The Comedians Quotes

“Lenny Bruce joked that Chicago was the only city where death certificates listed a cause of death as “He wouldn’t listen.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Woody Allen made a PBS television special called Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story in 1971, a half-hour satire of Henry Kissinger. The mockumentary was a natural follow-up to Allen’s directorial debut, Take the Money and Run. It opened with a Kissinger-esque character played by Allen, complaining on the phone: “I want you to get an injunction against The Times. Yes, it’s a New York, Jewish, Communist, left-wing, homosexual newspaper. And that’s just the sports section.” President Nixon already believed PBS was against him and had sent word through Clay Whitehead of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy that criticism of the administration would result in funding cuts. PBS screened the Woody Allen special for its legal department, which found nothing objectionable. Still, station president Ethan Hitchcock wrote a memo: “Under no account must it be shown.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“The lengths his detractors would go were made clear in declassified FBI memoranda. J. Edgar Hoover authored a series of memos suggesting they “develop counter-intelligence measures to neutralize him [Gregory]. This should not be in the nature of an expose, since he already gets far too much publicity. Instead, sophisticated completely untraceable means of neutralizing Gregory should be developed.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Bill Cosby hated the young Richie Pryor. He was convinced he was stealing his material.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Bruce was busted at Doug Weston’s Troubadour on his return to Los Angeles. The crime was titillating Yiddish.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“You will hear the mockery of the church, not just any church, not just the Catholic Church, not just the Lutheran Church, but the church per se.” The prosecution was immediately reminded that this was immaterial—but the point had been made.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“He mocks the pope—and I’m speaking to you as a Catholic—I’m here to tell you your license is in danger.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Chicago is the largest Catholic archdiocese in the world and an attack on the church is considered an attack on the city.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Cosby and Woody Allen emerged as potent stand-up comics at the same time, coincidental in light of the sexual accusations against them decades later.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“There was also the occasional appearance from Tommy Chong, who was a member of the Motown group Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“and here is what may surprise you: Mr. Nixon walked over and lifted the playback head off the recording and said, ‘That man is the President of our country. Neither he nor his family should be the butt of such jokes.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“most record labels turned the idea down. They felt it was out of bounds to ridicule the president.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“comedy records helped make Mel Brooks a star.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“A San Francisco postmaster seized three hundred copies of the Fax Records catalog in May 1960 because “they gave information on where obscene material could be obtained.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“In the old days if you got drunk and the cops stopped you, one cop would get out of the police car and he’d drive you home.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Male lead Philip Loeb supported the End Jim Crow in Baseball Committee, an attempt to integrate the major leagues. It made him unpopular with the sponsor, General Foods.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Before she was cast in Father Knows Best, the sponsor required she narrate anti-Communist documentaries for the Central Intelligence Agency’s Radio Free Europe.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“You Bet Your Life’s sponsor, Chrysler, was convinced only a Commie would dare promote racial equality.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Jack Roy, who would change his name to Rodney Dangerfield,”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Someone once said to me, ‘Well, at least your dad died doing what he loved.’ My dad was fifty-four! I said, ‘What does your mother do?’ He said, ‘Oh, she’s a housewife.’ I said, ‘Let’s go over to her house while she’s doing the laundry and I’ll blow her fucking head off. At least she will have died doing what she loved.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Meanwhile, J. Edgar Hoover ordered FBI agents to protect the visiting fascist.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures, was an admirer of Benito Mussolini and in 1933 released Mussolini Speaks, a pro-fascist documentary. The New York Times said the film was so good “that even those in the audience who are not Italians cannot resist a surge of patriotic feeling.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Criticism of the Nazis was not allowed on American radio prior to 1941. Powerful radio sponsors frowned on anything that might offend German consumers”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Penner was paid seven thousand dollars a week as star of The Baker’s Broadcast.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Cantor was paid a hundred dollars a minute for his first radio guest shot, a five-minute monologue on The Eveready Hour in 1931.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“when I first started to play all the vaudeville theaters. Terrible theaters. I played small towns. One town was so small the local hooker was a virgin.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“Hee Haw cast member Lulu Roman was busted for amphetamine, marijuana, LSD and “some unknown capsules.” Sentenced to four years in prison, she brokered a deal that allowed her to appear on Hee Haw, provided she return to jail after each taping.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy

“President Richard Nixon was a common target for comedians, and that was no surprise. What was surprising was that the reverse was also true—comedians were a common target of the president. Any disparaging remark made him defensive and he used the tools of the presidency to fight back.”
― Kliph Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy