book’s interviews. With that in mind, I linked to each interview excerpt (and/or their respective website) when they come up in the discussion.
Tim O’Shea: Before your book, I had never even heard of Irv Brecher, and I considered myself a fan of the Marx Brothers (clearly not a well-informed one). Why do you think his name is not more widely known in comedy circles?
Mike Sacks: Well, I do think he was known within comedy circles, but only among those in a certain age demographic–or those who were very knowledgeable about Hollywood’s past. I guess it’s similar to younger baseball players not knowing much about the great players from the 30s and 40s.
Also, Brecher worked on two Marx Brothers movies (“Out West” and “At the Circus”_ that are lesser known than “A Night at the Opera” or “Duck Soup.” But I think anyone who is a professional humor writer (or even just interested in comedy) should acquaint themselves with Irv. He was an amazing man with an incredible career: from writing for Milton Berle to writing for the Marx Brothers to punching up the script to “Wizard of Oz.” He was also very bawdy and incredibly honest. It was great talking with him and I’m really happy I got the chance to before he became very sick.
Dick Cavett Has A Blog!?!
Posted by admin in late night TV, sports on March 20, 2008
The Internet is a big place, you may have read this obvious statement before. Why I write it this time is to somewhat reassure myself that I cannot be aware of everything. I’ve always been a fan of Dick Cavett. I was too young in the late 1960s/early 1970s to watch his late night show, but thanks to Netflix I have caught up on some of what I missed. So, imagine my surprise (given that I have been a regular NYTimes.com reader since its launch in the mid 1990s) that I was unaware that Cavett had been blogging for the website since early 2007.
It was Cavett’s show where Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal got into a vehement dispute back in 1971. Cavett describes it here as “without doubt the damnedest show I ever did. Or ever heard of.” There was also the time a guest died on the set (not on the air, as the show was never aired), as Cavett explained in an effort to dispute an obscure bit of folklore. It’s so strange to watch these shows now on DVD and see guests smoking–sure it was common then, but now, well it seems like people on another planet.