WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 771 - Sammy Shore

Episode Date: December 26, 2016

Marc makes a pilgrimage to Las Vegas for a sit-down with Sammy Shore, a comic with a long show business life that doesn't quite have the ending he planned on. Sammy tells Marc about starting his career as Shecky Greene's partner, becoming the opening act for Elvis, starting The Comedy Store, and how each of these successful points of his career seemed to fall apart every time. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lock the gate! Alright, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers, what the fuck buddies, what the fucking ears, what the fucksters, what the fuckadelics? You know who you are. What's happening? I'm Mark Maron. This is my podcast, WTF. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not recording from my garage. Or maybe you can tell. Maybe the mic is so good and so perfect, and my producer is so talented that you think I'm talking from home, but I'm not. Are the levels okay? Can you hear me all right? Are my levels okay?

I've been having a hard time with levels. Certainly in my life, in my real life, my levels are always a little off. They're a little too loud generally. People say I'm yelling. I'm not yelling. I'm just talking succinctly and powerfully with impact is not yelling are the levels okay but the problem has not been that it's been that my levels are too low maybe i'm scaring my tape machine maybe i'm actually intimidating my flash recorder that might that it doesn't know if i'm yelling either and it's making decisions on its own it's like this is a little too much for me i'm gonna have to take this down a notch and it's doing it it's undermining me my flash recorder is being passive aggressive that's not possible because i'm i got control of the knob right now i could blow it out if i wanted to i could show this recorder who's boss anyway i'm in new york new york city i'm uh looking over third avenue and looking over

a table where sarah kane the painter is eating vegetable sushi quietly though we did have to take a minute off mic as she wrestled with the plastic container that's not good audio but uh but she's doing that to gingering the roll right now as they say in the professional sushi trade some people do the ginger as a palate cleanser some people like sarah just put it right on the sushi and add to it i personally am a palate cleanser ginger guy guy, put a little wasabi on there. It's not that I don't have anything to say. It's just that I'm sitting here in a hotel room trying to enjoy life. It's not easy all the time, the enjoying life thing. There's a lot of pressing issues. I imagine some of you just got through Christmas and now are entering the Hanukkah element.

Some of you were involved with the Hanukkah situation. Some of you did the Christmas thing. I'm actually recording this a day or two before Christmas, so I don't know what we're all going to go through. I don't know what happens in the future. I hope this goes up. I hope you're hearing this on Monday because that means we got through it.

Every day is like that now, and it hasn't happened yet. But, you know, I'm dealing with a sort of mild to intense Trump-related anxiety that is either escalated by engaging with the news cycle or with certain friends. Different levels of panic. I know some of you are just perhaps not many of you who listen to this sitting at home, just grateful at the change that has happened. But many of us, not so much aggressively skeptical, vigilantly apprehensive is another way I would put it. is another way I would put it. So today we're going to do sort of a profile in somewhat struggle and sadness in a way.

It's thematic for this show, but I talked to Sammy Shore in Las Vegas a few months ago. I went out to Las Vegas. It always reminds me when I say that of that Lenny Bruce bit where he's imitating a bad vegas comedy i was just in lost wages nevada anyway that said i went out there sammy shore the patriarch of the foot of the shore family the ex-husband of the empress of comedy mitzi shore the the original owner of the comedy store before it got famous has a story to tell, but not a story of success, my friends.

He's an old timer. He was a one-time partner to Shecky Green in a comedy team. He was a one-time opener for Elvis Presley. He was that guy. He was a guy. He was on the cusp. He was an act. He was a known quantity in certain circles, a live performer, a showman from the old school, but never surfaced.

You don't know him, but some of you didn't know Shelly Berman. Some of you didn't know Marty Allen. Some of you didn't know some of the other old timers I've had on here. But Sammy's a different story. Sammy is the father of Pauly and Peter and Sandy and Scott. I'm sure you guys know Pauly. I and Peter and Sandy and Scott. I'm sure you guys know Paulie. I know Peter and Paulie. But their mother is Mitzi, who comes up frequently on this show

because she is the one that started and built and made the Comedy Store what it was and the legacy of it lives on. Still the best club in los angeles i highly recommend you take a trip into the uh belly of the dark beast that is the comedy store it maintains its integrity as a place of authenticity and risk and adventure on the comedic stages but sammy shore's life sammy shore lost the store in a divorce settlement, basically gave it to her. I think he might have some regret about that. But in my mind, before talking to him, I'd always heard of him.

I always knew he was this comic. It always played into the mythology that Mitzi Shore wrestled away the store from this comic husband who did her wrong and built it into this thing. And Sammy was exiled out into the deserts of show business. That being Vegas. And a lot of that is true. And you're going to hear it here. You're going to hear it. Buttress your hearts.

Hold on to your seats for a tale of not quite success. You know, I've been entrenched in some way or another, either mystically or actually physically, in the dynamics of the comedy store for what seems like half my life. It's held a very, sometimes at once, dark place in my psyche and now a place of excitement and light. It's interesting how things change as you get older. Something's got to be good, right? It doesn't end well for anybody. Something's got to be good. You got to wrestle and snatch a little bit of peace and happiness out of the jaws of life. I'm being dramatic.

I'm about to go see Othello. Maybe I'm just preparing. I came out here to go to New Jersey. I had some business in Jersey I had to take care of. I'm going to leave it at that. You'll hear it. What else is happening, you guys? I'm eating too much.

It's the holidays. A lot of cookies. A lot of fuck it cookies. Did anyone else make those? Christmas fuck it cookies? Someone better call some cookies that. What kind of cookies are these? Fuck it.

How many did you eat? Fuck you. The fuck it fuck you cookies. Jesus, what did you eat over the holidays? Maybe you should start exercising. Shut the fuck up. Have a lot of fuck it cookies. Fuck you.

There you go. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Hope you're getting your presents. I just went and had some lunch with my buddy Sam Lipsight, the genius. Genius writer. Why not throw a plug out for Sam? Go read Sam's book you want some

darkly funny beautiful novels his his last book the ask is a wonderful book uh and the subject steve an early novel great homeland amazing i love sam lipsight and he's my buddy and we don't see each other enough it's a very weird thing as you get older. I don't know how old you are, how many friends you have. Me, I know exactly how old I am and exactly how many friends I have. I'm 53 years old and I have three friends. That's not true. I have a lot of friends, but you know the kind I'm talking about where you're like, we got it. We got to sit down and do the friend business. Not the everyday friend, you know, not the guy you're sort of like, what's going on? You want to have lunch today? No, you're doing a thing.

All right, maybe tomorrow. Not that guy. I don't have too many of those guys. But Sam and I, we go back and we go deep. And when we meet, when we hook up, there's things to be solved. There's problems to be solved and salved things need to be solved and things need ointment you know that kind of friendship and when you let it go for a few months a year you sit down and you get at it two men talking about sadness and some joy and some

thoughts about things but i guess my point is as you get older and you you're able to sort of see the arc of your conversations you know from 20 years ago to now and you know when you're younger and you go into a restaurant in new york new york's very specific like this because you know every other dude every other person in this town is sort of someone who has clearly been here a long time. And now they're just old, but they haven't told their clothing that. But you go, you're cracking up over there? Just being an audience of one in the corner?

I'm talking to Sarah, who's not heckling me, but is trying not to laugh out loud as she looks out the window and she's not easy to make laugh I only make her laugh with my show in real life very difficult everything's very serious very earnest but clearly she enjoys my sense of humor when she listens to me when I'm not around and this is one of those rare times where I'm performing live for her

so what was I talking about sad old men eating lunch that's right let's get back to that no but uh i guess my point is that i hope that if you have friendships you you you appreciate them like i i made a point today because the sad thing about having a you know a friend for a long time is when you don't talk to each other enough. And there's absolutely no fucking excuse for that. Like I can text anybody in the world.

I can tweet people. I can email like, like everyone knows where everybody is at all times. Point is, I said to Sam, I said, this is crazy. You know,

if you got no one to talk to, or you want to talk to me specifically for fuck's sake, let's talk. I mean, what do you think I'm doing with my life? Like, do you ever think about how many people you actually talk to anymore? It's like you text them. Maybe you email them. Maybe you're in touch with them.

But, you know, sometimes you got to talk. And me and Sam do it in person. But, like, I just told him. I said, look, we got to stay in touch more. I mean, just text me and ask me what's up. I mean, these are, we're heading into tough times. We better be there for each other. Am I right?

Now I'm going to share with you the conversation I had with Sammy Shore in Las Vegas, Nevada. Okay. Look, man, here's the thing. You might be talented. You might be talented. You might be good at what you do. You might want things in your life. You might have dreams and all that and working towards them. But sometimes, sometimes it doesn't all sync up.

But that doesn't mean that you're a failure. Doesn't mean that you didn't try your hardest. Doesn't mean you have to be bitter. It means two things. Be happy with what you do. Three things. Be happy with what you do. Keep trying.

Or give it up. Let it go. That's my pre-New Year message. I'll change it. I'll change it for New Year's. I'm just going to go back and forth on stuff. Hold on. Oh.

Oh, that's nice. I got a text from my mommy. Yeah, she's been very supportive lately. That's good. At least she's showing up here in the last quarter. She's going to give it up a little bit. I love my mommy. I hope you love your mommy.

Is that weird? What am I doing? Can we just get to the talk already? All right, this is me and Sammy Shore in Las Vegas, Nevada. So where the hell, you know, I've talked to a couple of guys of your generation. I talked to Marty. I talked to Norman Lear. I talked to Jonathan Winters. I talked to Norman Lear. I talked to Jonathan Winters.

I talked to, who else have I talked to the old time? Oh, Shelly Berman I talked to. I went to his house. I hear his mental health is not what he used to be, but I got him on a good day. He likes to collect knives.

Did you know that about Shelly Berman? Knives? He's got knives all over the place in cases. But he was a Chicago guy. You started in Chicago?

Yeah, I started on Chicago, yeah. But not with him. Right. Before or after? Before him. Yeah, yeah. So what was, like, how did you- Are we on or what?

Sure, yeah. We're on? Yeah, absolutely. Well, why don't you tell me we're on? That's not the way I do it. Well, how do you do it? I slip it in. I slip it in and we're just going.

But, like, the Chicago comedy scene, I've talked to who else? Like what was going on up there? How did your family end up in Chicago? Well, I got married in Chicago. To Mitzi? Mitzi, yes. But before that, before that, your folks, like what was the story? What were the Jews like in Chicago?

What were the Jews like in Chicago? What were the Jews like in Chicago? They were like Jews like today. But what kind of business was your father in? My father was in a used furniture store. Oh, he did, yeah. Heim and Schor and Sons. Heim and Schor. And Sons, yeah.

Did you work at the store? Yeah, I helped my dad, yeah. I was there for a while. How many brothers and sisters did you have? I had three brothers. Did they end up taking at the store? Yeah, I helped my dad. Yeah, I was there for a while. How many brothers and sisters do you have? I had three brothers. Did they end up taking over the business? No, no. My father sold the business later on when he couldn't work anymore.

And now my brother drove a cab. One became a cop. And Bernard stayed with my father. He was just not well so are they all are gone yeah they're all dead now and and what made you how'd you start into into getting involved were you into music first yeah kind of yeah kind of into music kind of i got into i got into music a trumpet player and i was a trumpet. I used to go to my dad. I said, Dad, would you give me $2 for my trumpet lesson?

He said, I gave you the $2. I said, but it was for last week's lesson. He said, you couldn't learn last week? He was just angry, pissed off. All the time? All the time. Always something. And what about your mother?

My mother was just the sweetest lady in the world. She got me everything I wanted. She stole money out of his pocket so she could buy me steaks. She was just a wonderful woman. I miss her. She was just a great, great, great woman. It's good to have that memory, right? Yeah, that's it.

That's the only one I have. And when you were doing trumpet, what was the scene, though? Were you in the big band music? No, no. I was 12, 13 years old. Yeah. And I started taking trumpet lessons. And I got fairly good.

Then I was in the high school band, Fourth Trumpet. Right. And then I became a trumpet player with local bands. And then... What was it, big band music at the time? Yeah, kind of, kind of. The high school was it big band music at the time kind of kind of the high school was a big band yeah uh and the bands that i worked in were just five piece six piece you know playing popular music like dance music yeah just you know we'd work a weekend at a joint yeah i was always the second or third trumpet player i I was never the first trumpet player.

And I was pissed off at that, you know. Did you have the chops to be first? Yeah, I had good chops, but I just couldn't get it together for myself. Did you like the jazz life? Did you like playing? Yes, I liked the jazz life. I liked it a lot. Yeah. And I just couldn't get with it.

I couldn't. No. No couldn't. You're always a ba-da-bop off. One off. I couldn't get it. I couldn't get the jazz beat. I couldn't get it. I just had to stay with the corny junk crap that I was

given to read. Right, right, right. You couldn't riff. No, I couldn't riff. Not at all. When did you know that you were funny? What time is it? Yeah, this morning? 250.

About 10 minutes ago. I was in high school. Yeah. And I was in the high school plays. Oh, yeah? Yeah, and I was just funny, just a funny kid. You had the timing. Yeah, just the timing.

I had the timing. Yeah. And I had a good lip. Yeah. And I could read. So I worked with, you know, four or five-piece orchestras around the city. And then once I worked with Tony Pareto, Parello or whatever his name was, a great trumpet player.

He had a band, a big band. He put me in. I played fourth trumpet. And that's where I stayed, fourth trumpet. Yeah. It was it for me. Yeah, and what about the, when did you start, did you ever do any comedy when you were with the band?

No, I didn't do nothing. I just played music. I tried to be funny with the band and told you to leave the same shit up. You know. No jokes. Just read the notes. Just read the notes.

And what inspired you to start doing comedy? Well, I got to be about 20, 19, 20, 21. I was just a funny kid. Just a funny kid. Were you working somewhere? Did you have a job? No, no. I got a job at Oakton Manor Resort in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Now, what is that? Was that a Jewish resort? That a resort. Yeah. A regular resort. A Wisconsin resort that catered to people from Chicago. How'd you get that gig? What's his name?

Lou Pollock was a clothier. Yeah. And I worked in his clothing. So I used to make the customers laugh. Right. He said, Sammy, you're not selling any clothes. You're making the people laugh. I'd be a good hero.

Yeah. Let me see if I can get you up at Oakton Manor Resort. And that was the place. It was outside of Chicago? Was it mostly? 90 miles outside of Chicago. And it was like a Catskills type of thing? Yeah, that was it. That was it.

Like the Chicago version? Yes, all Jewish people. Uh-huh. And I used to hear about Shecky. Shecky Green. Yeah. People used to come and say, you know Shecky Green? I said, no, no.

Boy, he's a funny guy. He's a real funny guy. You should have him come up here. He'd be really funny. You used to hear about him at the resort? Yes, yes. From people that lived inside the town. But you didn't know him?

I didn't know him, no. You'd never seen him? Never seen him, never seen him work. Who were the comics working up there? What were you doing up there when he first got the gig? Were you just't know him? I didn't know him, no. You'd never seen him? Never seen him, never seen him work. Who were the comics working up there? What were you doing up there when you first got the gig? Were you just, were you? I was a social director. Oh, okay.

I did everything. Right, right, right. The bowling, the this, the that. But they had comics coming up. No, no, I was the only comic they had. So you, but it wasn't a show. So, no, wait a second. Yeah.

You're rushing me, man. I'm sorry, buddy. Okay. Take it easy. I'm sorry. Okay. You want to kiss my ring? Yeah, please. Oh, you don't have it. You're rushing me. I'm sorry, buddy. Okay. Take it easy. I'm sorry. Okay. You want to kiss my ring? Yeah, please.

Oh, you don't have it. You forgot the ring. I just bought my wife a ring. Didn't Elvis give you a ring? No, I bought my wife a beautiful diamond ring. You did? Suzanne? No, she left.

Oh, she left? She's hawking the ring. Oh, I bought her a $5,000 diamond ring. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Kind of a marriage kind of a thing. Oh, good. Anyways. Yeah. So, all I heard was Shecky. Yeah. Shecky Green. Shecky Green. dollar diamond oh that's nice yeah kind of a marriage kind of a thing oh anyways yeah so

all i heard was shecky shecky green shecky green one day the greyhound bus pulls up in front of the resort yeah off comes this blonde kid kind of built with a suitcase i says oh it's jackie green that was jackie green yeah he came over to me he says where's where's the chinderman i said he's uh in in the main lodge over there all right are you shaky greens yes so what i want to i got to talk to shinderman are you going to work here well i don't know yet. He was always pissed off. So. Already. Then all of a sudden over the loudspeaker I heard the voice.

Sammy Shore, come to the main building to see Sid Shinderman. Yeah. I says, oh, this is it. And he says, Sam, I want you to meet Shacky Green. Shacky Greenfield, actually. Shacky Green. I said, hi. You two are going to be partners. You're going to team up with Shacky.

And Shacky looked at me like, oh, God. He didn't actually like that. Right. So we teamed up. And we wrote a song. We're the boys from Oakton, and we've come to play that Oakton treats you in the finest way. You don't want to go to Schwartz's? No, please.

You know, it was a crazy song. That's the other place? Yeah, and then we teamed up, and we wrote stuff, and we went out two nights a week, and we did our show. At the resort. It was terrific. Yeah. We were just sensational

and people kept hearing about us and kept packing the resort, kept packing it and he was doing more business with us there. Were you doing a variety show, song and dance? A variety show, yeah.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sammy Shaw and Jackie Green. Yeah, yeah. Hey, we're the boys from Oakton and we come out. Right. The song and then go. Did you set him up?

Were you the straight guy? Yeah, I was sort of the straight guy. And then when I did bits, he did straight, and then we just mixed it up. Yeah, yeah. And then we met a wealthy lady. Yeah. Her name was, I forgot her name, but she was a wealthy lady, and she had a wealthy husband.

Yeah. And she said, you guys are ready for New York. We were not ready for New York. And what did that mean to you at that time? Where would you go to New York? They were going to take you and put you up? Oh, no. She was going to get an agent.

Yeah. A big agent. Right. GAC. She had a friend there. Yeah. And he was going to get me a room in New York for both of us. And to appear there. Yeah. So, you see, oh, well, check it. We're going to get me a room in New York for both of us and to appear there.

Yeah. So you said, oh, well, Shaggy, we're going to New York. Oh, yeah. What are you guys, like 25? No, about, Shaggy was 22 and I was 21. Holy shit. Yeah. Kids. Kids is right.

Kids. So you go to New York? So we went to New York. Yeah. We're the boys from Oakton and we've come to say that Oakton treat, no. They did not treat us in the finest way. Get them off. You're doing Chicago stick.

Yes. The thing we did at the resort. Right. We're doing that there, and we bombed. And you're young, too. Yeah, we're young kids. Yeah. They came over to us and said, you guys stink. You guys are, forget about it. The worst. You're young, too. Yeah, we're young kids. Yeah. They came over to us and said, you guys stink.

You guys are, forget about it. The worst. You're out of here. Too bad. Yeah, that was it. Then Checky got sick. We had a suite at one of the big hotels there. Like the Plaza or something?

Yeah, I had a suite. He had a suite. And Milton, the husband of the lady that took us there yeah he was with her you know he was came to see the show and all the day don't worry about it we'll get something else don't worry about it we're gonna you're gonna be fine and i felt terrible it was just you know we were just stemmed through we weren't ready for new york we weren't even ready for Oakton Manor Resort. Yeah, you were kids. You had a summer job almost.

Yeah, that's all it was. And we did what we had to do. And the people liked us. They loved us. So we stayed about a year. At Oakton. You left New York. You licked your wounds.

You went back. Both of you in check, you went back? Yeah. And a guy drowned on us what do you mean well we were so sure we were swimming instructors too we had to watch the pool you had a pool in the place so i was i would be upstairs doing whatever it was and checky would be watching the pool yeah and checky would go and watch upstairs and do something and then one day i went up both of us went up and we were gone

and the lady kept screaming screaming someone's drowning someone's drowning hurry up hurry someone's drowning so check in i came back down the stairs into the pool he was at the bottom of the pool and we pulled him out and he was dead 28 years old on his honeymoon oh my god he was dead that's fucking horrendous bottom of the pool and that was it we we dragged him out i i pumped him and then shecky pumped in because we called the uh whatever whatever ambulance and uh they they tried to revive him and it was just the man died he was 28 years old his face is so, so much in front of me all the time. Really? I never forgot him.

Horrible. Never forgot him. Just a sweet man. Just lovable guy. Just happy guy at the bottom of the pool. Ugh. But a terrible feeling. Heartbreaking.

Terrible. Yeah. It was that whole time in my life being at the at the resort where Shecky was I don't know it just

didn't get any better and then he got pissed off at the band leader Manuella why you what do you know how to play the god damn music

why don't you play Shecky shut up don't you know he was always mad huh yeah Manuella was his name

and he kept swearing at him. I hate him. He's terrible. He's not terrible, Shecky. He's just playing a little music that we have. Nah, he's always putting them down. So finally, Shecky, I'm quitting.

I said, I'm quitting. What are you quitting? Where are you going? I'm quitting. I said, okay, you're quitting. And he quit. Yeah. And I was left out there by myself he quit on stage after the show okay he quit yeah and he says i'm getting out of here

i said okay and that was that and i was the star again yeah it was great it was great i did the sticks and the bits and the things and the you know and he saw me jackie did yeah he said hey yeah you're you're not bad yeah you know i'll you keep coughing i got this cold yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah i know jackucky yeah yeah well i'll be back tomorrow night yeah but i'll be back you know with the show tomorrow night he came back after he quit yeah he came back right yeah he saw how great i was and he he just came back he just he didn't want to let you have it no he just no he just wouldn't let me get that laughs. And how'd you end up solo? How'd he end up solo? What happened?

I got a job in New Orleans at a lounge. How'd that happen? How do you get from... I don't know. Through an agent, Paul Greer was his name. Did it end well at the Oakton Manor? No, he quit. We left there after that.

Yeah. After about a year, we left. And I got a job in New Orleans at a lounge. And I was the head of the town. Everyone was coming to see me. The mafia, everybody, Bobby the mafia kid, young guy. Yeah. Said, Sammy, I want you to come with me on this Sunday. I want to introduce you to my brothers.

You know, hey, you're coming. So I got in the limo. That one Sunday we went out there and way, way, way, way. In New Orleans. In New Orleans at this restaurant. And a whole bunch of guys were sitting around like you see in the movies yeah and he says save me sit down and just keep quiet you know my brother's talking you know and you guys you know you guys are okay you're doing all right we got to make it a little bit better and keep the you know

the stuff down and they don't know what we're doing or whatever he was talking. I didn't know what he was talking about. And Bobby, his name was Bobby. Yeah. And he would pick me up every Sunday.

We'd go out there to watch and to do whatever. Eat? Did you eat? Yeah, eat, you know, and just be part of that.

And it was great for me. Was that the first time you encountered the Mafia? Yeah. Because they ran show business, right? Yeah, yeah, they did everything. He had nothing to do with the lounge. Right.

And then the owner of the lounge said to me, Sam, you know anybody that could follow you in for a couple weeks? You know, I don't have another comic like you, you know? You're so great. And I thought, well, Sh jackie green yeah sorry i said jackie what a mistake that was i put jackie green in yeah and he killed him yeah he killed him in two weeks three weeks four weeks five weeks he was the comic he got you lost your job yes another job that was it he was he was he was

the guy what was he doing the improv stuff still at the beginning was he just riffing what was he doing he was it's kind of an act he was you know kibitz and and bullshit to people and you know he would he would always just fool around with the people uh-huh and i did an act yeah straight up straight up you didn't do crowd work yeah a little bit here yeah you know but whatever it was it was great they loved it yeah i did great and then shacky went in and he did greater uh-huh and their owner three weeks four weeks five weeks i said Bill, how long is Jackie going to be here? He said, we don't know. He's doing great.

Look at the room. It's packed. I said, oh, okay. I left there and that was it. Then I got him a job. Another job. I got him another job at the Martha Ray Supper Club in Florida. Martha Ray had a supper club.

You went from New Orleans to Florida? Yeah. And I got him a job at the Martha Ray Supper Club in Florida. Martha Ray had a supper club. You went from New Orleans to Florida? Yeah. And I got him a job at the Martha Ray Supper Club in Florida. And that's where it started for him. Everyone was talking about Jackie Green. You're awfully nice

to a guy that keeps putting you out of work. That's the way I was. And you're still friends? Oh yeah. He was supposed to meet me, and now he's, I can't trust him anymore. Oh, yeah. Screw him. Oh, really?

Now? Now at 90, you're finally drawing a line? Yeah, that's it. Yeah, he's. But like after, so after New Orleans, like what was the work like? Because now you're a guy. You got an act. And there were no comedy clubs. It was all supper clubs.

No supper clubs. And you just what? You had a booking agent that would run you anywhere. Paul Marr was my booking agent. Yeah. And he booked all the comics and all the guys. So Paul booked me in a few rooms at a hotel and different places. And they did great.

Always did great. Were you headlining or usually opening? Kind of like semi-headlining with the star who was ever there. Like a singer sometimes? Yeah, usually a singer. And I stayed around there for a while. How'd you end up in Florida? Well, an agent called me from Florida, Michael Morris.

And you're still in your 20s. Yes. Yeah. Mid-20s, 25. And there's a lot of comics, right? Oh, yeah. People forget that they're like, you know, they say there's a lot of comics now, but there were hundreds of them, right?

Oh, God. They're all over the place. They're all over the place. So Marvin Morris called me. Yeah. He said, Sammy, I heard about you and all that, you know, why don't you come down here? You could be, I'll be, you'll be able to work every night. I said, you're kidding me. He said, Sammy, I heard about you and all that. Why don't you come down here? You'll be able to work every night. I said, you're kidding me.

He said, no. We got rooms all over the place. So I told my wife at the time, Mitzi, and we moved to Florida. Did you have kids yet? Yeah, we had two kids. Now, let's go back. So you met Mitzi at the club, at the resort? What was she doing?

She was just a kid, kind of? She was kind of working as a secretary. I said, could you tip up some jokes for me? And she said, sure. And she got to the, oh, this was at a resort in Wisconsin. Yeah. Pine Point Resort. Oh, good.

In Wisconsin, before the other resort. Yeah. And you were working there? to oh this is at a resort to wisconsin yeah pine point resort oh good in wisconsin before the other resort yeah and uh and you were working there yeah i was working there yeah and no jackie just me yeah and uh all of a sudden we got we got very close yeah i gave her a bunga to being in a bunga and you know she hadn't had two kids yeah and. And I got married. You got married after the kids? No, before the kids. Okay. That's Sandy and Scotty, right? That was Scotty.

Yeah. And Sandy? Sandy and Scotty. Yeah. Then Peter and then Pauly. Yeah. But you had two kids when you were moved to Florida. Yeah.

And now with Mitzi, did she work for you primarily? No, she was still at a resort. Yeah. She was still there, and then I got a job in Vegas. Oh, yeah, Vegas. We're in Vegas now. We're in Vegas. Maybe I can get a job.

Yeah. Is the owner? We can introduce you. So after Florida, you went a job. Yeah. Is the owner, is the owner, I can introduce you. We can introduce you. So after Florida, you went to Vegas? Yeah, yeah, after Florida, yeah. I went to Vegas. With Mitzi? Yeah, well, she was part of it.

You know, she was like, I got at the Riviera Hotel. Yeah. I worked there about once a month. And I started getting hot again. I really started getting, people were coming to see me and they, boy, that comic,

you gotta see this comic. In Vegas here. I got it in Vegas. Yeah. And then Bill Miller, who was booking the International Hotel, which hadn't opened yet.

Yeah. And also the Riviera, which I worked. He was booking both rooms. And he said to me, he said, Sammy, how would you like to open for Elvis? I said, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is in the 60s? I'm going to have him come to see you.

He and the Colonel Parker. I was at the Flamingo Hotel with Tom Jones. Okay. Yeah. How long are you open for Tom Jones? A while? Yeah, a few weeks. Yeah?

Yeah. Good guy? Yeah. Good guy. Still sings, bro. Yeah. Still sings. So the Colonel and Elvis and Bill Miller came knocking at my door. Yeah. Still sings. Through the Colonel and Elvis and Bill Miller came knocking at my door.

Yeah. I couldn't believe it was them knocking at my door looking at me. What's this, the mid-60s? Yeah, I think so. Something like that? Yeah. Uh-huh. And there's Elvis.

Beautiful Elvis. Oh, God. And shiny Elvis. He was gorgeous. Yeah. You see me? I really like you. I think you're funny. He said to me, you're a funny guy.

And Bill Miller says, well, how would you like to open for Elvis in three weeks at the New International Hotel after Barbra Streisand? You know? I said, wow. I would love it. Yeah. You got it. and that was it the beginning of the the rest for me it was like working with elvis you're after five years

five years you're out here working with elvis still married yeah and uh she was out here mitzi was with you yeah she was here yeah i was wasn't living here right i was living in la at the time i moved to la from from florida of course sterling siliphant yeah who was a great writer yeah saw me at the saint petersburg hotel in saint petersburg florida yeah and he liked me so much that sammy's just got you got a you got an acting but you got you got you got something here something is like not right here you know so he wrote me a part in route 66 you know and i did it as an engineer i fell in the water. They got me out. Yeah.

It was like, it was a great part. Uh-huh. And I got that part, and I started getting other parts. I started getting, you know, not big parts, but parts that were... Right, you did Gomer Pyle, the Munsters. Yeah, I did a lot of them, a lot of them. Little sitcoms here and there? Yeah, just, you know, all over the place.

And he's the guy that pulled you out to L.A., though, to live here? And he wrote me that part, and he wrote me another part in another show I did. He was incredible. But so, right, so then you're living, this is, I guess, what, you moved to L.A. in the early 60s somewhere? Yeah. And you're doing all the little TV. Yeah. And then you're doing the club dates in Vegas.

Yeah. So you're living the good life as a comic and actor. Very good life. You paid your dues. You did the supper clubs. You did. What did I hear that you were at a supper club somewhere and a guy got shot? Yeah.

It was one of my first jobs at Danville, Illinois. Oh. I was out there doing with the girl. The girls were coming out later. Yeah. It was a strip joint. Yeah. And I'm doing it and all of a sudden bang bang you know right in front of me

the guy shoots the guy right at his face oh my god I said Mike that's just what I said oh my god and I said well well well

stop everybody and I picked up my horn hey hey I'm Louis Armstrong yeah yeah yeah so you broke into an Armstrong impression I picked up my horn and, Louis Armstrong. And he started reading that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you broke into an Armstrong impression. I picked up my horn and played Louis Armstrong.

Saints Go Marching. Never forgot it. And then everything died down, and the police came, and it was just awful. And you stayed on stage. I stayed on stage and did the rest of my act. I stayed through the whole night. That was the right thing to do, huh? Yes, it was. The owner must have been appreciative.

He did. He was very appreciative. I didn't even know who it was. I didn't know the owner. Yeah, but the guy who, it was a mafia thing probably, right? Yeah. $125 a week I got at the Supper Club. I forgot.

I don't know. But you worked with a lot of people like the Andrew Sisters. You worked with a lot of people, right? I worked with all of them. You name it, I've been there. Yeah. Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Oh, yeah? Did the Hollywood Palace with them. Oh, yeah. If you can get the Hollywood Palace, you can show a clip of me doing my brother's saying, give me an amen, give me hallelujah.

Right, that preacher bit. Preacher bit, yes. You did a record with that. Yes, an album. Yeah. up for me do my brother's name give me an amen give me hallelujah right that preacher bit preacher bit yes you did a record with that yes an album yeah yes i did a record with that and it didn't do very well so you're coming to vegas now you got what three kids i imagine yeah before paulie the last kid yeah so mitzi's here living in where hollywood yeah that's where your house was and you're going house big house what Big house. What a big house. $138,000 I paid for it. Not the one on Doheny.

Yes. Oh, that one. Yes. Oh, yeah. Big house. That was nice. Yeah, beautiful. Yeah.

And so you're going, you're living the life. Yeah. And Elvis is taking care of you. What was it like hanging out with him? Did you get any sense of. He was kind of with the guys mostly. The guys he hung out with. With Rad and Sonny. Yeah, Rad, the guys. He was insulated. Dr guys mostly, the guys he hung out with. With Rad and Sonny?

Yeah, Rad, the guys. He was into it. Dr. Nick? Yeah. Yeah. So you didn't get, but he didn't seem like he was going down like he did, did he? No, not until later on. He started eating and drinking and, you know, just, I said, Elvis, what's going on?

You know, he said, I didn't know that he had nothing, you know. i said elvis what's going on you know he said another damn nothing you know he just he just fell apart and what was the colonel uh the colonel tom parker like he was he wasn't a nice man yeah but he was nice to me right really nice to me i just sit with him every night at the poker at the uh roulette we i'm at the roulette wheel, at all the gambling places. And he wouldn't give me any money. I would just watch him. He would win and lose. What's the matter with these guys? They didn't see me close to him.

He said, you better spin them guys, Sammy. And after about five years, then that was it. I had to leave. It's like, it's the end of the road for me. Well, what happened with that gig? Why'd you lose the Elvis gig? I thought that was a lifetime gig. No.

What happened was, I accepted a job in a lounge at the same hotel. The star in the lounge. Yeah. While I'm working with Elvis. And that was a real stand-up show. That was a comic show. That was a big, I had a tent built. I did working with them. And that was a real stand-up show. That was a comic show. That was a big, they had a tent built.

I did Brother Sam bit, the whole thing. Yeah. Really, you know. Yeah. And I bombed. Yeah. It just wasn't,

it wasn't for me. It was a big 700 seat room. And one day, what's his name? The colonel, the guy that was the road manager he came to me says sammy he says uh elvis doesn't want you anywhere he doesn't want anyone working the lounge at the same hotel you fired that was it i had 16 weeks in the lounge after that

and he bombed the whole 16 weeks no No. Oh, good. They did well. That was a smaller room. Oh, okay. Yeah. And what did Mitzi say about all this? Was she still watching your career? Were you guys getting along? Yeah, we were.

I was sorry I got married to her. Yeah? You had a lot of kids. She had four kids. Yeah. Threw them out. What am I going to do with the kids? You're sorry you got married to her why was she difficult yeah she was she was a pain in the ass yeah yeah she was i mean she's not well now but she's just i don't know it's just it was a sad ending you know just she wanted the house

and doheny i gave her the house. She wanted this. I gave her that. And then she says, I want the comedy store. I said, what? Yeah, give me the comedy store. And I'll take $600 off the child support.

I said, 600 bucks? I said, I was paying $1,100 at the time. 600 bucks. Yeah, well, that was okay. That was that. Like time. $600. Yeah, well, that was okay. That was that. Like a schmuck. Yeah. Like a schmuck.

I gave her the comedy store. No strings attached. Nothing. Didn't make a penny from it. Could have, five, 10% at the end of, you know. Yeah. Didn't take anything because I was stupid. I was a dumb Jew.

Well, it made sense so financially at the time. Well, let's go to that. So you're in L.A. What is the birth of the Comedy Store? What was it originally? I was doing a show for Sam Singer. He manages Frank Sennis, who owned the Club Lido, owned a couple places. It was well manages Frank Sennis. Yeah. Who owned the Club Lido. Owned a couple places.

Yeah. It was well, well known. In Hollywood. In Vegas. Oh, in Vegas. Yes. Yeah. And I did this show for Sam Singer,

and I did well, and he loved me. He said, Sam, let me say something to you. We've got the Club Lido, you know, it's a big nightclub down the street there. There's a lounge in there that nothing's going on.

We're singers and it's just nothing happening. Nothing happens there. So why don't you go in there with your comedy friends and do stand-up and see what happens. So I said, Jodo, okay. I met Frank Sinnes, and he said, oh, go, go, go, go, go do it. He was the owner?

Yeah, he was the owner. He owned the Club Lido. He owned the whole building. Which was now the Comedy Store. Yeah, well, Comedy Store was part of the whole hotel. It was part of the Club Lido. Yeah. That was the smaller size right and so it was bigger size it was the main room right main room was over there was club lido

and before that it was zeros years ago yes and then it like who knows this was like in what the 60s late 60s yeah probably yeah so he said look do something with the lounge yeah and you're like all right okay so i said to my friend rudy hey rudy i got the lounge over at you know it's club lido you know the loungers it was we could put some comics in there and do it do some stand-up what do you think no yeah that would be fun that was okay let's try it Yeah, that would be fun. Okay, let's try it. So I said, okay.

So the next day, Rudy's in the club painting it black. Yeah. I said, what are you painting, Rudy? He said, I'm painting it black. It's black and dark. It's like, get it dark. It's like a nightclub color. It's perfect. I said, okay.

He painted the whole club black. And we had the booth and April 28th 1972 was the opening of the Comedy Store and that was the beginning of my

my downfall in a way you know it's like that wasn't before Misty this was like later on but

I Who was on? I don't remember the guys that wasn't before Misty. This was like later on. But I... Who was on? I don't remember the guys. They were not well known. They were comics. We had about four or five comics and a singer. We had a piano player.

Larry played piano. And that was it. And Rudy invited all his writing friends. And, you know, that was a. And Rudy invited all his writing friends. And that was a big hit that night, April 27, 1972. And you didn't have a group of guys that was there all the time? Was it Craig T. Nielsen? No, no.

Craig came in later. Yeah. All the guys came in later. These were just comics. After about a year, Art Singer, who managed Johnny Carson, came in to see the show. Yeah. And he liked me so much.

He said, Sam, you've got something special here. I said, what do you mean? He says, you know, the way you're working and the way you're,

you know, why don't we do something and I'll bring in people from the Jerry Lester show. He's going to close, the show's going to close in a year or so and then maybe they'll like you and you can do the Jerry Lester show. That was a big time already. Yeah.

And I said, oh, okay. He hired writers. Yeah. We rehearsed every day. We had 10 writers. Jokes and this and that. For you to host a show. To host a show.

And then we, that night came at the Hollywood Palace. He rented it out and all that. And had the people from the network, the three guys. Yeah guys came to see me. We did it from the start, the beginning of the show, we had Tony Orlando and Don. Yeah. And, you know, a couple,

I think one or two comics, I don't know. So we did an hour and a half. And after the show, the guys from abc's yeah no it's not our kind of thing and i didn't get it and my kids were there watching mitsy was there and uh it was the end for me that was it that was your big shot yeah that was it but you had the store though right i still had the store yeah and how was that forming did you was that a popular place yeah it was starting to get popular it was starting to get a little busier a little busier a little busier and then when mitzi took it over she

changed the whole the whole idea of the place she changed she was at the register with the with the money coming in and And she booked the guys. You're on from 9 to 9.30. By 9.30, the quarter to 10, 10 to 15. She had everything lined up. Yeah. You know, with the names and the things. And they went and did it.

And it worked for her. It just seemed to work for her. And it got better and better and better and better. And this is before you guys split up she was running the place yeah she was running it and i was on the road 16 weeks in vegas you were yeah and i came back and it was like it was over with it was a mitty shore room it was yeah now did she take your guys who were the guys that you put in there? Sure. Some of the guys. Nothing was well-known.

Craig came in later. Craig T. Nelson. Yeah. No one knows he did stand-up. Was he funny? Yeah, he was funny. He put you on coach, huh? Yeah.

And who else was there? Berski's father used to work the lot. What was that guy's name? Alan Berski's dad, right? Alan Berski's dad, yeah. He parked cars for you? Yeah. And Berski was hanging around? And my son Scott parked cars for you and first he was hanging around scott

parked cars too oh yeah yeah so it was running well it was starting to really but by the time she took it over did you get the whole building how did that happen you never had the whole building no never had the whole building she took it over and you got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. Yeah. And then she finally got the comedy store. She finally bought the comedy store. Bought the building? Bought the building. She bought this. She bought that apartment.

She bought that house. She bought this. She bought that. The whole area was bought up by Mrs. Shore. After you guys broke up. Yeah. She just was bright. She had an idea of what to do,

and I didn't. And she wound up with it, and she became very popular. And my name was never mentioned. You know, don't mention Sammy Shore. My name was put on the outside, Sammy Shore, with all the names. Yeah.

Big deal. You know, with all the names. Yeah. Big deal. So that was it for me. That was the end of the road for me. But was it though? I mean, you kept working, right? Oh, yeah. I worked with all the stars. Did you open for Tony Orlando? Yeah, I was working with Tony a lot.

Mostly Vegas? Vegas, Reno, Tahoe. All of, Diana Ross and the Supremes in Tahoe. Diana Ross, you know, at this hotel. The girl that sang We Were Only Men

Diana Warwick. Uh-huh. Yeah. And I worked with her. And then Tony, Joey Bishop put me on his weekly show to do a week.

And I did a week. Yeah. It was rough. Rough. A show every night, you know, doing a bit, doing a bit every night.

And you're working for a living, doing the comedy. Yeah, every... And how's your relationship with the kids through all this? All the kids were... She was like really, really nasty. Yeah. nasty yeah with oh your dad is he was like why'd she hate you so much

i don't know i really don't know why she hated me so much yeah i don't know and when let's let's go back to mention some names because i want to get your opinion of guys that you knew like uh from your generation like when you opened the uh when you opened the store did you get guys like buddy hackett working there ever no did you know buddy no he's funny guy though right very funny guy but you knew jackie leonard right jackie leonard yeah yeah like he what he was just a friend yeah yeah but good comic right a lot of people don't know him got great great comic yeah did he help you out kind of yeah yeah he kind of said a couple things to me that made a little sense yeah yeah and then check he came uh at la and then he was you know quite well known and he was

he did the D. Martin thing he was on D. Martin's show a lot yeah he was Jakey became a star yeah in Vegas

to make a hundred thousand a week oh yeah yeah he was like oh and when I went to see him at the Riviera I was working with Elvis

at the time yeah he whacked me when he saw me he hit me yeah and knocked me down yeah

I said what the hell are you doing yeah you son of a bitch you didn't come to see me He whacked me when he saw me. He hit me and knocked me down. I said, what the hell are you doing? Yeah, you son of a bitch. You didn't come to see me. I've been here for two weeks. He said, what are you talking about? I've got a job with Elvis. I've got to work it every night.

Oh, you're full of shit. You know, he just ruined it for me. Oh, yeah? Yeah, he just. It's sad, huh? Yeah. And what about Milton Berle? You had a relationship with Milton? Yeah, he just. It's sad, huh? Yeah. And what about Milton Berle? You had a relationship with Milton? Yeah, with Milton.

Milton got me into the Friars Club. Oh, yeah? Yeah. The Friars Club was really something. In L.A.? L.A., yeah. Good time? I went there every day.

Yeah? Sat with Milton as he talked to races. Yeah, no, but not that. I don't want that horse. I want. Yeah, yeah. With the horse. Shut up, Sammy. And it was just a great time. not that I don't want that horse I want with the horse shut up Sammy

and it was just it was just a great time who else was hanging around then yeah I was hanging with the comics Norm Crosby yeah and all the guys were just they were wonderful Red Buttons Jan Murray they were just a great bunch of guys Jan Murray was funny I see like as a kid

I'm 52 but I just remember seeing him on the game shows. You would see Red Buttons, you'd see all these guys on the roasts, but they'd already had their time as like these great comics

and I don't think people really remember them that well. No, no, no, no. But Jim, did you know like Freddie Roman and those guys?

Not really, but later, I got to know them later on. Yeah. You know, I got friendly with them and went to New York

and I went to the Fries Club. Yeah. I got friendly with Freddie and Dick, Dick Capri and all the guys. Oh, yeah, yeah. Mousy Lawrence. Mousy Lawrence was great. Yeah, yeah. Alan King.

Alan King. Oh, God, he was. You like hanging around those comics, huh? Yeah, it was just great. Well, some of those guys. What? It was a great time for me. And some of those guys have been around since Hanson's Drugstore.

They're all the same guys, right? Yeah. They were wonderful. They were good to me. What about Red Fox? Because he had a club, right? Red Fox had a club in L.A. And he would always come and work for me at the comedy store.

He'd walk in and I'd say, Ladies and gentlemen, I put him on right away. Yeah. He had to cut the comic short and blah, blah, blah, we got, well, I put him on right away. Yeah. Cut the comic short and blah, blah, blah. Was great, right? Oh. Funniest guy in the world. Oh, funny, funny, funny, funny.

Oh, God. No, like a nice guy or? Great guy. Great guy. Just a wonderful man. And he got screwed at the end. They took everything away from him. He did?

Yeah, because he owed the government and taxes and they took his house away. They took his furniture. They took everything away from him. He did? Yeah, because he owed the government and taxes and they took his house away, they took his furniture, they took everything away. No kidding. And a year later, he died. Yeah, he was just... Fucking show business, huh?

Yeah, show business. Yeah, God. Well, at that time, some of the guys... You like show business? I'm starting to like it less. Less. I romanticize it, you know, and I'll

tell you honestly, you know, me hanging around with comics, I've been doing comedy over half my life, and I love hanging around with comics. They're some of the brightest, funniest guys. You know when you're hanging around them. You got a short hand, you talk, you're always going to hear some brilliant shit. And I love comics, but the business

is brutal. It's brutal. It's a heartbreaking business for most people. You're right. And you found that out at 52. Yeah. Right? Yeah. That's good for you.

You found it out already in your life. You found it out just at the right time. Yeah. You don't know exactly what to do with that information because you're pretty far in already. Yeah, you're in, but still, there's a way to get out of it. There's a step you take. Get away from all the bullshit.

Yeah. And then come in. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right, right, right. And then step out. So you head away. You have this show. Yeah, this works.

This show's doing well. Things work. And you're in and you're out, and you're in and out, and that's it. Well well you can sort of be your own guy now a little more back in the day like it just seemed like it was a smaller business and there you know people could make stars and those guys would stick and then you didn't know what was going to happen with the rest of people that happens now but there's a lot more outlets there's a lot more ways work you work an angle you may not be a big star but you can work

an angle what do you mean by that well i mean like you know i got this podcast i didn't know how the hell this was gonna make money and then it sort of worked out for me and i don't have a boss and i do okay and i do stand up and i get a you know a nice draw on the road but i'm not a huge star but i do all right and you gotta accept that at a certain point you're right you're right about that you're 52 you're right in the middle of it yeah you're right right there just at the now you got to make that move you gotta i gotta you know try to put some shit away so i don't doesn't end too sad it's a tough way it's a tough way with all the comics today there's so many comics and every other kid is a comic. Right.

It's all, you know, you don't know what they are. But wasn't it always like that or no? In the early days, there was the Red Buttons and Milton Berles and those guys. They knew what they were doing. They had an act. Yeah. And they went out and did their act. Yeah.

It was funny. Yeah. And they rewrote stuff. Yeah. And did another act. Yeah. And rewrote another act. So they were writers too.

Right. So they were always writing material for themselves. And the guys that couldn't write, I wrote some, but I just couldn't really get over the hump to write more stuff for myself. Right. And I just, you know. Just stagnated? Yeah, just kind of like. And you never wanted to hire writers?

You had all these comics around you. You could have thrown someone a bone. I don't know. It just flew away. And then I had this operation. You have some music you can play here? Sure. I'll roll it in.

What's wrong, Sam? What's wrong? What was the operation? You have a valve that is not doing well, and we have to go in and replace the valve. You're kidding me. No, we're not kidding. We show you on the screen and

they took me in there in the office and they showed me that the valve was in your heart it's a part of the heart yeah so i went in yeah kibitzed all the way uh-huh to the operating room uh-huh of course kip kip didn't stop a minute. Sammy, shut up. Yeah. Then I finally got to the doctor, and he was a good friend of mine. Are you going to do it? What are you going to do? Just shut up, Sammy.

Yeah. Whatever it is. Well, you're scared, right? And I came out of it. Yeah. And then I came out of it, and I never shut up since then. I never became anything after that. After everything stopped, no one wanted Sammy Shaw.

He was too old. And he's not there anymore. He walks with a walker. He walks with a walker? Yeah. Are you doing Mark's show with a walker? Yeah. Yeah, I came up with a walker.

Where is it? Oh, it's right in back of me. Yeah, Walker. And I walk, I've had it for two years now. And it's like, my friend, he said, I don't need it. I can still walk and do what I do. But it's that one time that just fall, I can't get up. Really?

There'd be no way I could get up. Once you fall, once can't get up. Really? There'd be no way I could get up. Once you fall, once I fell, there was, you'd have to help me. It was so hard to get up. It was the ending for my comedy career, really.

Did you fall on stage? No, I fell. That's good. Getting out of a car, getting out of the car at the temple during the holiday. Yeah.

Whacked my head against the, and they came and they put me in the thing and they took me to the hospital and whatever. Then two weeks later, I fell again in front of the comedy store. No, in front of the Gold's Gym. Whacked my head on the thing and that was it. Well, you're still pretty lucid. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm lucid with people that i like you know what are those things you're taking uh nicotine lozenges are they nicotine yeah yeah do they help you yeah they're good

no they really help you mark i mean i don't smoke i haven't smoked in a decade but i like eating these it's like that's how I medicate. You never got into the drugs or the booze, huh? No, never. Well, you've seen a lot of people around you, huh? Oh, God. Kill everybody. Kill everybody is right.

Now, how about, like, I see your son, Paulie, a lot, and I see Peter, too. I talk to Peter. But, you know, Paulie sort of is interesting because you know he's he's really the only one that followed your footsteps yes and uh and he seems to have a lot of love for you and you guys get along all right right when i work with him yeah i a couple years ago i worked with him a lot every other room i was kill the people yeah sometimes it took him 10 minutes to get going uh-huh because that was funny You're blowing him off stage? Yes.

Yeah? Then as I got, you know, sicker, you know, I just couldn't work anymore. So I stopped working with him. And I got the Laugh Factory. We're at the Laugh Factory. Yeah. It's the Laugh Factory. Yeah, there's the Laugh Factory, yeah.

I used to work here. Yeah. And I killed here. And then one night I fell. Yeah. I fell around the stage. And I couldn't work here. And I killed here. And then one night I fell. I fell around the stage. And I couldn't get up. And they came up and they helped me up. Did you hurt yourself or you just kept going?

Jarring, huh? Yeah. It was sad for me in front of the people. Yeah, yeah. And they picked me up and they took me backstage. And I was okay. I was just, is this it? Is this the end?

Yeah. And I always liked the Laugh Factory. The Laugh Factory. I gave Jamie Masada his first job as a waiter at the Comedy Store. No shit. Jamie Masada was my waiter at the Comedy Store. Uh-huh.

And he loved me and I loved him. And when he opened the Laugh Factory, I helped him. I helped. When it was like just a hallway almost. Just a hall. Just a little teeny room. And then Paulie said to me, Dad, I'm going to work the Laugh Factory because Mom doesn't want me to work the comedy show because I'll bomb.

And, you know, it was bombing for her. because mom doesn't want me to work the comedy show because I'll bomb. And, you know, it was bombing for her. So he went and worked, and Jamie Masada was very, very good to him. You know, he worked there. He did well. And he went on from there. Well, he used to work at the store when he was a kid,

but she'd give him a hard time, huh? Yeah. She would just, you know. She was hard on people. I was a doorman there when I was a kid. It'd give him a hard time huh yeah she would just you know she was hard on people i was a doorman there when i was a kid it was rough she was scary to everybody yeah she was like she wasn't a nice person i found out later she wasn't a nice person with a comedy store but you were married to her for years yes and i didn't see that side of her really no never saw that that vicious side of her, you know, where she became queen of sunset. Yeah.

I mean, I looked at her like, whoa, what is that? With her feather boa? Yeah, with her snake. Yeah. You know, she was just, and she would tell comics, you're not funny. You know, just forget about. Just forget about it. Don't come back here anymore. Uh-huh.

You can't say that to a comic who's trying. Uh-huh. You know, maybe later on he would be funny. It happens.

It happens just the way it happens. Sure. And she wasn't very... But you didn't have to have any real contact with her, I guess, after. No.

Yeah. And I gave her the store and she just the rest is history yeah do you are all the kids in touch with you oh yeah talk to scotty came up the father's day last week and paulie came up oh good yeah and my daughter called me she i'm close to my kids so do you do you do any more stand-up or or is this it? I'm looking for jobs. Yeah. Hey, hi. He's ready to work. Ready to work.

You're the owner? Are you the owner? Yeah. Oh, listen, could you give me a day or two? Oh, he hired me. Wow. Talk to Harry Basil. Yeah, Basil.

There's a nice man. That is a very nice man. For him to do this for us. Yeah. For man. Yes. That is a very nice man. Mm-hmm. For him to do this for us. Yeah. For you. Yeah. You know, to put this in this room where, you know, they have a 4 o'clock show and... Oh, that's right.

Yeah. What time is it? It's 3.20. See? Pretty soon. Yeah. We have to end this. Yeah.

What the hell? What's the 4 o'clock show? Who the hell wants to do that show? Oh, he has people do it. Yeah up huh yeah he has got stand up and then he does this crazy show yeah do you like vegas yes i like vegas because it gives old people a place to go and i go to the the the red rock hotel and watch the big screen with the sports and shit. Oh, yeah? Oh, you got me.

I said, Suzanne, you got to take me. Okay, what time? Okay, I'll take you. Buys me a hamburger or whatever. What do you mean, just sit there? And I sit there for two, three hours. When basketball was on, forget about it. I was there every day. Every day to watch the playoffs,

to watch the Golden State, the LeBron. I was nuts. I was crazy. But I wanted to see. I wanted Golden State to win again, and they lost. So that was my love. That's my outside activity. But I would like to get back into stand-up.

I could do it, you know. But just standing on that stage is like, I don't know if I should. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's just. Well, that's why you got this, the last man sitting. You do it like Don Rickles.

I saw Don Rickles. He sits now. He sits now? Yeah, he sits with the cane. I saw him in Montreal two years ago. Really? He sat. And he sat there and he did it.

He sat there with the band behind him in almost like a throne and he had his cane and he just told the stories. He wonderful don he is something huh yeah he is something yeah i liked on he was a nice man i was a nice man all the guys were nice freddie roman was like i don't know he's like new yorkish and Dick Capri and those guys were nice guys. Yeah. But Freddie was like, I don't know.

You can never get the new material though, huh? Never built the act out. No. Never, never. I always got a new bit here, a new bit there. You know, it was always something. If I can go back 50 years 60 years start over where could i work same places i can't work the comedy no you can't work all the places that i used to work

are no longer there yeah they're all closed they're yeah yeah that's all it's done it's finished if I could go back to hey how about huh I'm hired he hired me wow you seem like you have a nice wife she's the best you seem pretty good in good spirits oh she's good

she buys me everything all these outfits that I wear I like it i bought her a five thousand dollar diamond it's very nice yeah it's a you know sort of a wedding kind of sure you know and she's just she can't she gets angry at times but she's just a special girl she really is well they get angry you know because old cranky jews are old cranky Jews. She was Miss Alabama when she was 17 years old. Driving in the car and the whole thing. Miss Alabama.

You got a southern belle. Yes, I got a southern belle. She's a wonderful woman. And all she does is care about me. Sammy, don't, no, don't, no, don't. Take the walk, walk. You can walk. No, I could, no.

Take the walker god damn it i'm not gonna pick you up for your fall i'll get you up that's the name of her memoir take the walker god damn it i'm not gonna pick you up let her write that book that's right that's it well it was great talking to you sammy hey mark it's me i i used to watch you at times i never met you until today and i'm really happy for you until today, and I'm really happy for you. Thank you very much. I'm really happy for what you're doing. You're doing a lot.

You're doing well. Thank you so much. It was an honor to meet you. Thank you. Finally. Bye. All right. That was something.

That was a piece of the puzzle of the dark and luminous, the darkly illuminating history of the comedy store and stand-up comedy in modern America. Go to WTFpod.com for all your WTF needs. Check my tour dates. As it stands now, I am scheduled to do two dates in North Carolina upcoming. And I thought maybe things would shift a little politically there. But it seems like on some level they've gotten even more heinous.

So I'm going to be looking for a charity to donate the proceeds of my shows for something proactive. I don't know that I feel like denying the fans I have or people that might want to hear me talk down there, that opportunity, but I will be giving the proceeds to a charity of my choice, and I'll figure out what that is before those dates. I can't do any guitar. I can do some mouth jazz, which is occasionally what I do in hotel rooms. Let's see if I've got the mojo. Boom. Boom. Boomer lives!