Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Drew Friedman

Episode Date: March 2, 2020

Gilbert and Frank welcome back award-winning illustrator and GGACP fan favorite DREW FRIEDMAN for a riveting conversation about well-endowed comedians, the last days of Mad magazine, the durability of "The Odd Couple" and Drew's latest book, "All the Presidents." Also, Yoko Ono meets the Little Rascals, Uncle Floyd auditions for "Minnie's Boys," Gilbert plays The Great Emancipator and Frank attends a Stooge funeral. PLUS: "Crazy Joe" Gallo! "The Haunted Strangler"! Praising Al Jaffee (and Mort Drucker)! Mutant Jerry Lewis! And Drew runs afoul of the Merchant of Venom! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Ontario only. Gambling problem? Call Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. With Ancestry, putting together

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and stories about your ancestors. Uncover new relatives and branches of the family with automated Ancestry hints. Connect the dots with access to millions of historical documents. And then share what you find in one central place. Visit Ancestry.ca and start discovering your family story today. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast

with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. We're coming to you courtesy of the Starburns Audio Network. And I'm having the French vanilla latte. Our guest this week is as close as we get to a regular on this show, kind of like Rod Hull and his emu on the old Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show. celebrated award-winning illustrator whose work has graced the pages of the New York Observer, Spy, Esquire, National Lampoon, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, Time, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and the late great Mad Magazine. He's been a key figure in American comic book and comic strip culture for decades, publishing the collections Warts and All,

The Fun Never Stops, Too Soon, and Private Lives of Public Figures, several of them co-written by his wife and frequent collaborator, Kathy B. Dust. Or beat us. Kathy B. She beat us with a rod. Sometimes, sometimes we pay her and she beats us. Sometimes we pay her and she beats us.

Sometimes we say, Kathy, please beat us. Anyway, he's also the illustrator and author of Drew Friedman's Sideshow Freaks, Drew Friedman's Chosen People, and the historical portrait series Heroes of the Comics, as well as providing illustrations for Howard Stern's best-selling books Miss America and Private Parts. His essential three-volume series Old Jewish Comedians featuring lovingly liver-spotted portraits of everyone from Victor Borga, Buddy Hackett, to Gummo Marx, are practically guidebooks for this very podcast. His brand new book is Old the Presidents, featuring painstakingly accurate renderings of the 45 men to serve as commander-in-chief. So, I assume he'll tell us if Calvin Coolidge had a bigger schlong than John Quincy Adams. Back with us once again to shed some

needed light on old thing Shemp is the Vermeer of the Borscht Belt and the artist formerly known as Jewdots, our pal Drew Friedman. Thank you, Gilbert. Thank you, Frank. Thank you, Drew. It's great to be back. I have a question for Groucho. Yes. And let me get this one out of the way.

No time is wasted. Let me get this one out of the way. Groucho, why did you fuck Richard Pryor up the ass? Because Chico needs the money Thank you I always wondered That's a nice icebreaker Now, is Mad Magazine really gone?

I don't know what to make of that It seems to be gone I just got a new issue a few weeks ago Gilbert's not raiding the supply room for free issues No! Something is wrong. Well, they moved to Los Angeles, so unless you want to fly out there for free issues.

67 years. I'm not buying that they're gone. I just don't get that sense. They just sent me a pile of issues. I know. I was surprised by reading it here. Yeah. You just learned about that.

Yeah. Okay. I'm very surprised. Our pal Al Jaffe Is going strong At 97 97 Jesus

He'll be 98 in March I believe How about that I don't know if he's drawing anymore I'd probably not He's a little shaky Yeah You know with these guys

They get a little Like Charles Schultz Got a little shaky towards him Yeah And David Levine So they you know Somebody has to convince them to stop Gilbert loved having Al

On the show didn't you Oh great He had great stories He's a sweet He's a sweet wonderful guy I know he's become a friend So somebody has to convince them to stop. Gilbert loved having Al on the show, didn't you? Great. He had great stories. He's a sweet, wonderful guy. I know he's become a friend. He's a sweet guy. He did an introduction to my book, Heroes of the Comics. He gave that story that was the most chilling story.

The one about his mom and then closing the gate at the train station. What was it, Lithuania? Yeah, he wrote a whole book about that, about coming over to this country as a kid. Oh, very. But he was funny and he had talent, so he went to the High School of Music and Art and met Will Elder and Harvey Kurtzman, those guys, and the rest was history.

It's a great American success story. A lot of those guys are still with us. Not a lot, some of them. Well, DeBartolo's still around, Arnie Kogan, Frank Jacobs is still around. Sergio Argonis is still around. Drucker. The younger ones, and Mort Drucker is still around. Angelo Torres.Bartolo's still around. Arnie Kogan. Frank Jacobs is still. Sergio Argonis is still around. Drucker. The younger ones.

And Mort Drucker is still around. Angelo Torres. Mort Drucker's still around. I don't think I got a call. I don't think I've mentioned this before on air. But a reporter from the New York Times called me and said, Drew, I'm writing Mort Drucker's obituary. Could you give me a few lines? I said, oh, shit. Mort Drucker died? This was. Could you give me a few lines? I said,

Oh shit. Mort Drucker died. This was like two years ago. Yeah. He goes, Oh no, no. We write those in advance.

I said, Oh, okay. So I gave him some, I talked about Mort, how special he is, what a hero he is to me and everything, how wonderful he is.

And then, you know, he thanked me and everything. And then afterwards I saw it was really, I think I said some good stuff. It's like, I'm looking forward to seeing that in print and then i had to say like no shit i don't want more to die so you know like i don't mean that you know i was torn you were torn yeah how old is mort mort was born 1929 so that puts him at at 91 91 but he doesn't draw either i think he um you know he

doesn't see so good you befriended the great jack davis too well yeah we did a whole talk and i asked him questions that he didn't really know how to answer because i wanted to ask him about if he had met people he had drawn over the years and if he was a fan so i asked him are you are you a fan of the monkeys because he drew them many times and he said, no, no, I didn't particularly like them. He was a sweet Southern gentleman. And mostly he cared about watching football and playing golf, you know? So,

and getting out on the, yeah, he got out on the golf course at two o'clock every afternoon. He just wanted to wrap up his work. So I said, are you a Howard Stern fan? Cause he used to draw Howard for it for WNDC. He goes,

no, not a fan. I said, how about Don Imus? He said, no, not a fan. So I said, how about Homer and Jethethro because he did a ton of their cover he said no never liked them so you know

i were it was like during the 60s every other movie poster yeah was designed by jack davis that's true yeah it was a golden era starting with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It was the first one he did. And then I think he also did If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium. Oh, he did. Oh, oh, The Night They Rated,

Minsky. Yes, he did. Oh, yeah, that one. No, he didn't actually. That was Frank Frazetta. Yeah. It was? I know that poster.

Yeah, that was Frazetta. Interesting. He drew Frazetta. Frazetta painted that. That's a beautiful poster. I thought that was Davis too. 1968. And Burt Lahr is in the original poster, but Burt Lahr died before the film came out.

So they took him out of the poster and put in this British comic who's also in the movie. I forget his name offhand. But he had to be removed. But I have both versions, the Burt Lahr version. And then you could see they replaced Burt Lahr's face with this other guy. And who was it that used to draw the border art, like the edge of the pages? Oh, well, Harvey Kurtzman did the original border art for Mad. Is that what you're thinking?

Yeah, like those tiny cartoons. It was Harvey Kurtzman. Then later on, Sergio Agones did some. That's sort of in your doodling style, Gilbert. Yeah. Those little tiny figures. Yeah. You've seen his doodles.

I love him. I wanted to get a book of your work published. Yeah. I'm a fan of graphics and I was pushing for it and I hope it still happens. Yeah. But you have to do more. I think there's only 20 drawings. Yes.

You have to expand a little bit. Gilbert, expand your portfolio. When you retire and move to Florida, you'll have more time like that. Exactly. Oh, this isn't. Oh, go ahead. I would like to do a forward to that book when you finally do it. Absolutely.

Now, if that's enough to get you working on new work. It's interesting. It's interesting, before the show started here, in the men's room, both me and Drew, with our dicks out, peeing in the urinals, and this is absolutely true. Drew says to me, so when Rondo Hatton, he was discovered by a guy in his hometown who was a movie maker. by a guy in his hometown who was a movie maker. And we got into a Rondo where they're holding our dicks and peeing and talking about Rondo Hatton's career. Well, first of all, I was jerking off because we... But Gilbert and I have known each other... Gilbert and I have known each other...

Go on, tell the backstory to people who haven't heard of the show. We've known each other for about 40 years. And when we see each other, we just launch into talking about, you know, usually old horror movie actors. Yes. Like George Zucko or Onslow talking about, you know, usually old horror movie actors. Yes. Like George Zucko or Onslow Stevens or, you know, more obscure ones. Or Bela Lugosi, of course.

Yeah. Or Lon Chaney Jr. especially. But we just, like, naturally just segue into that as if, like, we've been talking, like, for the last, you know, like, week or so. Lionel Atwell. Yeah, Lionel Atwell, of course. And also, Drew lived about a block and a half from my mother. In the East Village? Yeah.

So I'd visit my mother, and then on the way home, I'd stop off. And this was always the same thing. He'd answer the door. Neither one of us would say hello to each other. I'd sit down on the couch, and you'd put in some movies. I had a VCR. Watch The Indestructible Man. Gilbert, do you have a VCR yet?

Yes, I just... Okay, they come in handy. But I had a VCR in the early 80s. So you'd stop by Unannounced and take off your coat and sit down and we'd watch The Manster or The Haunted Strangler or our favorite Lon Chaney Jr. film where he plays the convict who comes back to life. Oh, the

indestructible. Right. And we'd sit there in silence and watch these films. We didn't communicate. No. No. Like two mental cases. And then Kathy would come home from work and she'd say to me, what is he doing here? He's Richard Deacon. I'd have to put his coat back on him and send

them back to his mother's apartment. And then I'd get Deacon I'd have to put his coat back on him and send them back to his mother's apartment and then I'd get back I'd get up without saying goodbye to each other and I'd just leave there was hardly any communication we'd just watch these movies because I had a little collection and the Jew dots

is when we were both working for National Lampoon those were the unfunny years and that's when they welcomed us in to become regulars When we were both working for National Lampoon. That's right. Those were the unfunny years. Yes. Yes. And that's when they welcomed us in. Yes. To become regulars. We became heroes there.

That's right. Yeah. Finally, when the magazine, they passed, it was an editorial decision, I believe. Okay, what should we do now? Let's make the magazine unfunny. Yes. Let's not run any humor in it. And that's when Gilbert and I finally became.

Right before the padlock. Well, then it moved on to, you know, God knows what happened. Jim Jamiro. And I'd be doing articles. And then I would see, like, Drew walk in with his art boards and his latest drawings. And he used to make, like, the shading and dots, millions of little dots. And so I used to start screaming, Jew dots! Did you bring some of your Jew dots here?

That's true. That's true. That's how that started. Not taunt me, but follow me around screaming Jew dots. Yes! Jew dots! Jew dots! Okay, what's your point? Yeah, show us some more of screaming Jew dots. Yes. Jew dots. Jew dots. It's like, okay, what's your point?

Yes. Show us some more of your Jew dots. And, yeah, that was, but now, because of your eyesight, you're doing shading rather than dots. I'm actually doing more dots. Weirdly, I'm kind of reverting back to the dots, but with a brush. Oh, okay. It's an interesting process, but I'm actually brushing them on so that like more faded i mean it's just like uh a revolving process where i'm returning to that so you can you know revise that it's fine

yes but i do have another question for groucho okay yes groucho why did you murder Jimmy Hoffa? Because Chico needed the money. He was a gambler, right? Chico likes to gamble. And he would lose money gambling. Because you either won money or lost. And Chico would. So Chico needed some money. So I had to kill Jimmy Hoffa.

I'm going to do a segue here since you brought up Jimmy Hoffa. We talked on the phone and you said you had a story that's connected to the Irishman. Well, first of all, Kathy and I love the Irishman. We've watched it four times. Did you finish it, Gil? No. He started it. We got to watch

this second half. Well, do you have Netflix? No, we have... I even have a copy of it. Oh, okay. Well, it's worth watching. You know, it's long. It's three and a half hours.

Yeah. De Niro never sounds Irish for a second. Right. But he's great. And Pacino, you know, it's like Pacino won us over first time it's like

okay he's doing a kind of comedy midwestern shick and he's so Italian he's playing an Irish German guy looks nothing like Jimmy Hoffa

no not really except he's short they made Nicholson look like him a little and Joe Pesci's absolutely amazing I think you know

it's like but you know we love the film we keep discovering new things about it and everything but one of the particular reasons I loved it so much is because there's a sequence that features the murder of Joey Gallo.

Yeah. Where the character takes responsibility. So I'm just going to cut back to the late 60s. The actor Jerry Orbach was in one of my dad's plays. They stayed close. Yeah. The actor Jerry Orbach was in one of my dad's plays. They stayed close. So in the early 70s, Jerry Orbach and his wife used to host these parties in New York in their apartment in a beautiful brownstone in the Murray Hill area. And they invited my parents and us, my two brothers and I, to the party, to the first party in the early 70s. And David Steinberg was there.

It was like celebrities and friends. It was a beautiful brownstone. So my brothers and I gravitated up to the third floor where It was like celebrities and friends. It was beautiful brownstone. So my brothers and I gravitated up to the third floor where there was this great pool table. And so we started like, we didn't know what we were doing, but we started playing with the pool table, shooting pool. And this guy was standing there, this little guy, not very tall, kind of like nondescript.

He looked like Hector Elizondo without the toupee. And he had a big mole on his cheek. And he came up and he says, hey, my name is Joey. I'd like to show you guys how to play pool. And we thought, oh, okay, great. So he worked with us, showing us how to chalk the cue and shoot, shoot. Crazy Joe. Well, he just seemed like such the sweetest guy. And he was just fussing on us. And he learned our names. And he said, my name is Joey. And so it was just great. And on us and he like learned our names and he said my name is joey

and you know so it was just great and then i went down to the kitchen he was down in the kitchen with the women like uh jerry orbach's wife marta my mother i think marta's mother was there other women and he was like chopping onions he was helping them set up food it was just like the sweetest guy and he was just like you know know, keeping to himself basically. But the next day, you know, we lived in Great Decks. So we drove home. So the next day I went up to my, after school, I went up to my dad's office and the rule was if you hear him typing, my dad was a writer, is a writer, you don't go in his office because that means he's working. But he wasn't typing. So I walked in and he says, Drew, what'd you think of that guy last night, Joey? I said, he seemed like a nice guy he goes did you know he's

a he's a gangster his name is joey galley he's killed people i was like 12 then i said really and i was impressed it was like yeah yeah i liked him even more yeah it's like really he says yeah he said you know i was just curious what you thought i said my father wasn't that thrilled with the idea that we were socializing with joey galley because we got invited back to more parties oh joey galley was always there the same. He would just fuss on us, especially my younger brother Kip, who was really little at the time. Joey was really helping him out, especially. Finally, Joey Gallo invited my parents and us to dinner. My dad, who was friends with Mario Puzo, they were old friends. They were talking on the phone my dad mentioned that to mario puso he says what do you think he invited us to dinner and mario puso just

said that's not intelligent so it didn't happen and just a couple of months later joey gallo was killed at you know at the clam bar yeah umbardo's clam bar yeah it's in the movie right yeah that's in the movie well done yeah they used to call him crazy joe the actor in the movie. Well done. Yeah, they used to call him Crazy Joe. The actor in the movie didn't really look like the Joey Gallo I knew. Well, nobody in that movie looks like him. Not really, yeah. It's true. And I heard with Robert De Niro, even when they try to make him look young, he's walking around hunched over. Yeah, there's some scenes.

He's supposed to be 20. He's beating up a guy in front of a store, and you can see he's an older man. He's 75. You see he's an older man. When he's kicking the guy. Yeah, a store, and you can see he's an older man. He's 75. You see he's an older man. When he's kicking the guy. Yeah, he's kicking the guy, and he's kind of holding his hands tight. You can see he's an older man. Right.

You got to go with it. I know. He never looked. I never bought the de-aging. I love the film, and I think it's just such a great comedy, too. I mean, there's just so much funny stuff, especially the Jimmy Hoffa, Provenzano stuff, where they're screaming at each other like children, and then they're rolling around on the floor trying to kill each other.

You mentioned Steinberg. I think Steinberg was the best man at Joey's wedding. I think he told that on this podcast. They probably met at Jerry Orbach's apartment. David Steinberg, the comic. David Steinberg also wrote a show about the Marx Brothers

in the late 60ss before he was famous. And I think he presented the script to Groucho. This was before Minnie's Boys. And Groucho didn't like the script, I don't think. Interesting. And then, of course, Groucho, when they were doing Minnie's Boys, they wanted to cast Toadie Fields as Minnie. And Groucho was dead set against that.

They wound up with Shelley Winters. They proposed Shelley Winters. Groucho was happy with that because he liked her big jugs. I've never seen Minnie's Boys. I saw it when I was 11. And I loved it. But what did I know? But Groucho was in the audience because he was the consultant on the show.

So my mother and father took us to see the show. It wasn't a hit. It was a flop. But it ran for a few months. But Groucho was sitting in the audience at every performance, you know, in the fourth row. So I like, you know, intermission, I went through people's legs just to get up to him and presented my playbill, which he signed, which I still have.

And that's my first encounter with Groucho. One of several. Yeah. And he was 80, 80 at the time. And he, well, he hadn't had any strokes yet. So he was still like on top of several. Yeah, and he was 80 at the time, and he hadn't had any strokes yet, so he was still on top of things. Somebody told us, and I can't remember which guest it was, told us a very funny story about, it was Ron Friedman. No relation.

No relation, but check, there's a great story about Shelly Winters and Minnie's Boys, which I won't go into here, but check out that episode. Louis J. Stadlin, who played Groucho. He's still around. Yeah, he's the son of Alan swift um he hated shelly winters he said she was just the most unpleasant person to work with and you know like not surprising no i mean she was like you know uh but you know the the review i remember that show it wasn't a very good show none of the music was good but i think one of the times reporter clive barnes or the reviewer said you know the show just when it would start getting off the ground with like marks brothers routine routines like being revived shelly winters would enter and gummo up the works

oh did you hear our interview with bill marks yes yeah so he got to see started singing spontaneously hello i must be going i've talked to him a couple of times. Nice guy. Very sweet guy. I remember, I'll never forget someone telling me they saw Minnie's Boys, and they said, at one point, something happened in the audience, and a guy playing Groucho started ad-libbing, and I'm thinking, I'll bet you if you go,

you could probably time your watch, too, when he starts ad-libbing in the play. I would imagine. But you have to think that he felt under pressure, because Groucho Marx himself would be sitting in the audience. Oh, it had to be. Practically throughout its entire run, and this Louis J. Stadlin, who was very good as Groucho, was up there with Groucho looking at him. Like, what must he have been going through?

He wrote an autobiography. I didn't read it. But I always wondered about that. I think Peter Rieger was in that show. He was in one of the productions. He was in one of the productions. Oh, he was Chico. Playing Chico.

Yeah. That's right. He took the part over. I think Uncle Floyd auditioned for Chico for the original production. I think he was 17 at the time. He didn't get it. But they had revivals of that over the years. Kay Ballard was in one revival, like, as Minnie.

It's like all these miscast actresses. Yeah. And it just wasn't, I mean, there's no memorable songs from it. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast after this. Baseball is finally back. Get in on Major League action and swing for the fences with BetMGM, the king of sportsbooks. Log in or sign up to play along as BetMGM brings the real-time action.

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When summer brings the heat, McDonald's brings the chill. During summer drink days, enjoy a small iced coffee or a refreshing coca-cola for one dollar plus tax and step up your summer today at participating mcdonald's restaurants in canada prices exclude delivery so you're a zeppo guy make a case for zeppo oh you know it's like well first of all you know because we're only we're only in those great paramounts and so you know it's just like if you go to see those revivals people really cheer when Zeppo's name comes up at the beginning. I think mainly because those are the best films, those five films. Yeah.

So it just feels good to see Zeppo. There's also a dynamic. Because you know he's gone by the time they go to MGM and beyond. There's a dynamic with the four of them that they didn't recapture with the three of them. There's something nice about it. Those films are, I think, the best written. You know, Coconut's maybe a little slow because it was kind of creaky. But it still works.

Coconuts, still funny. I agree. And, you know, practically my favorite film is Monkey Business. That's not every Marx Brothers fan's favorite, but I think that's my favorite. Maybe because Bobby Barber's in it. Yeah. He had a frog in his head. I'm a duck soup man.

Yeah, most people are. Yeah. And Duck Soup was the last of Paramount. But, you know, when the Marx Brothers, after duck soup, well, I always thought Night at the Opera was the beginning of the end for them. Yeah. Because they were slowing down in there. It was making sense why they were doing things. Yeah, they were heroes.

Yeah. And they were sticking up for Kitty Carlyle or Maureen O'Sullivan and the other one. And also the musical interludes were really getting annoying. Well, they weren't anarchists anymore. Not really. What was David, the producer? Thalberg.

Thalberg, who Groucho loved. He adored. He said, those are the best films. They also made money. They were profitable. They were huge hits. One of the reasons Groucho loved. He adored. He said, like, you know, those are the best films. They also made money. They were profitable. They were huge hits. One of the reasons Groucho liked them. And they were big MGM stars, and they were making more money.

And Chico played poker with Thalberg. You know, so they were really tight with him. So when, you know, you know all this. When Thalberg died, they were kind of, like, set adrift at MGM. Yeah. And Mayer hated them. He didn't get them. He didn't get the Marx Brothers.

You know, it wasn't his kind of humor. So it was kind of over. But you know, Chico needed the money. I heard Chico needed the money. And I heard

that at one point Nat Hyken said he wanted to write a Marx Brothers movie which I think would have been great. It would have been great. And also Billy Wilder wanted to make a Marx Brothers. The Marx Brothers at the UN. Later on, you know, it probably wouldn't have turned out very well because it was like they were old at that point.

It was after the story of mankind. So, you know, just imagine. Or the great Jewel Rock. Oh, those were hard to watch. Those were scary. So since you've alluded to it and you've told the stories before, but tell us again quickly about the other two meetings with Groucho because they're worth hearing. And he was a fan of your dad's, right? I mean, your dad was a—

You know, my first encounter, I was 11 at Minnie's Boys. And I didn't meet him. I just went up to him and people were just getting autographs. So my dad was invited to a party at this jimmy's supper club which was a popular supper club and we'll remind our listeners who don't know that your dad is bruce j friedman right the celebrated humorist so he was in the teacher there was a party for teacher scotch teacher scotch through the party because they were hiring old comedians oh i do ads yes i remember they got jessel and they got George Burns and then

Groucho all of a sudden did an ad for Teacher Scotch. And so the Jimmy's Supper Club hosted a party for Groucho and my dad somehow got invited. This is late 1972. So my dad mentioned it to me and brought me. So Groucho was there with Aaron Fleming and we approached him and Groucho had just seen The Heartbreak Kid, which was based on my dad's short story. And he knew it. I mean, he knew my dad was connected. He said, I just saw your film, The Heartbreak Kid.

And it was really wonderful. You know, so he was just, you know, he was pleasant. He had already had some strokes. He was slowed down. But that was basically it. Aaron Fleming was with him. But Aaron Fleming liked my dad. In fact, I think she had a little crush on him. So, cause, um, cause a couple of years later she invited, uh, my dad and

my, my, my, myself and my two brothers to Groucho's house. This is 1975. So Groucho would have, would have been 75, um, to his house for the whole day in, in Hollywood is like that modern house he had up in the Hollywood Hills. So I would have been 16. So we spent the whole day at Gr hollywood is like that modern house he had up in the hollywood hills so i would have been 16 so we spent the whole day at groucho's house you know like and it was interesting because like there were famous people coming in and out like elliot gould and sally kellerman dennis wilson came in and you know it's like people were kind of like saying hi to grouch and then disappearing in the back and my theory is that there was cocaine being offered back in the back. So that's what was luring all these young Hollywood types.

Bud Cort. Yeah, all those types you've read about that used to hang out at Groucho's house are always there, regulars. But Dennis Wilson was there, and he comes in. I was just like, basically, I was just like staring at Groucho when I was there throughout the whole day, just staring at him and thinking in my head, I'm probably the luckiest kid in the entire world right now at this moment. You know, just like looking at Groucho and, you know, he was singing his songs and everything. Aaron Fleming was doing the Margaret, you know. Dumont part. And so Dennis Wilson walks in.

It's like, oh, cool. And he goes up to Groucho and says, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir. And Groucho looks at him. He has no idea who he is. He looks up and he goes, well, it ought to be. And then a guy comes in and he comes up to Groucho. He goes, my name is Mark. And Groucho looks at him and goes, what's your first name?

Trade? How old would he have been at this point? Groucho was 85. 85. Keep track of the 20th century because Groucho was born in 1890. So in 1930, Groucho was 40 and so on. So in 1970, Groucho was 80. 1975, he was 85.

He died two years later. But he was really slowed down, but he liked kids. He liked young kids. That's what I heard. He fussed on my brothers and I. And I sat there and I watched him eat his lunch. And he was dribbling cream chicken down his chin. And his nurse had to wipe it off.

And then we put him to bed. We actually put him to bed. Because he had to go to bed early. But before he went to bed, he wanted to watch the latest episode of You Bet Your Life, which had just come back in syndication. So they were airing it around 7.30 every night in Los Angeles. So he wanted to watch that.

So we took him into his bedroom and he got in his pajamas and we hugged him goodnight. You had the Alice Cooper role because he used to put him to bed. Right, right. So he had to go to bed early. He was a sick old man,

but he wanted to watch. He had to watch You Bet Your Life first, which was like a nice memory. The first time I met Ron Deltznerner we hadn't had him on the podcast yet uh he we hadn't we barely got introduced to each other and he said to me about you know he helped produce uh groucho at carnegie hall and he said delzner says to me he goes you know uh this aaron fleming used to blow groucho and and he goes end of the sweet story yes and what What's his name? Oh, fuck, the composer. Marvin Hamlis.

Marvin Hamlis. And he goes, and Marvin Hamlis had a shot at her, too. Oh, my God. Well, she was. I got to draw that. There you go. She was in the cover of. She was in the Woody Allen film.

She's in, I think, everything you always want to know about sex. Yeah, she's nude in that, I think, or topless or something. She was a strange woman. Like I said, she liked my dad, so I think she was flirting with him. And she wanted us to... The conclusion of the Groucho story, visiting Groucho, is like, we went home. We were staying in Malibu. My dad was working in Malibu that summer. We were staying in Malibu. My dad was working in

Malibu that summer. We were staying at his house, my brothers and I. And then the next day, Aaron Fleming called my dad and said, Groucho really loved having you. He'd like to invite you back to the house next week because Mae West is coming to the house. They haven't seen each other for 35 years since they both worked at Paramount. So my dad got off the phone and said, guys, Aaron would like us to come back next week to see Groucho and Mae West. And we kind of looked at each other and said, eh, we had enough Groucho. That's my favorite.

That's probably my main regret in life. Yeah. I didn't witness that. Wow. Or meet Mae West. Yeah, that would have been interesting. But there's some photos of that meeting. But we could have been interesting. But, you know, there's some photos, you know, of that meeting. But, you know, we could have been there.

So I do regret that. And I heard with Alice Cooper that he said somewhere that, or he was saying it, that at one of his concerts, Groucho came there with Mae West. And they watched the show together. Remember Shep Gordon told us that Alice used to crawl into bed with Groucho came there with Mae West and they watched the show together remember Shep Gordon told us that Alice used to crawl into bed with Goucho

and watch TV yeah they did a whole book called The Revival of the Book Beds you know which Goucho wrote in the early 30s

but all these celebrities like Burt Reynolds and Carol O'Connor and Sally Struthers and Alice Cooper just posing in bed with Goucho for these photo sessions

I think a lot of them were in People Magazine but I do posing in bed with Groucho for these photo sessions. I think a lot of them were in People magazine. But I do have another question for Groucho. Okay. Groucho, why did you pressure the new president of the Ukraine to announce an investigation into the Bidens? Because Chico needs a man. That explains it.

I don't think you need to be impeached. Did you stay up all night coming up with these? All night? Actually, the middle of the night. So you were telling us when Rondo Hatton first noticed, or you were telling me when we had our dicks out, when Rondo H hadn't first... You have a massive dick.

Is that ever discussed? It's enormous. I mean... Yeah, he doesn't get enough credit. You talk about Milton Berle and Hunt's Hall. Guy Marks. And Eddie Fisher and Guy Marks. Yeah.

And Forrest Tucker especially. Gilbert's right up there. It's like a devil's log. You know, he's very modest. But I gotta look. Yes. My dick is stretched out into the other room right now. It's in a different...

It's like a frozen banana. It's another zip code. It's incredible. That's why we need zip. It's like a frozen banana. It's another zip code. It's incredible. That's why we need two... You shouldn't be so modest. We need two studios. I can see that. They keep moving us into bigger studios here to accommodate. It's very impressive.

You know, I brought up Rondo. I mean, I would normally bring him up anyway, but there's this new book out about Rondo, the first biography of him, that I did the cover for and I wrote the afterword to the book. And it's a terrific book. And it's got amazing details and photographs in it. And, you know, to me, one of the interesting things is that Rondo was a respected journalist in Florida early in his life. I didn't know this.

He was a newspaper man. And, you know, I was talking to Gilbert about how Rondo got into the movies, but there was a director named, I think, Henry King, who came to Florida to make a film. And Rondo was already suffering from the acromegaly. Acromegaly, yeah. His head was getting more distorted.

And he looked, you know, very, he had an interesting face, of course. And it hadn't got, you know, he was gassed in World War I. So, you know, it was just catching up with him. But this director just like took, you know, took an interest. Because he was, Rondo was interviewing the director. And the director said, Henry King said, you know, I'd like you to have a little part in this film as a bouncer.

You know, because you have an amazing face. And so he took the part. And he said, look, if you ever want to come to Hollywood, you know, I'll use you. And I'll get you more work. And that's when R want to come to Hollywood, you know, I'll use you, and I'll get you more work. And that's when Rondo Hatton finally went to Hollywood. Rondo, of course, is the actor, the horror movie actor, who didn't wear makeup. And became the Creeper.

Became the Creeper later on, died fairly young. But Universal, he was like the top. Thanks to you and Josh, your brother Josh, I learned what acromegaly was. Thank you. In the heartbreak of acromegaly. Oh, see, I grew up on those monster movies you knew yeah yeah when i was a kid i knew because well i was like the main well not just rondo hatton but also uh the

oh tarantula with leo j leo g carroll right about that had to do with acromegaly. That's right. Very good. Then they called it acromegalia in that movie. Well, I think you and I were children, and that was like the one disease we knew about, because Rondo Hatton had it. Yes. Yeah.

So it was like famous monsters of film land would actually, like Rondo Hatton. He claims the British actor from The Jeffersons. Yes. Had acromegaly. Paul Benedict. Yes. I had heard Paul Benedict was doing a play interesting and he got a note they said oh there's a doctor in the audience who wants to meet you and he thought

oh he wants an autograph or whatever and he went there and he said uh i i think i'd like to examine you because i think you may have acromegaly. And I think you did. I believe he did. The heartbreak of acromegaly. I believe he did. The heartbreak, yeah. Well, you rub a cream on it and it goes away. Name one other podcast in the world that's talking about acromegaly right now.

Have you heard of this, Daniel? Do you have any idea? Do you know Rondo Hatton is? No. Oh, you've got stuff to Google tonight, my friend. See see so you're not as big a monster fan as we are because when you're a monster kid that's the first thing i always love that story you told when you went we were going to school and the teacher said that's a great name a famous person with the initials take it yes yes the teacher was uh doing a game I think I was in the first grade or maybe even kindergarten.

And the teacher was doing a game like, I'm going to give you initials and you'll name a fame. And she goes like, you know, M.M., Mickey Mouse, B.H., Bob Hope. And then she says, O.S. And I'm a little kid. And I scream out excitedly, Onslow Stevens. Because he played the mad scientist in House of Dragon. Did she accept Onslow Stevens as an answer? Was she a fan of that film?

Yeah. She was confused. Satisfactory answer. She was probably a Glenn Strange fan. But that's pretty obscure. Because he might have been the only horror film he was ever in. Maybe one. I think so. But he was really good in that.

He was good. The movie's a mess. He was like a sweet guy who became slowly insane. Yeah, the movies. I mean, I loved it. We loved it when we were kids. But House of Dracula, House of Frankenstein, you know, it's like they're asking a lot. Teaming all those monsters up in one film. And it's like they always seem, those two movies, like, okay,

first you had a little mini Dracula film. He gets killed. Then there's a mini Wolfman film. You move on to that. And it ends with Frankenstein being a total idiot. It's true. And blowing up the world. At least Abbott and Custell will meet Frankenstein being a total idiot. It's true. And blowing up the world.

At least Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. It was a comedy. And they didn't like, you know, it was like they were all, they involved all three of the monsters throughout the film. I thought Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein was an improvement. Yes, it was. On the house. It was well written and well acted. And plus, you know, they played it not for laughs, the monsters.

Get on these things. Not really. Although Glenn Strange does that like Herman Munster laugh at one point or it's like that yell I mean I think Fred Gwynn might have gotten it

from that oh yeah where he's startled by Luke Hustler yeah and then of course you have Vincent Price at the end

as the invisible man a little bonus so it's like I think of what my favorite film might be and that might be it yeah over the years.

This is a good opportunity to thank Mike Herman, listener Mike Herman, for that great gift that you got last week. Oh, yes. Speaking of Chaney Jr. Yes. Did you get a one sheet? I got a movie poster of Lon Chaney Jr. Indestructible Man. Wow. Yeah.

And you know who else is in Indestructible Man? Yeah, yeah. The man with two names. The man with two names? Yeah, the guy who plays the reporter, the narrator. He had two names. Oh, what was... Oh, the detective.

Bernie Casey. Casey Adams. And Max Showalter. That's right. Isn't Inspector Henderson in The Indestructible Man? He's in it. Robert Shane. Yes, he is.

And Flynn is in it from McHale's Navy. Joe Flynn. That's right. Joe Flynn is the assistant mad scientist. Is Richard Deacon in that? I forget. No, he should have been. This is so thrilling to see those guys pop up in some of those films. Oh, great.

And you know what's funny? When you see, well, by then he was Bernie, he was Casey Adams already, I think. Yeah. He was originally Max Showalter. Did he become more successful when he switched over to Casey Adams? Did that get him more parts? When he switched over to Casey Adams, did that get him more parts? Well, I think they thought, like, Max Showalter, aside from being harder to spell, sounded too German.

Makes sense. But when he, you know, you would never know from that film that he was so good at comedy. Yeah. Because he started playing these goofy parts. He was. He was very versatile. Like William Wyndham. It reminded me of him. William Wyndham. It reminded me of him. William Wyndham.

What we love. Yeah. Scott Alexander just sent out that thing today. The every guest star in the history of the show canon. Canon, yeah. It's just people care. I got to send it to Gilbert. I haven't read that yet.

It's a goldmine. You know. But, you know, we watched. William Wyndham turns up. Kathy and I watched the complete Columbo, you know, box set. Yeah. They're great aren't they? And it's like amazing to see the guest stars who pop up on that. Yeah. These 70s actors. Has been actors and people who are likebo you know box set yeah they're great aren't they amazing to see the guest stars who pop up on that

these 70s actors has been actors and people who are like you know people we've had here Dick Van Dyke Lee Grant yeah

Dick Van Dyke was the photographer Robert Culp he's gone right Robert Culp was gone before we started John Cassavetes is there and he's like

some people are doing it that's a good one that's right and he's doing it because he's good friends with Peter Falk obviously Jack Cassidy

yeah a couple of times oh twice I Peter Falk, obviously. Jack Cassidy. Yeah. A couple of times. Oh, twice I think Cassidy was on. And with Cassidy, he plays a magician on that. And he killed someone. And at the end, Cassidy, when he's found out, Columbo exposes him. And he's found out and he's going to jail he goes

I thought I had committed the perfect murder and Peter Falk says there's no such a thing sir it's just an illusion nice we will return to Gilbert Gottfried's

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I want to ask you about another one of your obsessions because it's well-timed. It's the 50th anniversary of the Odd Couple TV series. It's also Walter Matthau's 100th birth year and Tony Randall's. That's all very exciting. I was just talking to a friend about Tony Randall the other day. Did you know he was a nude model? No. Yes, he was. Lenny Rosenberg?

He was. He was a nude model for art classes back in the 40s. And there's a photo of him online and if you don't believe me, just go online and Google it. Tony Randall nude. He had a huge schlong. Oh my God. Who would have thought it?

Dish? Yes, go online right now. Yeah. Well, this is- Yes, it's all very exciting. We're going to put the show on hold the odd couple 50th anniversary we're more of a fan of the odd couple the revivals i know but you're obsessed and it's on your blog you know you post these various well some of the cast you must have

something to say about that scary odd couple tv movie after jack Klugman had his vocal cords taken out. You know, at the time, I thought it was not a good decision. No. But I think the Black Odd Couple was even more disturbing. Ron Glass. Damone Wilson and Ron Glass. Damone Wilson, yeah. Did that last more than a couple of weeks?

And they just were repeating the scripts from the White Odd Couple. Like I said, I'm fascinated by these revivals of the odd couple from over the years and these other productions. Oh, the women odd couples. They did a few of those versions. But they also did, there was a version with Don Rickles and Ernest Borgnine. Yep, I wrote it down. In Las Vegas. Yeah.

It was directed by Danny Simon, Neil Simon's brother. Can you imagine? And Don Rickles played Felix and Ernie Borgnine played Oscar. But there's a lot of weird productions like that over the years. Jan Murray did it. Jackie Coogan. Yeah. Eddie Bracken did one with Klugman.

Yep. And some of them, the original cast was Art Carney and Walter Matthau. And Matthau was not nice to Art Carney. Art Carney was a drinker and Walter Matthau didn't like that. He didn't feel he was professional enough. So he would badger him. And Art Carney actually had a stroke while they were doing it on Broadway in 66. And then I think Matthau lobbied not to have Art Carney in the film version,

and he wanted Jack Lemmon in the film version. That's interesting. The story I heard is that, because at time jack lemon was a bigger was the big star movie star yeah and the studio said we want you we're making the odd couple into a movie and he said and they said now we just need to find an actor to play felix because they thought Oscar was the media role and that Lemon should play him. And Lemon said, no, Matthau should do it. Yeah. Weird because, you know, Matthau played Oscar on Broadway.

Matthau won the Oscar for The Fortune Cook. So he was really becoming a big movie star. So he had clout. But he lobbied not to have Art Carney in the movie version. There was another version which never happened. But but imagine this and it was announced in the newspapers marlon brando and wally cox and they had a scene where they fucking emphasis on couples but that would have been fast that i didn't know about when they were when brando there was an interview with brando in in like 1968 and he was speculating about doing this production in Los Angeles.

So that would have been special. I wish to God it had been made. Carney came back and did it with Don Knotts, which is on your blog. Yeah, they switched roles. Like Don Knotts played Felix, and Art Carney came back and played Oscar. I guess he could. You know, in a dinner theater production in the mid-70s. So I have all these playbills and articles.

They're on Drew's blog. And his blog, The Otter Couples. And you know what added more horror to the horror of the vocal cordless Jack Klugman doing that version of the... Is that they had a whole bunch of different card players. And it's like, you go, no, no,

we want to see the card players who we know from the series. Yeah. Most of them were probably deceased, but there was a Broadway production, a one night production done for charity with Oscar, with, you know, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall playing the original play.

They did it to raise money for, for Randall's theater fund. So the co-stars, the card players, that was the interesting part that night because they had Cleavon Little. Oh. I think Vincent Gardenia. Abe Vigoda was one of the card players. Wow. A couple of the, you know, just like, whoa, you know, what a cast, you know?

Here's three people that did this podcast that were in stage productions of the odd couple bernie coppell barbara felden did did a female version and orson bean they would do these versions like like they'd get um bob denver yeah but he was such a big star you know even by the 70s people know from tv that the co-star didn't matter so it was bob denver's name and i was like well who's playing the other guy it didn't matter i think n was Bob Denver's name and I was like, well, who's playing the other guy? It didn't matter. I think Nancy Russell and Phil Foster is my favorite. There were several whack versions. That would have been amazing. Yeah. Now,

you mentioned Jack Klugman and we have to go here. Yeah. I've heard a rumor. I heard a rumor too. Jack Klugman, it's a horrible. Can we talk? Oh no. You know something? If I find something horrible and uncomfortable. You don't want to go there?

Just say it. I can cut it out. We can segue. This has to do with the baby outfit. Not even that. It's even more horrible. If you want to start with Danny Thomas, we can segue into it. And I think applesauce is involved in it, too.

No, scrambled eggs. Ah, yes. Scrambled eggs. You know this. All right, we'll skip it. We'll hold off on that. Here's one thing about The Odd Couple. That Randall, verify this, Randall had done it with Mickey Rooney somewhere along the line

and wanted Mickey Rooney for the series. And Gary Marshall knew of Mickey Rooney's reputation and wanted no part of Mickey Rooney. Yes, they did a production in Las Vegas. Yes, and that's where Klugman came in. Mickey Rooney as Oscar before Tony Randall was in the show. And they also said that when

when Art Carney had the stroke, Matthau said, why did you want to be in the odd couple? And he said, because she needed us. And I don't understand the connection between Art Carney and Jugo. A post-stroke Art Carney sounded like.

It sounded like Groucho. It is amazing. It's a small world. And he was getting a blowjob from Aaron Fleming. Here's two other great pairings. Gig Young and Robert Q. Lewis did it, Gilbert. Oh, God. And Dan Daly and Richard Benjamin.

That's right. Who also did this podcast. 40 years apart. That was a weird one. Yeah, really weird. That was like father and son. Really weird. That's like some of them are.

So was Gig Young Oscar? He must have been. Yeah, Gig Young Oscar? He must have been. Yeah, Gig Young did it a bunch of times. He did one with Robert Q. Lewis. They were teamed up for a while. Just the oddest. That's why my blog is called The Otter Couple. So some of them are unbelievable.

I wish to God this was before everybody carried a camera with them. And I was once booked in this place that was a theater and all around the the other walls in the back room there were these posters of all these different plays with tv actors in it well that would seem to like you knowton. In the 70s, all they had left was doing dinner theater, mainly. That was what they were... When Bob Crane bought the farm, he was doing dinner theater.

Basically, that's what they did, dinner theater. I think Sally Struthers and... Reno Marino. Oh, yes. They were the female odd couple. Joanne Verwerly did one version. There was one with Sandy Dennis and Stella Stevens. Odd couple.

Jeez. Fascinating. I also noticed Last of the Red Hot Lovers is another one of your obsessions on your blog. Yeah, that was another. These Neil Simon plays, even if they weren't very good plays, but they would get revived over and over. The Last of the Red Hot Lovers was one with like, just bizarre. Marvin Kaplan

showed up. Sid Caesar, George Goldworth, Frank Sutton, who you just mentioned. Lou Jacoby. Oh, and I think

James Coco. Very good. He's got that up there. Original production and Alan Arkin was in the movie. Not very good, but they shaved his head

because, you know, the character was supposed to be bald. But wasn't he already bald, Alan Arkin? He was like thinning

maybe a little, but they gave him like, you know, they turned him into Sidney Fields, basically. Yeah. Boys, boys. Now that you've brought up Sidney Fields, go ahead. Before I forget, because, you know, we can't go too long without talking about Lon Chaney Jr. Someone came up to me at a club recently, and they said they bought Lon Chaney Jr.'s

book for me, but they didn't know they'd be seeing me. So if you're out there with Lon Chaney Jr.'s book, please try to mail it to me. I hope you get it. I hope you get it. You wouldn't order it from Amazon, right? No. You want a free copy. No, no.

That's okay. Because if I had a copy, I'd give it to you. I don't have that one. That would be $5. He was writing a book before he died. Oh, A Hundred Years of Cheney's. That didn't come out. And then he has a son or a grandson who dresses up like the Wolfman.

Oh, we had... That's right. Ron Cheney. Nice guy. That's the Chinese Ron Cheney. Ron Cheney. Ron Chaney. Ron Chaney. Speaking of Sidney Fields, what do you know about Bud Abbott's porn collection?

Well, you know, you guys know that there was an FBI file on who had the largest, for some reason, J. Edgar Hoover was obsessed with porn collections. So the largest porn collections supposedly were owned, this is the 1940s, Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, and Red Skelton. Now, Skelton we heard. Yeah. But both, Abbott and Costello both had large porn collections. See, this and this shows how Red Skelton would go out of his way to be the wholesome, God-fearing. Yes.

Yeah, there was nothing. Good night and may God bless you. Yeah, always bringing up God he had the large think about that he had the largest porn collection in Hollywood you know

whatever that says about the man I'm not a you know I've not made it a secret that I'm not necessarily a fan of all the Jewish comedians

I've drawn from my books yes Red Buttons like drives me up the wall I don't get it Aaron Schwartz yeah Aaron Schwartz it's like I'm not a big fan Eddie Cantor has never won drawn from my books yes red buttons like drives me up the wall i don't get it aaron schwatt yeah aaron schwatt yeah it's like i'm not a big fan eddie canter has never has never won me over he

just makes my yes he makes my skin crawl and i now here's another horrible story that drew told me see i love horrible rumors that's all we talk about the ones drew tells me us so fucking disturbing oh we know what the Clark Gable Andy Devine one I like the Clark Gable and the divine disturbing that's kind of warm hearted there was an affection and but according to drew and I'm not gonna believe this There was an affection between these two. But according to Drew, and I'm not going to believe this. I'll believe any other story. I can verify. So what is it?

If you need proof. Drew was saying to me, and fuck you, Drew. I hope you die on the way home for saying this to me. Drew was saying, just fucking have a stroke while you're crossing the street, then get hit, and then be crippled and live a long time.

I'm curious. What is this story? I need to hear it. Go ahead. You know, with sores on your body like in the Bible. Does it involve scrambled eggs? No, you said that Eddie Cantor was fucking Shemp. You know, I hear these things. People tell them to me.

So, of course, I have to repeat them. You know, Shemp was a good-looking guy back in the 20s. He was kind of, you know, he was lean. Regular Tyrone Power. And he had really great hair. He had long hair. He looked like emo Phil. He had emo Phil.

He had, like, beetle haircut. He was, like, kind of... He wasn't married yet to Gertrude. I don't know if this is true, but I heard it, and I think I heard it from a fairly reliable source. I don't remember that source. I'd like to think it's true. And who would the source be that was... Oh, God. You know, I'll have to think about who told me that. Oh, my God. It was a reliable source. I don't remember that source. I'd like to think it's true. And who would the source be that was...

Oh, God. You know, I'll have to think about who told me that. Oh, my God. It was a reliable source. Someone who knew his stuff. Okay. Like, you know... Like Gorodetsky or something?

Yeah, someone who just knew, you know... I didn't doubt. That's why I passed it on to Gilbert. I said, look, chew on this. That's a horrible... Think about this. Yes. But I do have another, chew on this. That's a horrible farmer. Think about this. Yes. But I do have another question for Groucho.

Okay. Groucho, why did you hang Jeffrey Epstein in his prison cell? Because Chico needed some money. Now, I heard when Eddie Cantor and Shemp would fuck, that Eddie Cantor would go, oh, oh, I'm coming. And then Shemp, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Of course. You have that on good authority. That I know for a fact.

Once again, it's something I have to draw just to make it, you know, put it out there. I heard when Curly would come, he'd go,. Where did the Shemp obsession begin? Why Shemp? Yeah, it's like, I don't, you know, people, somebody even said the other day, like, you know, Shemp is my favorite too. I said, look, Shempa's not my favorite. I love them all.

I love Joe Dorito. You do love Joe Dorito. I love Joe Dorito. I adore Joe Dorito. I believe you're lying. In fact, I stare at Joe Dorito. You know, and there's little moves he makes. I was at his wake.

That's right. We've told on the show. Frank was at Joe Dorito's wake. I'm not proud of that. And our friend Mark Newgarden was there, and Mark asked Frank to get in the casket with Joe at one point. He said, why don't you get in the casket with him? I don't know why he didn't. I would have.

No, he wanted to take a picture. Now, you also told me that the only other people at the wake were like gardeners who worked there. It's true. It was sad. It was poorly attended. Mo's son was there, Paul. Jeffrey Scott or the nephew or something. Yeah, and then some Spanish, Mexican gardeners and Frank

was there. Joe Dorita was the only cigar-smoking stooge. Also the only non-Jewish stooge. Yes, yes. That's true. That's right. He was Polish. But I stare at Joe Dorito.

He has his admirers. And if you actually watch the Columbia shorts he made back in the 40s, and this will explain why Mo wanted him to fill in after Crowley died before Shep. He was really good. He was light on his feet. That's what I heard. But there was no evidence of that in any of the three studios. Four shorts directed by Jules White with Christine McIntyre.

They seem like Columbia shorts with a theme song. Mary Lee We Roll Along was the theme song they gave to Joe Dorita. I don't know who the who makes those decisions you know you can say three blind mice made sense for the three stooges because they're three comedians merrily we roll along with joe dorita's theme song but he made these shorts in the late late 40s emil sitka pops up bud jameson vernon dent christine macketh they are like threees shorts, but just Joe Derita. And he's good. He looks like Shemp because he has long hair, parted in the middle, long black hair getting in his face.

And they're basically the same gags they would do in the Three Stooges films. Now, I heard that after all the lawsuits, after Moe died, that curly Joe Dorito wound up with all the money. His sons, as far as I know, his sons control the rights to the Three Stooges now. So if you need to license anything to do with the Three Stooges, you have to go through his sons. That's what I've heard. Who was it that put it in his paperwork, in his contract, that he couldn't be? Was it Dorito?

No, it was Besser. He didn't want to be slapped around. He didn't want to be hit. It was beneath him. Yeah, oh yeah, that was Joe Besser. He finally left the Three Stooges. It was after their Columbia contract ran out. And his excuse was, well, my wife is sick.

His wife was, so I have to get back. His wife lived on another 30 years. I think he just wanted to stop being a Stooges. I think so. That was like the very convenient excuse. But after they left Columbia, they had nothing going on. They were playing state fairs until, you know, the story. Because they started showing the shorts on TV, and they became hugely popular.

And that's what led to the movies and the cartoon show and all that. And the revival. Their full-length movies are scary. They're hard to watch. Yeah. They're not very good. And Norman Moore, their son, Mo's son-in-law was directing them at that point. They're a little hard to watch. I can't even give them moments.

Like Jerry Lewis films, you can say what you will about Jerry and his films, but there are always moments. Yeah. There's always a moment of genius. Yeah, there is. Even if you watch Cinderfella, it's hard going, but there's always a moment of genius. Yeah, there is. Even if you watch Cinderfella, it's hard going. But there's always a moment there like, okay, that doesn't make it worth watching the entire film. But not with the Three Stooges films from the 1960s. They're really tough going.

Yeah. Those are- You're watching old men and Larry, you know, I'm fascinated by Larry. But, you know, but basically like at the end, they were just like fighting amongst themselves. They couldn't even hire villains and stuff. So they're in the kitchen fighting with appliances. And if they did anything physical, if they slapped each other, it's like old men hitting each other. You're worried about them.

You're worried, like, oh, my God. And then you watch Mo on Mike Douglas, and he's really old. Oh, my God. Yes, I saw that. I saw those on YouTube. But he hadn't gotten the memo that, look, you're a seriously old man now. And he was like doing, you know, with Ted Knight, and he's like, they're smacking each other, and he's rolling on the floor. And he died shortly after.

They were doing a thing. He, Mike Douglas, and some other famous actor. I think Soupy Sales was on one of them. Yeah. Somebody. I don't know if it was Soupy, but it was another famous actor. think soupy sales is on one of them yeah uh somebody well i don't know if it was soupy but it was another famous actor and they they uh did the niagara falls yeah and mo was doing a thing where after he would do like the freak out when he hears niagara falls he would do

this thing where he's shaking around yeah like you Like he's going back to normal and he's shaking around and wobbling. And you'd see the looks on the other two guys' faces going, uh-oh, is he having a stroke now? Because it looks like, oh, he's in trouble. And you can watch those on YouTube. You're really concerned because Mo's legs are kind of wobbly. Yes. It's like I thought, you know, I was excited to see Mo Howard or Mike Douglas as much as I was to see John Lennon.

Yes. It was like, how did Mike Douglas get those shows? And do you remember there was a panel in the 70s at one point on the Mike Douglas show. So it was Yoko Ono, Darla Hood, Spanky McFarlane, George Carlin, and Robert Klein. Wow. Robert Klein was the co-host that week. Wow. Robert Klein, I did a talk with him at The Strand recently for my new book, All the Presidents.

Yes. He did a beautiful job. Which we should talk about. But he talked about, you know, he was sitting next to Mike the whole week, and he said when Yoko was sitting there on the panel, Mike Douglas leans into Robert Clyde and says, nice tits on her, huh? So the image of... It stuck with me. But what a panel. I remember when I was a kid watching the Joey Bishop talk show.

Yeah. With Regis Philbin. Yes, yes regis philbin was his ed mcmahon and uh uh larry fine walks out on stage as surprised wheeled out or walks out no he actually walked out oh yeah before his stroke the stroke of luck and and he's stroke of luck he's holding a little box with him yeah and uh uh he says oh i don't know he had some kind of gift for uh for um uh for joey bishop he was plugging i guess he got a job being a spokesman for something he was still a stooge at that point. Yeah. And so he brings out this box, and Joy Bish goes, hey, what do you, got a pie in there? And because he goes, because when I see one of you guys,

I always expect you to bring out a pie. And Larry goes, would I wear a jacket like this if I had a pie? Very good. Do you remember the very last Three Stooges appearance? Oh. It was on Truth or Consequences. Oh. The three of them, 1970.

Yeah. Before Larry had the stroke. They come out. They stand there. They don't do a thing. So was Curly Joe. Curly Joe, Moe, and Larry. Last appearance with Bob Barker, who's like a foot tall of them.

Yeah. And they're just standing there. They don't do any comedy. It's like worse than Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Oh, yes, yes. Where at least they're dressed as firemen. They're just standing there. And it's sad, but it's the last time they were stooges.

And I think Larry had a stroke right after that, and that was the end of the act. And then they were, even think Larry had a stroke right after that, and that was the end of the act. And then they were even after Larry had a stroke. Mo was trying to revive the act. Yeah, and I think this guy, he was an assistant to Al Adamson or his partner. Yeah. Yeah, I forget his name. Simon something. Yeah, I know what you mean. And he wanted to, he was planning, he was talking to Mo about making a Three Stooges movie, bringing Larry back into it, who was confined to a wheelchair.

Right, right. Have some see where they go to either a health club or whorehouse. And Larry starts speeding around on his wheelchair going up to each of the girls. I know that that film became Blazing Stewardesses. Oh, yeah. And they used the Ritz brothers because they couldn't get the three. Oh, the two Ritz brothers who were still surviving. You know, you know, uh, Harry, Harry,

Harry and his brother. Yeah. Harry turns up in silent movie. Yeah. Well, Mel Brooks was a huge Harry Ritz. And so was Jerry Lewis. They adored Harry Ritz.

You know, it's like hard to even get a sense of how funny Harry Ritz was in the, from the movies. But if you supposedly you see, I saw him on stage and he was just, he would just like go crazy on, on stage. Why was Bishop so hated since you bring up,

since Gilbert brings up Jerry Bishop? I don't know. I've heard that, but he seemed like a nice, pleasant guy to me. But I don't know. Was he hated? Yeah. We haven't heard a kind word about him. No.

Him and Danny Kaye. Not a kind word about Danny Kaye. I brought along a deck of Joey Bishop playing cards. Okay. From my Jew-zium. From the Jew-zium. Yeah, yeah. I travel with that.

I want to read a section Jeff Ross wrote, our pal Jeffrey Ross, wrote the foreword to. Even more Jewish comedians. Third volume. The third volume. I want to read this. Don't feel sorry for us just because we're not lookers. It doesn't mean we don't get our share of conquests. In fact, comedians often do better with the opposite sex than our more amorous but less humorless friends.

Hell, even Gilbert Gottfried has a hot wife of course she's also blind and deaf speaking of gilbert speaking to gilbert my new book is called all the presidents so it's portraits of you know there's no jews in it it was an experiment you know how could i do a whole book with no jews in it i almost do because in. You know, could I do a whole book with no Jews in it? I almost do, because in the beginning, in my forward to the book, I drew it. I drew Jared Kushner and Lenny Bruce.

Gilbert is the voice of Jared Kushner. I know that. Yes. I know that. I know that. On what's his name? John Oliver. I really captured it. And I know Jared because he was the publisher

of New York Observer. Oh. So I met him a few times, and he sounds just like you. Yeah. In my book, it's uncanny, actually. because he was the publisher of New York Observer. So I met him a few times and he sounds just like you. In my book, it's uncanny actually, but in my book, it's not a history book. So that's not like, I wouldn't recommend it to people who want to learn about the presidents, but in the book, there's like a fun fact

that Kevin Doherty helped me put together for each president. And some of them are, a couple of them that are interesting, I thought. I don't want to give too much away because I want people to buy this book, of course. So Gerald Ford was the first president who actually invited a Beatle to the White House. And that was George Harris. Yeah, that's cool.

Wow. And Barack Obama collected comic books. He was a huge Spider-Man fan. Did you know that? No. And Ulysses S. Grant is actually not buried in Grant's tomb. He's buried above ground. And the Trump fact, Trump is the last guy in the book, obviously.

I saved him to last to draw him because I couldn't accept that he was the president. I had to just, I put it to, so I finally drew him. He's the last guy. So the fun fact about him is he is the him is Donald Trump is the first president to host a reality TV series that featured Gilbert Gottfried. There you go, Gilbert. Oh, excellent. There you go. Black and white.

That is the fun fact with Donald Trump. Oh, that's excellent. But when I was working on this book, one of the interesting things for me was like, I was looking at these people, I was drawing them and thinking like, well, who could play this person in a movie? Because some of them look like, I realized as I was drawing James Polk, that he looks just like Boris Karloff. Oh, wow. And Millard Fillmore looks just like Alec Baldwin, right? If you look at him, it's like, you know, it's uncanny.

James Buchanan looks like John Lithgow. Andrew Johnson looks like Tommy Lee Jones. Jimmy Carter looks like William H. Macy. And Barack Obama looks like Gilbert Gottfried. Yeah. George Washington looks like Stewie Stone. Stewie Stone. Somebody else mentioned

William Bendix, which I didn't get. I don't see it. And also the guy who used to write those, Mickey Spillane. That one I see. When Barack Obama was still in office, I was always getting tweets where people would tweet a picture of me and Barack Obama, pictures of us together. You got the ears. Yes.

Similar haircut. And plus, back in the old days, he had a fro and you had the Jew fro. Yes. So, you know. I'd like to point out he had a fro and you had the Jew fro. Yes. So, you know. I'd like to point out that Gilbert played one of the people in this book, Abe Lincoln. Yes. Oh, I know. Yeah.

I know. Twice. I love your Lincoln. I love your Hitler. Yes. Yes. On historical roads. Suck up.

You really captured him. The lederhosen really put it over. I think I'm the only person who's played both abe lincoln and adolf hitler well look that up we mentioned jared and there's a documentary being prepared about jared for netflix and um the guys who made the roger stone get me roger stone movie have have made this documentary it's going to be on dirty money this series and they came actually came up to my house and film me for it you know talking about my relationship. I mean, like working for Jared at the New York Observer. And then the time I met him at the Four Seasons,

he hosted a party and that's the first time I met him. So I told this story on air and I'll tell it now. It's like I approached him. I saw him at the bar by himself. And I said to Kathy, I'm going to go introduce myself. He knows who I am because he had bought some of my artwork, the covers I did for the Observer. So I walked up to him. He was standing by himself. He hadn't been married to Ivanka yet, but he was hosting this huge anniversary party for The Observer. He was holding

a glass of champagne. So I walked up to him. I said, hey, Jared, it's Drew Friedman. He goes, oh, hi, Drew. And he's kind of looking around, surveying the crowd like Gatsby. And he goes, Drew, I'd like to talk to you, but there are a lot more, far more important people here for me to talk to. So shocking. I like nodded and kind of backed off and went back to Kathy and she said, so how'd that go? And I said, well, this is what he said. And she couldn't believe it. Like he really said that to you. I said, yeah, you know, and I found it kind of refreshing, you know, his honesty, his blatant honesty. So, you know. And a mutual friend of ours, of Jared's and mine, Ken Curzon, said he was talking to Jared recently, and he brought that up.

He said, did you really say that to Drew Friedman? And Jared thought about it. He said, yeah, that sounds like something I would have said. So, confirms it. He said, yeah, that sounds like something I would have said. Confirms it. Wow. But the guys making this documentary, they want to have you come to the opening to do your Jared impression.

You'll be fed, so don't worry about it. You'll be well fed. Here's some more wild card questions for you. Why did Joan Rivers detest Jerry Lewis so much? Because she... No, it's a real question. I have one more question

for Groucho, don't worry. I think it was vice versa. I think Jerry hated Joan Rivers. You know, he made it clear he didn't like women comics. I mean, that dating back to the...

He didn't like Phyllis Dove. Joan said Jerry should be electrocuted. Yeah, they hated each other. You know, they hated each other. But I think it was more him. He just dismissed female comics and that got back to her. And it could have been more to it

than that. I think there's a Merv Griffith show with both of them on the panel. Back when Merv was doing those really cool shows in the mid 60s. I think we had two guests on this show who, what's amazing about them, had nice things to say about Jerry Lewis. Well, you and I, had nice things to say about Jerry Lewis.

Well, you and I do have nice things to say about Jerry Lewis. You mean yourselves. It's like we kind of got... No, Robert Holmes said nice things about Jerry. Yeah, I think Jerry liked you and he liked me. He called me when my first Jewish Comedians book came out and I was nervous about it, but he made a fuss on it. And he invited Jerry, he invited Kathy and I to Las Vegas

to be his guests at one of the telethons, the second to last telethon. So we were there in Las Vegas. And then the night before, they were setting up. He was in his jazzy. But I wanted to meet him. I had never met him. I talked to him. So I approached him, and we had a little talk.

He met Kathy. Couldn't have been sweeter and nicer. He starts moving away in his little jazzy cycle because he's, because he's like, you know, zipping back and forth. And as he's leaving, he goes, I just met Drew Friedman. And someone says, like, who's Drew Friedman? He goes, the artist, you fucking idiot. Charming. I remember when they were dedicating that wall of the Friars Club to him.

And it was an outdoor ceremony, of course. And I was sitting in a chair, and I wound up sitting right next to Jerry. And he was like, he would start yelling out. It was everything you want Louis to be. Of course. He was like heckling the ceremony and when he yell out a joke after each joke he grabbed my arm and squeeze it like get it and and i thought wow he's pulling me in on he took a liking to you and he took and i was nervous as hell yeah you know

when he first called me and i knew he was going to call because the editor the observer said jerry lewis is going to be calling because I did some tribute to him. So I said, shit, I had to get my nerve up. And I knew when he was going to call the next day. So I said, okay, don't mention Dean Martin.

Don't mention Abby Greshler, his first agent, who we wound up hating. And don't mention Sammy Petrillo. And I didn't. And we had a great conversation. He would call back and everything. So then my friend Dave Abramson is writing this biography of Sammy Petrillo.

And for those who don't know, Sammy Petrillo is the guy who used to imitate Jerry Lewis. Mutant Jerry Lewis. Jerry discovered him, you know, as a teenager. Hired him. Used him once on the Colgate show. Milton Berle also used him. Eddie Cantor used him. And then he broke off and appeared in that film with Bela Lugosi and Duke

Mitchell. And I think Eddie Cantor fucked him. Well, of course. Fucked everybody. But, you know, my friend who's writing this biography said, like, you know, well, the interview I'd love to get is Jerry Lewis. I said, I can make that happen for you. I'm going to be talking to Jerry.

I'm going to bring it up. And I got my nerve up and I said jerry um my friend this journalist dave abramson is writing this biography of sammy patrillo he would love to interview for it jerry paused i said you know i was like oh god he goes why would anybody write a book about sammy patrillo i said well it's an amazing story this young kid who was obsessed with you and and basically became you. And then, you know, you hired him. And then he went on to have this, you know, this low-end career in show business for 50 years. And he goes, all right, have your friend call me.

And he was interviewed for the book. Wow. He talked to Dave for a few minutes about Sammy. You know, he said, I discovered him when he was a teenager on the street in time in on 49th Street. And he was imitating me. And I brought him up to the studio and he met Dean and I used them. And and then, you know, he didn't have a lot to say, but he remembered distinctly Sammy Petrillo. And Sammy would have been 16 at the time.

So so the two of us can use that classic showbiz phrase. Well, he was always nice to me yes i use it with you because people you know i mean jerry you know jerry when jerry liked you he liked you a lot he would say i like when i like you i like you a lot when i don't when i hate you i hate you a lot and the best compliment i ever got was um uh one time they were like honoring Jerry Lewis somewhere. And I went up and did a lot of like my crazy shit. You did the aristocrats joke at the Hilton. Yeah.

And afterwards, and some even more disgusting. And afterwards, Jerry Lewis walks over to me with that serious jerry face and he goes gilbert you are out of your fucking mind and then he goes and i wouldn't have it any other way that's beautiful yeah now the disgusting story you told it was that even more disgusting than the jack klugman story we're not allowed to tell? Oh, jeez. That's horrible. I'm going to move fast. All right. All right.

Because that's possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. That's horrible. And you know the audience wants to hear it. Yes, of course they do. But I'm not going to tell them. Of course they do. I couldn't live. I had someone ask me today.

They say we were listening to an episode with Richard Kind. Yeah. Who was the chicken hawk? Oh, we're not going to, we can't repeat that. Yeah, we can't say that. Yeah. I do have one more question

for Groucho. Okay, okay. Although certain people know. This question I've been wondering about for years. Yes, yeah. If you can answer this. Groucho, why did you appear

as Dr. Peabody in Problem Child 3? Because Chico needed the money. I thought it was Gilbert needed the money. I thought it was Gilbert needed the money. That explains it. See, that's how bad

Chico is doing. That I did Problem Child 3 to help Chico. There had to be a good reason. Who else did you stay in touch with? I mean, who else got in touch from the Jewish comedianedians books?

I know you ran afoul of Rickles and Sid Caesar and Jack Carter. I didn't have direct contact with Don Rickles and Sid Caesar. And what they were upset about is that their names were outed. Their real names were outed. Because Kathy and I did research on what the real Jewish names were when they were born. So Don Rickles was born Archibald Donald Rickles. He wanted that to be a secret. Not on Wikipedia. Not on Wikipedia. There's no mention ofipedia not only well like his agent and everybody they took that down and sid caesar

was born isaac sydney sees it so their legacy you know it's like about their legacy it's like sid caesar donald rickles that's it you know see now now i i heard the way the name caesar came about sid caesar said when his father was passing through Ellis Island, his father was a tailor and he was trying to explain it, but he couldn't speak English. So he started doing a move with his two fingers like scissors. And he goes, you know, Caesar, Caesar. Oh, that's interesting. And the guy just wrote down that his name was Caesar. That's great.

But you stayed in touch with other people. You got to know Mickey Freeman. You got to know Carl Valentine a little bit. When the book first came out, some of these guys, books were sent to some of the comedians, the still living ones. So Mickey Freeman called instantly. He loved it. Freddie Roman. And then Jerry Lewis called.

And then the Friars started throwing parties for the books and inviting some of the comedians. Storch, obviously. Larry Storch and Freddie Roman, of course, and Eddie Lawrence, the old philosopher,

was there. Did you ever hear from Marty Ingalls or Buddy Hackett or any of these people? No, no. Some of them, you know,

they wanted to send books to Jackie Mason and Joan Rivers. I said, no, don't do it. Don't do it because you never know. It's like, you know, don't do it. Don't do it because you never know. It's like, don't bother them.

And some of them with happening careers, they couldn't be bothered with it. And then other guys like Mickey Freeman had basically revived his career. And Mickey would call me. And you remember Mickey from the Bilko show. He used to talk like this, Sarge. You know, Sarge, Joan Hogan is the best looking dame in the force. But he would call me and all of a sudden he had this English accent. Oh, jeez.

Hello, Drew. This is Mickey Freeman. I really love you. He would call me and he'd go, you know, Drew, all of show business loves your book. And I'm thinking, Mickey somehow is the spokesman for all of show business. So he was speaking for Sean Puffy Combs and Britney Spears. Jack Carter was pissed off at you, of course, famously. Jack Carter, well, you know, my friend Ben Schwartz interviewed a few guys for the Los Angeles Times.

So he interviewed Jack. Jack Carter was pissed off about his portrait. He wanted me to draw him again. He said, look at that stupid face he gave me. He gave me a balding head and he gave me liver spots. He says, you should draw me again. But he liked the Buddy Hackett I drew, and he liked Sid Caesar. He thought I captured them.

It's funny. We almost had Jack Carter on this podcast. I know, very close. Yeah. He was another guy. He wound up in a wheelchair. He was bitter. But it was like banking on a comeback, you know, like that kind of situation.

We should direct our listeners to Cliff's wonderful shit Jack Carter says on his blog. Jack Carter was going to hire Cliff to write his biography, you know, to be his ghost writer. He told us that story,

went to the house. it's great. Yeah. And then he was just like insulting Cliff as he was leaving. It's a giant statue of himself. I don't know,

a loser like you get to, you know, get a book deal. He's just like insulting the guy and the guy wants to help him and get his name back in the public eye.

A bitter man. Yeah. Who's angrier, Jack Carter or Pat Cooper? Well, I think Pat Cooper's was more schtick than Jack Carter, you know,

but I think as, you know, these guys get older and they're kind of forgotten, you know, a lot of them become bitter. Let's plug the Jewish comedian books, all three of them. Well, they're all out of print. You know, a lot of them become bitter. Let's plug the Jewish comedian books. All three of them. Well, they're all out of print.

All Jewish. They're all out of print. Which is a good thing. Son of a bitch. You can get them on eBay. Okay. And I don't think I'm going to do a fourth because I'm running out of old Jewish comedians. I have a list of, I mean, I never drew.

The guy next to me didn't show up in any of the volumes. Well, now he's eligible. Some of them, some of these guys, when I these guys, when I did the first book 12 years ago, and I couldn't draw Richard Belzer because he was still a younger man. Sure. Or Albert Brooks because he was a younger man. They're in the third volume, aren't they? Belzer is in the third because he crossed like 66th.

I thought, well, that's getting old. But Albert Brooks, when I met him in Los Angeles he at a party so he knew who he knew my book so he the first thing he said would drew how come my dad wasn't in your old Jewish comedian book I said well because your dad wasn't old enough he died young now his dad of course was park your caucus who died yeah on the road at the Lucy Desi roast in 1958 did his act, killed. He was great.

It's on. It was recorded. Sat down and leaned forward and died. And he was like, if you listen to the recording, he was great. And young Albert, who was 10 at the time, helped his dad out with the routine. He was really proud that night because his dad went, finished his routine, and then died. But he killed. He was funnier than George Burns was that night. And Milton Berle and his routine and then died, you know, but he killed. He was funnier than George Burns was that night and Milton Berle and Dean Martin were all on the

roast. So when I met Albert, he asked me that. And then I said, well, you know, he just died too young. And then Albert said, you know, Drew, did you know that Harpo's ex-wife married Frank Sinatra. And I said, no, it wasn't Harpo's ex-wife. It was Zeppo's ex-wife. He goes, no, it was Harpo's ex-wife. I said, look, I have Andy Marks, Groucho's grandson, standing right here. I said, Andy, which of your uncle's ex-wives married Frank Sinatra? And Andy said, Zeppo. Barbara Marks.

Yeah, so that was my Marshall McLuhan moment. It was like Annie Hall. Basically. It was handy to have Raucho's grandson standing right there. Great story. I just told it again recently, but I love that story with Paul Einstein. Yeah, your father died doing what he loved. Yeah, and he said, when he heard that, that made him cringe.

Yeah, he didn't like hearing that. And he said, what does your mother do? And he said, she's a housewife. And he goes, let's go over to her house while she's doing the laundry. And I'll pull out a gun and blow her fucking brains out. And we can say she died doing what she loved. God bless Bob Einstein. We just,

we just, you know, I'm sure Albert was affected, you know, really affected by that, but he was, you know, it was proud of his dad.

And it's like, he, I don't think he had issues with the fact that his father died, you know, when he was 10 years old because his father went out with a bang. Sure. Einstein supposedly had issues with the comics that were cracking wise during his eulogy or his funeral service. Okay.

Yeah, that's my understanding. You can listen to the recording of Parky Carters. It's fascinating. And they cut away right before he has a stroke. I've heard the stories where Milton Berle's screaming, like, is there a doctor in the house? And there's chaos. And then Lucy and Desi separated right after and divorced right after. I have to think that might affect.

And Gilbert, before we end, could you just tell me, tell the story of when Lucy walked in the dressing room with Desi the one time? And what, you know the story of when Lucy walked in the dressing room with Desi the one time and what you know the story wait Desi was with a woman in the dressing room Lucy walked in and what did Desi say Frank do you remember this he's like the woman is blowing him. Yeah. Right? And Desi is like acting. Lucy walks in. Oh, yes. And Desi is like acting like, oh, my God, what are you doing? Right. Like he had no idea. I don't remember who told us that one. And you know why that woman was blowing Desi?

That was Aaron Fleming. Was it Aaron Fleming? Because she goes. Flemo. Need some money. We'll also plug the book, Drew Friedman's Chosen People, because Gilbert and I are both in the book. Yes, Gilbert is in that book,

I think three times, three portraits of Gilbert in that book. Yes. In that book, so. And then the new book is All the Presidents. All the Presidents. There's no Jews in it. I'm holding it up,

but we're an audio-only podcast. It was an interesting book to do because it was unexpected, so it was kind of an experiment. And again, like I said, no Jews in it, but some very interesting faces. Anything else you can talk about in the planning stages? I have a new book I'm working on. I'm not quite ready to discuss that, but there are Jews in it.

So, you know, we're okay. Okay. And, you know, we can, you know, hopefully, I just want to say that hopefully everybody is a member of the Bobby Barber group on Facebook. Let's plug the Bobby Barber group. And the Sammy Petrillo group on Facebook. I take great pride in those two groups. We have questions from listeners, but we'll ask them in this little post-show thing that we'll do. We'll do a little video for the people on Patreon.

So please, guys, support us on Patreon.com slash Gilbert Gottfried. And follow us on Facebook, on facebook on twitter on instagram and the various listeners societies on facebook thanks to steven varley daniel spaventa jason shibairo am i saying his name right shibiro shibiro i think i've said it wrong three weeks in a row and all our friends at starburns and uh definitely follow the bobby barber group above all. Yes, and let me just plug briefly the film that Kevin Doherty is making. Oh, I forgot to ask about the doc. Vermeer of the Borscht Belt, which is the documentary being made about me and my career. Yes.

And a lot of interviews, including with you guys and Pat Noswalt. And Richard Kind and everybody. And Gore Detsky, a lot of... And I'm not involved in the film. I'm just the a lot of, and you know, I'm not in the film. I'm not involved in the film. I'm just the subject, but what I've seen, I'm very impressed with.

And hopefully it'll be out this year. Cliff. That's just less nest. That's the flavor. And we love Kevin. Yes. So he's doing a great job. So,

you know, if you want to throw him some money, making these documentaries is expensive. So Kevin has a lot of expenses, but you know, it should be a fun, a great job. He's the best. So, you know, if you want to throw him some money, making these documentaries is expensive. So Kevin has a lot of expenses. But, you know, it should be a fun film, I think. All right. And go to eBay and buy these Outerprint books. And all the presidents.

The new one. Thank you, Frank. Thank you, Drew. Thank you, Gilbert. Yes. And this has been Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre and Judatz himself, Drew Friedman. And you know why Drew Friedman came here today? Because Chico needs the money.

The only reason. We'll see you on Patreon. Exactly. You know we can't smile without you. We can't smile without you. We can't laugh and we can't sing unless we hear those telephones ring. We feel sad.

Then you call, we feel glad. When you call, if you only knew what we're going through. We just can't smile without you. Once had a plan, then I began to follow it through. Isn't it great that now you're part of a team, part of a dream, soon to come true. We can't laugh, hi big guy, we can't sing Unless we hear those telephones ring We feel sad and then you call We feel glad when you call If you only knew what we're going through We just can't smile

Those songs may be sung, stars may appear Don't lose the meaning of hope. One thing we know, this is a show called love, love. We can't smile without you. We can't laugh We can't sing Unless we hear Those telephone rings Feel sad

And then you go We feel glad When you go It's perfectly clear To make it this year We just can't do Without you Without you make it this year. We just can't do without you. Without you.

Without you. Yay! Yay! Yay! I got through it. Thank you. Thank you very much.