Home / Series / Alan King: Inside the Comedy Mind / Aired Order / Season 1 / Episode 30

Henny Youngman

In this edition, King's guest is the octogenarian king of the one-liners, Henny Youngman, who discusses the following topics, among others: his childhood; how he ended up playing the violin with a band in the Catskills; how he evolved into a solo act as a stand-up comedian; the time he nearly got killed for heckling a woman in an East New York club; his memories of Jackie Gleason; his involvement with underworld crime figures while he was employed as a nightclub comedian; a clip of Youngman performing a skit with Alan King at "The First Annual Comedy Awards"; why he believes his comedy act never goes stale; how he developed his trademark saying, "Take my wife, please!"; a clip of Youngman on "The Ed Sullivan Show"; his prodigous ad-libbing skills; the time he ruined singer Carl Ravazza's stage act; his relationship with fellow comic Milton Berle; a clip of Youngman on "The Ed Sullivan Show"; how comedians steal jokes from one another; his distaste for dirty jokes; and his belief that young comedians today are "not funny."

English
  • Runtime 24 minutes
  • Notes Is a season finale
  • Created June 14, 2021 by
    Kenneth the Page
  • Modified June 14, 2021 by
    Kenneth the Page