Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Rewind: Episode #5: Marty Allen

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Throughout the late 1950’s and 60’s, the comedy duo of (Marty) Allen & (Steve) Rossi performed to sold-out Vegas crowds, recorded best-selling comedy albums and made hundreds of TV appearances (44 of them on “The Ed Sullivan Show"). Sadly, Steve Rossi had passed away earlier in 2014, but Gilbert and Frank tracked down the other half of the legendary team, 92-year-old Marty Allen, to talk about his 60+ years in the business, his brushes with Elvis and the Beatles and the origin of the his signature catch phrase, “Hello Dere!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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He was this crazy, frizzy-haired comic. And Rossi, Steve Rossi, was kind of his Dean Martin, the handsome, straight man. who could sing. But Marty was absolutely out of his mind and could always crack up an audience. He certainly always cracked me up and he was wild-looking and made the weirdest faces

and did dances that you figure only a cartoon character could do. Now, Alan and Rossi have the rare privilege of being able to say they followed the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Ed Sullivan was already the biggest show on TV at the time, and the one that they had the Beatles on, forget it.

That was beyond like everyone in the world was watching it, so they followed the Beatles. Since then, they split up, and Marty Allen's been working with his wife, and we asked, They actually asked, the TV show, actually asked Marty Allen to go on. And he's like, wow, I don't know. He's must, I don't know if he's 90 yet or damn close to 90 or maybe 100 for all I know. And he said, I can't go on there.

I'm booked solid. So now we talk to Marty Allen. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried. And you're listening to the amazing colossal. podcast. I'm here with my friend and co-host, Frank Santo Padre. Hello, Gilbert. Hi. Okay, that's it for today's show.

Yes. That's a wrap. Oh, that was great, Gilbert. That's a wrap. You really touch me emotionally. Well, that's the only way I want to touch you, Marty. I hope so. Nice to meet you, Marty. Yeah, my pleasure.

Now, today, you wanted... Well, I thought it was interesting timing that it's the 50th anniversary of the Beatles playing the Sullivan show this month. Oh, yeah. I've done so many interviews. I feel like I'm the fifth beetle already. A lot of fifth Beatles, Marty. So tell us about playing with them, meeting with them, following them in 64. It was fantastic.

First of all, it was at the David Letterman Theater, where David Lutterman is doing his show now. And Steve, Steve Rossi and I were in the limousine, and there were thousands of little girls backstage waiting to catch a glimpse. And our limousine pulled up, and the kids were yelling, Wingo, George, John, Paul. And I kept yelling, Marty, Marty, Marty.

And then they threw notes in our window, love notes and photos. And it was unbelievable. It really was unbelievable. And then we went in the theater, and it was really. like pandemonium. And I said to Steve, I got to come up with some kind of a line to get them right off the bat

when we do our afternoon show. The kids were screaming. And when they introduced us, I walked out and I said, Hello there. I'm Ringo's mother. And the kids yelled, it's his mother.

And they start screaming. And I jumped in the audience. And I had told, Steve, don't do a ballad, do enough tempo song. So he did enough tempo song. And I was dancing with the kids where they went out of their mind. And then we went back on the stage and did our act. And I knew right off the bat they were going to be a sensation.

They were, and not only that, they were wonderful, they were kind. very courteous. They had no idea who I was. And at that time, I had that Zulu haircut. And they kept looking at me. And John was getting ready to go on in about 20 minutes. I walked over to him. And I said, John, he said, yes.

I said, a lot of people mistake me for you. and he looked at me like, oh my God. He went bananas. And then I got a hold of a policeman's hat and jacket off of one of the cops. And I started following Ringo everywhere he went. And he was gone bananas. I said, I have to protect you. Then he went in the men's room and I stood guard.

He says, well, you really are supposed to. to protect me? I said yes. And he said to me, make sure you wash your heads when we leave. And I remember

the song that they, the first song they did was all my loving. That's right. But the week before they appeared on the Sullivan show,

the hot song was I want to hold your hand. And I also know that for performing on the Sullivan show for the three shows, they received $10,000.

Wow. How about that? And they got one telegram and do you know who it was from? Who? Elvis Presley. My dear friend

Elvis Presley sent him a congratulation. A wire of congratulations. Now, you... And I thought that was class. You followed the Beatles more than one time, I heard. Oh, yeah, we did the other show in Miami also. And I remember how much they got for a front row ticket to their first concert in America.

Four dollars. Wow. How do you like that? one of the girls stole from Ringo she pulled his St. Christopher

Medal off and he went bananas and he begged to get it back and finally the girl got it back and he gave her an autograph photo

and he felt much better about that and let's see I'm trying to think then they went on tour. I remember they went on tour.

And their North American tour, they must have done about 22,000 miles across our continent. Now if... In a little over a month. Wow. Now if... And when they said, how many, roughly how many people saw them on the tour... He's taking over the show.

That's it. Oh, well. I'll tell you, I just... Fifty-four thousand people. I'm just going to go and get lunch. Now that I gave you all the information, can I hang up? That's all we need of. Now, now, I want to know when these photos that the girls,

were there any like, what type of photos were they? What do you mean? The ones they threw through through the window of the limo? Were they decent photo? I mean, like... photos that you can show. I know where you're going over. You know me all too well.

They were just photos of themselves. Oh! You know, in school or whatever. Oh, that's too bad. And I love you, Ringo. I love you, Paul. I love you, John, I love you George. See, I was picturing.

Those were the kind of photos. They threw the window of the limo. Could you change, next time you tell the story, can you say they were pornographic photos? No, I can't say that, Albert. Because at that time, my face was still broken out. I can't take kids. Now, I heard that you were also

became friends with John Lennon. Yeah. Yeah. after he found out who I went and he watched the act, he was, he walked over to me and very nicely says to me, you're really very funny. He gave me a very nice compliment. And he was really a nice guy.

They all were. They were, but I could tell right off the bat. I said, they're going to be a sensation in our country. And did you and John... The first song that they were singing, I believe, was all my loving. That was the first one. Did you and John talk like a lot to each other?

Oh, no. We didn't have that much time because Sullivan more or less kept them very busy. You know, and don't forget, this was their first big appearance. and they had other things on their mind and I didn't want to get into a deep call. Now, I heard, I was talking to a friend of mine who knows Eugenio, and I asked, I thought you might want to tell some of your jokes on the air. And he said, you don't like in public saying stuff that's off color.

Off color? Yeah. Well, I, let me see. I really, I've never done anything like that, Joe, but that's your, that's your great talent. I remember one of the first things I ever said, oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roll, and I'll show you a house full of dirt. Now, can you tell... My favorite joke. I remember one of the first jokes I ever did.

There were two guys that were drunk. They were at the zoo, and they were standing by the lion's cage, and they were looking at the line, and all of a sudden the line let out of a tremendous wall. And the one drunk says, okay, let's go now. And the other one says, no, I'm going to say, they watched a movie. Martin, let me ask you about Ed Sullivan because I read an interview with you.

You said he was a very... Well, I'll tell you, people ask me how many Sullivan shows we did. I tell everybody I did more Sullivan shows than Ed Sullivan. You said he was a nice guy and not everybody in the business considered him a nice guy, which I found interesting. Yeah, he took a liking to Steve and I, and the reason he used it. so often is I hate to tell

us to go over but because we did a plain act and then he knew he never had any problems so so in other words we would never say anything or do anything

that would embarrass him on he was very strict on the show I'll tell you that so that's that's the difference between those days you couldn't do a commercial because if you did a commercial, he started

to get money and that bumped him. So anything in your routine that would familiarity to a product,

he wouldn't allow it. But there were things that I thought about that I would love to have done. But he was very kind. to us and he really liked us. So unlike me, you work very clean.

Yeah, I know. What about it, Gover? Can you tell one of... Did you know the Harvard School of Medicine did a study of Jewish women why they like Chinese food so much? Okay, Marty. Do you know why they like Chinese food so much? Why?

The study revealed that the reason for this is because one tongue spelled backwards is not now. Now, a couple of times on the... A couple of... And the other thing, Gilbert, there's a controversy on the Jewish view of when life... begins. According to Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from Rothschol. Oh my God, I'm making Gilbert laugh. Somebody taped this. Somebody tape this.

We're trying to. As a thought. Yes. Now, can you tell a couple of times on the phone, You've told me jokes that were not really network TV friendly. Would you be able to tell one of those? Where? Here on my podcast. It's okay, Marty. No one's listening. I just came you too good.

Yeah, yeah. We're the only two people listening to this podcast. Oh, I don't believe that, Gilbert. I know you're a fan They're glued to your broadcast May I say Then one of the jokes you told me One of the jokes I

Well the jokes I told you Were in complete confidence Oh okay And the only reason I told them to you So you could use them No no problem No problem So you're more decent than your material than I am.

Well, you have a knack for doing a certain kind of humor. Oh, you know, I remember something that I was looking up different things. You know, I'm writing a book about my life. And I remember when I met George Burns. Gilbert, you gotta hear this. Yes. He told me, if I get big laughs, I'm a comedian. If I get small laughs, I'm a humorist.

And if I get no laughs, I'm a singer. So did you know George Burns well? Yeah, he was very, he saw me work, and he gave me a very wonderful, He said to me, you are truly a very funny physical comedian. And I flipped out when he said that to me. He was so nice. He really was.

And he said, where do you get your humor? I said, it just comes to me naturally, you know, being. and physically funny, many things could happen, and I can have to live my way through many, many, like being on the Mike Douglas show or doing Hollywood squares or doing the different shows. I was never told what to say or ought to say it because they knew that it would come off very funny. And you have that talent, too. Oh, thank you. Now, I saw a clip of you on the Dean Martin show.

Yeah. And you accidentally, I forget the guy, damn it, you accidentally pulled someone's to pay off. Oh, yeah. That was one of the most famous things. I was dancing, and it was Leslie Oggins and Dean Martin. and Eddie Foy. Oh,

and he. While I was dancing, Eddie Foy suddenly put his hands up and started pulling my hair. Because, you know, at that time, I had the wild hair

and everybody, it was one of my physical attributes. And when he started to pull my hair, I reached up and grabbed his hair and it was a toupee

and it came on. Well, everybody collapsed. I think Leslie Alkins and Dean Martin, they got so hysterical, they almost fell over. That was one of the funniest things that ever happened. Well, a lot of funny things happened. And he played it very well because when he got the two payback, he just sort of put it on his head and arranged it.

Yeah, you're right. And acting like nothing happened. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, that was one of the most hysteric. Another thing I did, Hollywood Palace, and I walked in, Martha Ray was on, and I asked her to do my hair, and I brought all the, all the essentials, but in the meantime she had a box there with baking powder and she used the wrong powder

and it was for baking a cake and she rubbed it on my hair and at the end of the program when she took the thing off and it was a cake on my hair. Now did you know... And she asked me what it was like to be when I was a kid.

What kind of a kid I was? I said, I used to play spin the bottle. You remember the game? Yeah. Spin the bottle. Yes. And a girl would spin the bottle, and the bottle pointed to you when it stopped,

the girl could kiss you or give you a nickel. And by the time I was 13 years old, I owned my own home. Great joke. Marty, I have to ask you about the hair. Was it really your hair or was it a... Yeah, it was my hair. Was it something you...

I was the first one, actually, to have, you know, the wild hair. Even before anybody even thought of it. They used to look at me and they said, what kind of wig is that? I said, no, wig is my hair. If you grew it purposely like that for the actor. And I just let it grow. I see. And it became a phenomenal hairstyle.

And I kept it all the time Alan and Rossi were together. And then when we split the act, oh, I got a call that the producer of the Big Valley, the Barbara Sandwich show. Oh, yeah. Sure. And they said to me, would you cut your hair? Well, I wanted to do acting. I said, yes. And I remember when they cut it, it was a big celebration.

In fact, I think the guy used a, I think it was Saul Goldstein, the barber, and he used a torch. Like, they made a big deal out of it. And that was the first time I got all kind of write-ups, Earl Wilson and all the columnists, Jim Bacon, everybody sang Marty cut his hair. It's a big deal. Did anyone talk about your acting, though?

About what? Your acting. Oh, yeah. Well, I played a Jonah. I was given a tremendous part. and it went over so well. I was nominated for a couple of awards for my acting. And Barbara Sandluck, we were sitting one day talking,

and she was telling me how wonderful an actor I could become a very good actor if I gave up comedy. She said, you did one great job. Wow. And I played the Jonah. And if you ever can get hold of it, it's quite a thing. If you know what a Jonah is, it's the guy that comes to the ranch and everything goes wrong. And all the guys on the staff, no, I don't mean on the staff.

All the people who worked on the ranch said, you've got to get rid of him. he's a bad luck guy and like the rains came the cattle ran away and different things happened they blamed it on me that's kind of like

what was that William Mason oh the cooler the cooler he had a funny name now tell us another one of your jokes they used to ask me when I was a kid

what I like to do. I says, well, I like to play all kinds of games. I never liked hide and seek because when I hid in the closet, my family moved. That's great. Now, can I throw out just some names to you of people you may have worked with unknown? Now, Groucho Marx. Roucho? Yes.

Yeah. Very, very. intellectually funny. He was a very nice guy. I remember when I met him. He had an unusual sense of humor. But most of the guys, Gilbert, the big ones were always very nice.

I met Jack Benny. I worked with Sinatra, I worked with Nat Cole, I worked with Paul Anka, I worked with Lena Horn, I worked with Shirley Bassi from London. And these are all big stars, and all the big stars, they never come off as, you know, considered. They were all considering people. Elvis took a liking of me, and he came to see my show when I was appearing at the sands of the flamingo at that time. And they're all class guys, all class. Never any problems.

So both. And we're always willing to help you or tell you how much they are. enjoyed you and they came if they came to see the show they were just wonderful people we will return to gilbert gotfrey's amazing colossal podcast after this so both the beetles and elvis presley were fans and friends of marty allen yes yeah i could say that and and did you socialize at all with Elvis? Oh, yeah. Elvis invited me many times up to his, when he was at the Hilton, many times he would have,

after the show he'd have, you know, big affairs up in the suite, and he'd have singers, and in fact, I had, I did the last show with a very wonderful time. talented phenomenal woman. And you know who it was? Who? Mama Cass. Wow. Big fan.

So... Right before she passed away. What were these parties? And at that time, I was very heavy. I was really, I almost weighed about 200 pounds. Joe Miller, the famous Booker here in Vegas, He booked Mama Cass and I together, and they titled it The Heavy Waste of the Strip. That's great.

Now, what were these parties at Elvis's like? Well, he invite the singers up, so he and his group would sing all kinds of songs. And they, you know, they had beautiful, uh, beautiful, uh, of all kinds of sandwiches and stuff. And if you were lucky enough to be friendly with him and were invited, it was a great compliment. But he, I had a lot of laughs with him. He was just a wonderful human being.

That's Elvis, and you were hanging out. Try to picture that. Yeah. Yeah, that's something. Elvis, you and the Beatles. It's just like... All right. Now, Marty, Marty, every so...

I just, I need another joke. Oh, come on. I love your jokes. I'm a victim. Yes, I'm a victim to your jokes when I hear them. You really like that? Yes, I love your jokes. Oh, yeah.

A guy went to the doctor and he said, I have a reading in my ear, and the doctor said, don't answer. And then the doctor had a stethoscope up to the man's chest. And the man says, hey, Doc, how do I stand? And the doctor says, that's what puzzles me. And the doctor says, you're going to live to be 70 years old. He says, I am 70 years old. The doctor says, see, what did I tell you?

I got to tell you a couple of years ago, I went to see you and your wife perform in New York. Oh, yeah, I remember. Yes, and it was a great show. Thank you. In fact, it was the first time I actually met you in person. Oh, that's right. Yeah, it was Gino who brought you. Yes, Gino Salomon, yes.

Yeah, Gino Salomon. He said, I'm bringing a friend of mine. I said, who? He said, Gilbert Godfrey. I said, oh, I watch him on television. He's an extremely funny man. Oh, wow, thank you. And I did.

I've always, well, I came to see you when you were in Vegas. Yes, yes. I found out about that. Like, I was there. This was just, it seems like maybe like a week or so. Oh, I remember it was at the Michael Feinstein. That's where it was. Yes.

And then, like a short time later, I was working Vegas, and I look in the first row. And there you. Yeah, I was. Yeah, I was honored. Well, I went to see you because I sincerely believe, Gilbert, I'm not pulling any kind of thing. And he said, you're really a funny man. You got a lot of talent and stay in the business because something good will happen.

After the show in Vegas, I was out in the lobby selling, like, DVDs and books. Yeah, and you... That's shocking. Yeah. You were peddling your merch after the show. Yes, yeah. That's very... It's so unlike you.

I'll be looking for a new co-host. I came up. You tell them what I did? Yes. Yes. You want to tell them what you did to me? I said, I want you to meet my wife? Marty, first Marty comes up to me.

And he says, hello, great show, blah, blah, blah. And I say great seeing you. And then he says, good night. And he walks away, and I'm signing autographs and whatnot. Then he comes back with this, you know, very large, heavy black woman. That he grabbed out of the crowd. And just using her as a prop, brings her over to me with his arms around her and said,

Have you met my wife? Yeah, she was very nice. She was a very dear friend of mine. Oh, so you knew her? I know for quite a while. Oh, because I thought it was just some random black person you grabbed, and I thought that could be dangerous. That was, I was cracking up.

Yeah, somebody asked me, did they ever ask you who were heroes in your life? Gilbert, if you take back, who have you always admired or who have you always looked up to her? Or when you were growing up, did you have any particular heroes? So many. And I will. And I'm not just saying this because you're on. No, aside from me. Yeah.

I, okay. Here's, it was one I loved as a kid. And I wonder if you'll have nice things to say about him. And that's Jerry Lewis. And then the, and then it went dead. Yeah. What? I had two heroes when I was grown up.

Joe Lewis, Sugar Ray Robinson, the original Sugar Ray Robinson. Joe Lewis and Franco Harris are the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those were my heroes. But Jerry Lewis, did you ever work with Jerry Lewis? Well, I knew Jerry very well. I never worked with him. And you got along with him? Oh, yeah.

We always got along. I never had any problems. I admired him for his talent. You know, you've got to give Jerry credit. He was a brilliant man when he, as far as movies are concerned. I mean, aside from Martin Roas being a sensation, but as a movie maker,

he really knew what he was doing. Now, you made a, you and your partner, Steve Rossi, made a movie yourselves. Yeah, last of the secret agents. Last of the Secret Agent. It was a lot of fun. We had Nancy Tenatra and one of the most marvelous actors, Lou Geopje Cove. Oh, yes. Lucchobie.

Remember him? Oh, yes, absolutely. And Marty did... It was one of the most brilliant screen comedians that I ever... I thought he had more talent than so many others. He was great. And didn't Nancy Sinatra sing the theme song, too, Marty? Yeah.

Yeah. And she was in the movie, too. Yeah. Now, now we also, and Frank pointed it out, to me, and I'm amazed at this. Who was the director? Abbott, Norm Abbott. And he was

related? Norm Abbott and I'm trying to think who, the writer was a very famous comedy writer. Yes. But was Abbott

related to Bud Abbott? He was I believe he was the nephew of Buzz Abbott of Evan and Cosello. Wow. So he knew comedy teams. No, he did. Now, did you ever?

Everybody says, who are the comics of today? I said, well, I don't know them personally, but they're all in Washington. Well, Mel Tolkien of your show of shows fame wrote that movie for you, Marty. What's that, sir? Mel Tolkien, the famous comedy writer. Oh, Mel was a brilliant comedy writer. Now, what? You know, when you think of, speaking of comedy writers,

when somebody gets past me, Sid Seater, you know, is very sad to know. recently passed away. What a comedian he was. A brilliant, brilliant comic. And think of the writers that he had on his show. Think of who his writers were. Woody Allen and Larry Galvard.

Neil Simon. Yeah. All those famous guys were writers on the Cithers show. Now, what, because I remember watching you all the time on all the TV shows, and what was the split up between you and Steve Rossi? Well, to be honest, Gilbert, we had great success. We had marvelous success. And then we kept going over and we kept doing, you know, how many times I started

thing. How many times you play the Copacabana in New York? How many times can you play your Shaperie in Chicago and do all, you know, all the clubs?

And we had great success. But I felt I wanted to do more than just being part of a great comedy team. I wanted to do acting. I was getting all kinds of calls,

Gilbert. Now, what kind of acting? One of the biggest calls I ever got was Mary Markham, they asked me to be on Hollywood Squares, and to be an individual personality. I said, oh, what a wonderful thought to be with Paul Lynn and, and Chuck. Willie Weaver and, you know, those guys. Wally Cox.

You know, and it was, yeah. Now, what was, and I wanted to do more. I wanted to do more acting. And there were things that I wanted to do. And I said to Steve, listen, we've had great success. And I just felt that now was the time that we should part. And that's the way. And we are, I could probably say we are the only comedy team to split amicably.

Wow. I still see Steve. He lives in Vegas. And occasionally we have lunch or we see each other. But I never wanted to, you know, have any kind of a terrible parting. So we are actually the only team that I know of that's split very eight McClemm. Because every comedy team seems like they hate each other, like Martin and Lewis hated each other.

Abbott and Costello hated each other. Yeah. And, you know, we never fought over any. We just went out, did our job. excuse me and I we enjoy and then

then when I met Karen and I heard her singing I got the idea of a husband and wife because of Burns and Allen

in fact today they call us the new George Burns and Grace Oh wow Oh only I'm Gracie Wow. That's quite a compliment. I'm racing.

And she is not only a brilliant singer, she's a phenomenal boy, Gilbert you saw. Oh, it was great. A great straight lady. And I remember you coming out as I think Lady Gaga. Hello? Oh, yeah. Didn't you come out as Lady Gaga?

Gaga's one point? Yeah. No, I came out as Lady Gaga's father. Oh, my God. I came out in a wild outfit as Lady Gaga's father. Although I came out, oh, the first time we did Havisbender, and Karen introduced, she says, we have the great talent of Shering McLean. and I came up in drag, and Karen and I did Havitt Spender, and I played Shirley McLean.

It was sweet charity. Now, what? Let's, oh, geez, you see, you just stepped over me, Marty, and now I'm gone. Marty, Marty, talk about Nat King Cole first introducing you to Steve. Is that how it happened? Yeah, well, I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I was like the local comic who became, you know, after the war, I started playing small clubs in my hometown and built up a reputation. And one day the agent said to me, I got you on a, on a, on a, in a. club here in town with a very good singer.

So I said, oh, great. I said, who's the singer? He said, well, you're going to open for her. I said, I'm going to open for her. I said, this, who is it? You want to hear that it was Sarah Vaughn? Wow. And I says, oh, my God, Sarah Vaugh.

I've been, you know, I've greeted my mind. like Delphus Gerald, you know, two of the greatest singers in the world. And she took her liking to me. And she called Nat Cole. Because in those days, in all the agencies, the hottest thing were singers, if you recall. And they would use a comedian. to open the show for them. So the comic would do like 20 minutes,

and then the singer would come up. And she recommended meeting Nat Cohen, and his manager got me with Nat. And there's no way to, or not enough superlatives to tell you how wonderful a man, Nat King Cole was not only one of the greatest talents that ever lived, but as a human being, he was unbelievable,

and he was kind and very thoughtful, and we got along very wonderful together. Now, I think Matt King Cole, when he first got either his television, show or radio show was only like 15 minutes long. Oh, yeah. You're right. They had a great show. And I think they weren't sure if people would want, like, a black performer on for that long.

And so they gave them, like, 15 minutes. And then it was a big deal when it was moved to a full half hour. He announced it. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you're right, Gilbert. But at 15 minutes, he showed how diversified he was. He was a brilliant piano player as well as being, because, you know, he started out with the Nat King Cold Trio.

But he not only was a brilliant piano player, he was a phenomenal singer. And he had a warm, compassionate feeling. The way he did, he was like Sinatra. You would say Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. We're two of the greatest singers in our lifetime. Now, Marty, I'm just, and this I'm just throwing out at you because so many people do an imitation of what Nat King Cole sounded like. Mm-hmm.

Can you do a Nat King Cole imitation? No, I don't do it. I can't even go a Gilbert godfrey. So I think you're like the only one who can't. No, you're one of a comic Robert. Oh, thank you, Marty. Now, you were one of those, you were known for your insane dancing.

Yeah. Well, I was a... Jitterbug champion. I was a state jitterbug champion. I used to go dancing everywhere. I used to go up wherever there was a dance where people were dancing. I'd go up there. I swing while I was just one of wild jitterbugs.

I remember seeing clips of you. I think they're all of YouTube and stuff. Yeah, I used to do back, or I do back movements and jumping. I did wild dances. It looked like a cartoon character, like no person could actually. I looked like a cartoon character. Yes, yes. Well, thanks for the compliment.

It was like, it looked like no person, no person, no, real person can move like that. Now, and now here's something Frank and I were curious about. Everyone. Now, what was your catchphrase in when you and

Steve Rossi worked together? What? Yeah. Your catchphrase that you are known for. Oh, hello there. Well, what happened was we were appearing in Philadelphia a famous nightclub

called the Latin Casino and we were in the middle of the act and Steve asked me something and I blanked out and I looked at them I knew I had a cover so I just looked at them and I went hello there

and he looked at me what and he asked me the question and I said hello there. And I picked up the audience hysterical laughing. And when the show was over,

people started walking over to me and said, hey, hello there. And I suddenly said, oh, my God, I got a catchphrase. You wait all your life to find something like Joe Penner had, you want

to buy a duck? or Lucas O'ad, I'm a bad boy. And different... I remember. You tried to find a catchphrase that would linger that people would recognize. And hello there, it caught fire.

So your signature line came. And at that time, we would do different people in the news. Yes. And see what introduced me. He'd say, like, here's the president of... France and I'd say bonjour there or miserable

shalom there you know and hello there caught fire and I wrote it H-E-L-O-L-O D-E-R-E I remember a kid going to school and he

wrote something out with there and he wrote a D-E and the teacher says that isn't how you spell it he said oh yeah I heard that comedian, and I know that's how he's spelled. I remember as a kid watching you, and they would always, I remember, like Steve Rossi would quite often play a reporter,

and he'd hold a mic and go, you know, we're talking to whatever, the greatest football player or astronaut, and you would like turn around with your eyes going in five different directions, and you'd go, hello there! And I would, like, crack up each time. Yeah. It would kill me. It became a national catchphrase.

All from a memory lens. Every time I even send a photo up, someone asks for a photo, I write hello there to whoever, hello there, Marty Allen. And in fact, in fact, I'm writing my book. now and it's

hello there, welcome to my life. So when do you think this, well, you're still writing it? Well, we're, uh, Karen and I're trying to whip it in his shape and, uh,

we hope to get it out uh, uh, uh, within the next month if possible. You know, there's so much, so many things that happened in your life that you try to reminisce about.

And then we had, we're adding photos. And we just have to, you know, you have to put it all together. Yeah. Well, let's all these. So the book, the book is going to be called, Hello There, Welcome to My Life. As far as I know, yeah. It's, it, that sounds, I, I will definitely read that.

And now, we need, we need. I will. I'll make him read it, Marty. That's good. But I need, I have to have another joke. Another what? Another joke. Your jokes kill me.

Well, I gave you. Well, you know, whoa, I, oh, I remember. when the man called his mother in Florida. He said, Mother, how are you? She says, not too good. I've been very weak. And the son said, why are you so weak?

She says, I haven't eaten in a month. He says, mother, that's terrible. Why haven't you eaten in a month? She says, because I didn't want my mouth to be full. To call. That's a great joke. Because I didn't want my mouth to be full in case you should call. So, okay, we have to wrap now, and we would love to have you back again.

Yeah, Marty, will you do another one with us? Do another one? Yeah. Another time. Well, okay. But for the same price? Same price. Same as the Beatles got the first time.

Yes, how many of these programs have you done already? I think this is the third one. Yeah, this is just our third, and it was great. Oh, good. It was an honor to have you on. It was an honor to be on, Gilbert. Oh, thank. I stayed home this afternoon.

I even combed my hair and put on cologne because I want to be in shape. Well, your hair looks great and you smell terrific. And this has been... Thank you, Marty. I told you, I'm one of your groupies.

Well, I don't know what that means. He's going to throw some pictures in your window. Yeah, yeah. I hope to... This doesn't mean we have to go back to a hotel room together. Yeah. But. Well, Karen and I were just in Florida.

You know, I love Florida. I love the diversity. You know what that means? Gilbert. What? Diversity in Florida. Yes. I shook her.

I went over their tree and I shook your tree. And you know what happened? Six oranges and 12. Cubans fell out. We have to close up, and this has been great. Thanks, I could listen to your jokes like for an entire day, if not. Oh, wonderful. And so this has been the great Marty Allen.

Thank you, Marty. Thank you. Great Robert Godfrey. Oh, thank you. Enjoy. And this is the end. and I'm Gilbert Gottfried, and my co-host has been Frank Santo Padre, and this is... Oh, your co-host is very good.

Oh, Marty, you're a prince. Thank you. Well, at least you think so. Are you problems with it? But that's... We'll talk about that off the air. And this... Are you paying them the same thing you're paying me?

Exactly. Less. And this has been the amazing colossal podcast. Thank you, Marty Allen. Thanks, Gilbert. Bye-bye. Thank you.