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Speaker 1: Fellow Ridiculous Historians, this week's classic episode is something that

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Speaker 1: really stood out to us. We had an interview years

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Speaker 1: ago with the legendary Wayne Fetterman. Noel, you remember this one?

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Speaker 2: Of course, man. Love that guy. Hold on a second.

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Speaker 2: I almost want to say that he was involved in

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Speaker 2: a sketch or a scene in Curb Your Enthusiasm involving tipping.

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Speaker 2: Larry David loved to joke about the politics of tipping,

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Speaker 2: but maybe I'm wrong. But he was definitely on an

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Speaker 2: episode of Curb. He taught classes about the history of

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Speaker 2: comedy in Los Angeles, and he was kind enough to

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Speaker 2: talk to us about the progressive politics and scandalous stand-up

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Speaker 2: of Dick Gregory.

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Speaker 1: So let's roll the tape. Welcome to the show, Ridiculous Historians.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for tuning in. Now, you know, also, additionally,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's just me. I want to thank everyone who

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Speaker 1: has bothered to chuckle, laugh, snort, laugh through their nose

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Speaker 1: or occasionally laugh. guffaw at our jokes because comedy is tough.

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Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Ben. Hey, I'm Noel, and I've never fancied

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Speaker 2: myself a comedian. I always say I'm a purveyor of

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Speaker 2: dad jokes, and I am absolutely fine with that. But

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Speaker 2: straight seahorse teeth seems to be taking off online like wildfire, Ben.

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Speaker 1: It's true, Noel.

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Speaker 2: Did you already say your name?

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 2: Sorry. I said, hey, second time's a charm.

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Speaker 1: Comedy's all about listening, you know what I mean?

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Speaker 4: Oh, Ben.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 1: It's true.

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Speaker 2: Shaming me.

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Speaker 1: You know what is pretty cool, though? It's the official

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Speaker 1: return of can we get a drum roll, please? He

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Speaker 1: has to do his own drum. Let's go. Super producer

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Speaker 1: Casey Labouche-Pagram.

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Speaker 2: I know. Casey, when you were away, did you hear

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Speaker 2: that we kind of developed a mythology for you based

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Speaker 2: on our knowledge of your French goings-ons?

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Speaker 5: I caught wind of this, yeah. My sources back here

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Speaker 5: in the States were keeping me informed of all relevant information.

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Speaker 2: You're very tied in, very connected.

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Speaker 5: Spycraft, you know, you got to have your feelers out there, so.

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Speaker 1: I have a question, and please do not feel obligated

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Speaker 1: to answer this, Casey. First off, I say this with

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Speaker 1: great affection. There was a Casey-shaped hole in my heart

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Speaker 1: when you were gone. Now that you are aware, along

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Speaker 1: with all of our fellow listeners, about how your alleged

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Speaker 1: double life in France was portrayed, would you say that

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Speaker 1: this is accurate, inaccurate? A seed of truth?

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Speaker 2: I don't know.

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Speaker 5: I don't really want to blow up my own spot

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Speaker 5: like that. But, you know, I'd say if it's maybe

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Speaker 5: not true to the letter, it's certainly true to the spirit.

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Speaker 1: All right. Okay. I can accept that. Well played. You've

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Speaker 1: passed the test, my friend. We have, in honor of

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Speaker 1: your return, we have not a surprise for you, but

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Speaker 1: a gift for you and hopefully for all of our

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Speaker 1: fellow listeners today. A while back, I think it was

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Speaker 1: episode 108 or 109. We did a two-part show on

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Speaker 1: the history of stand-up with our pal Wayne Fetterman, who

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Speaker 1: has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of comedy. And Casey,

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Speaker 1: we waited until you returned with your U.S. identity to

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Speaker 1: the studio to have Wayne Fetterman on the show today

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Speaker 1: for you, dude.

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Speaker 5: I know, and I'm so psyched about this because, yeah,

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Speaker 5: it was like a year ago that I was out

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Speaker 5: and he was on, and it was driving me up

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Speaker 5: the wall because, yeah, I'm a big fan of the

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Speaker 5: guy and a big fan of the history of comedy

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Speaker 5: and everything else. So, yeah, it's great to be here

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Speaker 5: for this.

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Speaker 2: Well, Wayne is an encyclopedic font of comedy knowledge. His podcast,

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Speaker 2: The History of Stand-Up, on the Podglomerate Network with his co-host,

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Speaker 2: Andrew Stephen. It's just a delight. And last time we

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Speaker 2: had him on, we talked about Lenny Bruce and kind

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Speaker 2: of some more inflammatory comics that sort of pushed the

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Speaker 2: envelope of free speech.

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Speaker 1: George Carlin.

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Speaker 2: George Carlin, however many filthy words, unarable words there are.

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Speaker 2: I think those are the only two explicit episodes of

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Speaker 2: the show we've ever had because we needed to be

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Speaker 2: able to unbleep those words because they were very important.

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Speaker 1: To the story. It was about censorship. Luckily, however we

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Speaker 1: did with that episode, Wayne was a charitable enough guy

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Speaker 1: that he came back to hang out with us today.

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Speaker 2: Not to mention that my mic was cut for like

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Speaker 2: half of one of the episodes and we still salvaged

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Speaker 2: it with our crack forensic audio team and made it

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Speaker 2: at least somewhat listenable. And also Wayne didn't think we

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Speaker 2: were a bunch of hacks and agreed to come back on,

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Speaker 2: which I really appreciate. And this episode is fantastic. Another

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Speaker 2: exploration of some envelope pushing comedy, but in a slightly

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Speaker 2: different way.

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Speaker 1: So without having deep dive demographics on how many of

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Speaker 1: us are stand-up history buffs, we'd like to introduce you

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Speaker 1: to a man named Dick Gregory, a pioneer, not just

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Speaker 1: in the world of stand-up comedy, though he very much was,

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Speaker 1: but also in the world of civil rights and activism.

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Speaker 1: So we hope that you enjoy our conversation here with

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Speaker 1: Wayne about not just comedy and but about progressive actions

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Speaker 1: in the United States, about civil rights in the 60s,

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Speaker 1: about the oddly heartwarming actions of the often controversial Hugh Hefner.

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Speaker 2: Let's get right to it.

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Speaker 1: The rumors are true, ridiculous historians. We are joined once

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Speaker 1: again with a friend of the show and host of

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Speaker 1: the History of Stand-Up podcast, Wayne Fetterman.

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Speaker 2: Friend of the American people, Wayne Fetterman.

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Speaker 1: Friend to our producer, Casey Peck from Wayne Fetterman.

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Speaker 4: How you doing, Wayne?

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Speaker 6: I really would rather be speaking to Casey. That guy's incredible.

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Speaker 2: He may chime in, but you won't be able to

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Speaker 2: hear him because he's not piped into the phone. But

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Speaker 2: we will relay any words of wisdom that he provides

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Speaker 2: on his behalf.

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Speaker 7: All right. Is he beaming right now because I'm talking

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Speaker 7: about him?

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Speaker 8: I am.

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Speaker 3: He is.

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Speaker 2: He says that he is. His face is obscured by

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Speaker 2: a giant computer monitor, so I can't speak to that person.

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Speaker 2: But his voice in my ears says that he is.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 2: And he just leaned in and gave a big smile.

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Speaker 1: Fun story before we get started. And this is a

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Speaker 1: true story, Wayne. When we were putting together this episode,

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Speaker 1: Casey actually asked us to hold and he traveled all

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Speaker 1: the way back from Paris, France to be here today.

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Speaker 2: Very special trip.

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Speaker 1: It's true.

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Speaker 2: It's all true.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 7: Let me just say that it's very much on brand

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Speaker 7: for Casey.

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Speaker 1: So when we previously spoke together, we looked at the

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Speaker 1: history of what we call stand up today, not just

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Speaker 1: as the craft or the actual performance that we think

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Speaker 1: of with somebody standing with a microphone and an audience

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Speaker 1: that hopefully loves them, but not always. We also talked

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Speaker 1: about some of the bigger social questions that stand-up brings

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Speaker 1: to the forefront and sometimes Those can be uncomfortable questions

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Speaker 1: that people don't typically explore. Now they laugh at it too,

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Speaker 1: but sometimes they leave thinking. In our earlier conversations leading

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Speaker 1: up to today's episode, you started telling us about someone

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Speaker 1: that was, I think maybe vaguely familiar to us, but

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Speaker 1: someone we weren't super well acquainted with, which is the

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Speaker 1: comedian and activist Dick Gregory. Wayne, could you tell us

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Speaker 1: a little bit about just for our audience, who Dick

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Speaker 1: Gregory is?

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Speaker 6: Well, Dick Gregory is famous in the history of stand-up

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Speaker 6: for one specific thing, and that is he became the

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Speaker 6: first major, and there's a caveat, we can go into it, comedian,

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Speaker 6: African-American comedian, to play white nightclubs. And how that happened,

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Speaker 6: we will tell you in a moment, I'm sure. But

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Speaker 6: he was just a You know, he was a funny kid.

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Speaker 6: He was an athlete. He went to college. He was

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Speaker 6: in the service. And then he moved from St. Louis

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Speaker 6: to Chicago to pursue his dream of becoming a stand-up

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Speaker 6: comedian and could only play the black clubs in and

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Speaker 6: around Chicago and was really struggling. Actually had a day job.

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Speaker 6: He worked at the post office. He washed cars, all

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Speaker 6: trying to subsidize this career of his.

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Speaker 7: And at this point, he's married. He has a lot

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Speaker 7: of responsibilities.

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Speaker 2: So leading up to this big moment that we're going

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Speaker 2: to get into that involves another kind of historical luminary

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Speaker 2: and controversial figure, Dick Gregory was kind of doing his

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Speaker 2: best to get into the kind of Chicago stand-up nightclub scene.

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Speaker 2: And as you said, it wasn't a very welcoming scene

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Speaker 2: for people of color. And I want to play this

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Speaker 2: clip from American Masters on PBS where Gregory kind of

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Speaker 2: describes this moment. where he had to disarm a white

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Speaker 2: audience at a club, I want to say in Alabama

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Speaker 2: or something like that, where someone calls him a racial slur.

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Speaker 2: And he has to take that opportunity to diffuse the

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Speaker 2: situation rather than make a scene and, you know, put

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Speaker 2: his career in jeopardy because these were ultimately his clients

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Speaker 2: So he was there to entertain. So I think this

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Speaker 2: really is a very teachable moment about the kind of

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Speaker 2: climate that he was dealing with.

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Speaker 4: So I go down there and I'm not thinking of anything.

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Speaker 8: I didn't know at the time that a Negro is

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Speaker 8: not permitted to work a white nightclub.

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Speaker 4: That's in all of America. And I remember not knowing that.

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Speaker 8: I used to practice, what do you do when some

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Speaker 8: white person yells something negative out or embarrass you? And

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Speaker 8: so I used to practice with my wife, but it

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Speaker 8: didn't work because she was too nice and kind. And

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Speaker 8: then one night, I don't know how I got this

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Speaker 8: little job in this little hick town, little Mishawaka, Indiana.

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Speaker 4: You don't have to say no more.

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Speaker 8: So I'm in Mishawaka, Indiana, and somebody said, Get that

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Speaker 8: nigga off the stage.

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Speaker 2: Now, I was ready for it.

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Speaker 4: And everybody just froze. And I said, yeah, white boy,

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Speaker 4: call me, call me. All Rangers hearts, call me Trigger.

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Speaker 4: And everybody laughed. I'm out of it. There's no way

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Speaker 4: you can feel sorry for me or embarrassed and laugh.

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Speaker 4: So now I got them back. Now I'm off. You know,

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Speaker 4: and the guy walks up and says, whew, thank you.

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Speaker 4: Jesus Christ. I wanted to hit him myself. And then

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Speaker 4: the guy walks up and says he's sorry.

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Speaker 3: Sorry?

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Speaker 4: I almost paid you, man. I've been trying to figure

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Speaker 4: out how to get through this.

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Speaker 2: So, Wayne, I wanted to know if you thought that

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Speaker 2: maybe this was kind of– he would have had to

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Speaker 2: deal with similar situations like this leading up to this moment.

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Speaker 2: And he almost describes it as like an aha moment

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Speaker 2: where it's like, aha, this is how I can deal

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Speaker 2: with this kind of heckling. Right.

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Speaker 6: Well, I feel like Dick Gregory, especially at that time,

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Speaker 6: had a very high emotional and comedic IQ on how

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Speaker 6: to handle crowds. And it's remarkable considering he's not that

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Speaker 6: experienced other than basically playing these black clubs. But I

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Speaker 6: just think he had an innate sense of, one, how

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Speaker 6: to perform in front of white audiences, and two, how

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Speaker 6: to diffuse these very volatile situations that I'm sure would

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Speaker 6: come up all the time.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 1: Because as, as you had mentioned before, he was, he

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Speaker 1: was working, let's see, his comedic career began in what

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Speaker 1: the mid to late 1950s. Is that correct?

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 1: Yes.

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 7: That's exactly correct.

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Speaker 6: And at that time there wasn't a lot of, uh,

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Speaker 6: you know, African-American comedians on television or on the Ed

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Speaker 6: Sullivan show.

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Speaker 7: It was just a few.

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Speaker 6: And once in a while he'd see somebody and there

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Speaker 6: really wasn't a, A big circuit to play. There was

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Speaker 6: big white nightclubs, which we called nightclubs at that time.

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Speaker 6: But they wouldn't use African-American comedians. Once in a while,

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Speaker 6: they would. But as a rule, they'd have an act.

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Speaker 6: Sammy Davis could play there or something like that. Or

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Speaker 6: a team or a singer like Pearl Bailey or something

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Speaker 6: like that all the time.

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Speaker 7: But not a stand-up.

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Speaker 2: I saw a really interesting clip with the comedian Paul Mooney,

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Speaker 2: who was another very outspoken comic, a contemporary, maybe a

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Speaker 2: little younger than Gregory, but still kind of very much

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Speaker 2: like in the same scene as Richard Pryor. So maybe

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Speaker 2: like the next generation. But he talked about how in Hollywood,

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Speaker 2: nothing could ever be too white, but it was very

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Speaker 2: easy for something to be too black. Um, and I

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Speaker 2: think that's a really interesting distinction where like you talk

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Speaker 2: about Sammy Davis juniors and like performers of that caliber,

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Speaker 2: they were a little more palatable to a white audience,

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Speaker 2: but a comic like Gregory who wasn't pulling any punches,

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Speaker 2: that would be a little harder to take for these

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Speaker 2: folks who maybe weren't used to seeing things like that.

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Speaker 2: Is that, would you say that's accurate?

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 6: Mooney is a hundred percent on, on like people would go, okay,

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Speaker 6: this is, this is too much for us. But again,

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Speaker 6: Dick Gregory, I think really learned how to thread the

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Speaker 6: needle almost like in a, um, Jackie Robinson kind of

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Speaker 6: way that he was like able to like take white

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Speaker 6: audiences expectations of what a black guy would talk about.

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Speaker 6: And he talked about racial stuff all the time. That

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Speaker 6: was the centerpiece of his act, but he did it

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Speaker 6: in a very non-threatening, very human way, as opposed to

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Speaker 6: an angry way in that same NPR or PBS clip

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Speaker 6: that we just heard later on. He talks about that

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Speaker 6: he was always respectful and that he wasn't bitter and

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Speaker 6: that he wasn't angry. And this was all, I'm sure, underneath.

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Speaker 6: But again, I just feel like his emotional IQ was

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Speaker 6: through the roof on how to handle these situations. So

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Speaker 6: he wasn't like Paul Mooney, who would not, you know,

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Speaker 6: I can't imagine Paul Mooney handling that situation in that

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Speaker 6: club the same way.

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Speaker 7: It would be way more confrontational.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. I agree 100% with that statement about emotional IQ. Recently,

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Speaker 1: this is not a plug. I actually do listen to

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Speaker 1: the history of stand-up.

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Speaker 3: Oh.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, as season two started. And in season two, you

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Speaker 1: guys just had an episode come out recently about the

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Speaker 1: Playboy circuit. And this was something that I didn't recognize.

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Speaker 1: This episode, for anybody listening, is available now when our

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Speaker 1: episode comes out. So give it a listen. This brings

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Speaker 1: us to something that we'd love for you to explore

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Speaker 1: with us here, which is the interactions between Dick Gregory

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Speaker 1: and Hugh Hefner, the mastermind behind Playboy Magazine, later the

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Speaker 1: Playboy Empire. Noel, this is something you were alluding to

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Speaker 1: in the beginning, right?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. And this Playboy Club, I didn't realize,

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Speaker 2: was a big source of, you know, entertainment.

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Speaker 3: Huge.

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Speaker 2: And, like, massive, you know, opportunity for working comics.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: If you got a regular gig at the Playboy Club,

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Speaker 2: which was in Chicago at the time, that was a

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Speaker 2: massive break for you. Can you tell us a little

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Speaker 2: bit about how Dick Gregory literally kind of stumbled his

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Speaker 2: way into this massive break? The story is fantastic.

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Speaker 6: Well, this is I assume this is why I'm talking

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Speaker 6: to you guys. This moment is very important in the

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Speaker 6: big history of stand up. And we covered it briefly

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Speaker 6: in our first season and then went a little closer.

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Speaker 6: And thank you for the kind words about the Playboy. Episode.

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Speaker 6: I appreciate it. For anyone, it's the eight of us

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Speaker 6: that are interested in the history of stand-up.

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Speaker 7: So this is what happened.

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Speaker 6: February 29th, 1960, the first Playboy Club opens.

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Speaker 7: You're like, what does that mean, a Playboy Club?

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Speaker 6: Well, in 53, real quickly, Hefner publishes this magazine, December 53,

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Speaker 6: called Playboy. Marilyn Monroe's on the cover. There's no date

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Speaker 6: stamped on it because it might have been the last one.

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Speaker 6: And it basically has nudie pictures in it, but nothing

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Speaker 6: too graphic.

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Speaker 7: I hope that's clear what that means.

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Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah.

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Speaker 6: And then like articles and he was into literature. And

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Speaker 6: so anyway, this magazine out of Chicago, this kid who

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Speaker 6: had this dream becomes this runaway success in the 50s.

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Speaker 6: So he is like printing money by.

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Speaker 3: 57, 50.

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Speaker 6: It's outselling Time Magazine. It's outselling Esquire. It's like this incredible,

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Speaker 6: and has a big female readership as well. So he,

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Speaker 6: three things happen around this time. One, he does this

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Speaker 6: huge indoor jazz festival called the Playboy Jazz Festival. Two,

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Speaker 6: he buys a mansion in Chicago and they call it

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Speaker 6: the Playboy Mansion, which is like this party house. And three,

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Speaker 6: he opens the Playboy Club. And also four, there's another

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Speaker 6: thing I'm forgetting. He starts this syndicated television show called

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Speaker 6: Playboy's Penthouse, which is this black and white in the

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Speaker 6: first two years. And you kind of get, it sort

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Speaker 6: of presents like this party that you're invited to. So

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Speaker 6: people are sitting around and they're drinking and they're smoking.

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Speaker 6: And there's a guy playing piano and suddenly Sammy Davis

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Speaker 6: comes in and sings. And then Lenny Bruce does some comedy.

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Speaker 6: It's just a very incredible like insight into like the

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Speaker 6: world he wants to create.

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Speaker 2: Hefner.

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Speaker 1: And that was kind of like a variety show for him, right?

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Speaker 1: Is that where we get that idea of him with

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Speaker 1: the pipe and the smoking jacket and the whole nine?

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 6: But it's not, it is a variety show, but not

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Speaker 6: on a proscenium stage in like a living room. And

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Speaker 6: then we, let's go over to the dining room and

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Speaker 6: then let's get some cocktails made over here. And let's

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Speaker 6: listen to Cy Coleman play witchcraft. And then it's, it's

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Speaker 6: just a great like promotional tool for the Playboy brand,

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Speaker 6: which was, and we talk about it in the podcast

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Speaker 6: that he was going for sophistication like that was his

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Speaker 6: like he thought, God, if I could make nudie picture,

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Speaker 6: you know, this part of a sophisticated lifestyle with high

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Speaker 6: fidelity and sports cars and jazz music and great literature

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Speaker 6: that and that's what worked.

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Speaker 7: You know what I mean?

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Speaker 6: So it was like suddenly not a smutty behind the

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Speaker 6: counter kind of embarrassing thing if you wanted to see

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Speaker 6: pictures of beautiful women. So that was another genius, Hugh Hefner.

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Speaker 6: So he's killing it, killing it during Eisenhower's administration. So

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Speaker 6: he opens this Playboy Club, February 29th, 1960. And the

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Speaker 6: Playboy Club was this, you had to pay $ 25 and

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Speaker 6: you got a key, literally a metal key. It later

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Speaker 6: became a card. And that gave you access to the

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Speaker 6: Playboy Club. You were like a key member. And to

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Speaker 6: serve these men, it was a men's only club, but

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Speaker 6: you could bring women. They created the Playboy Bunny, which

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Speaker 6: is different than the Playboy Playmate, which were in the magazine.

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Speaker 6: And the bunny, how would you describe it? I'm going

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Speaker 6: to throw it to you because I feel like I'm

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Speaker 6: talking too much.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Were kind of hostesses. They would receive... the gentlemen and

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Speaker 2: their dates when they'd come in, speak to them by name,

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Speaker 2: make them feel very welcome and kind of cater to

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Speaker 2: their needs.

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Speaker 1: It was similar to the idea, I guess, we would,

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Speaker 1: an analog would be a hostess club in Japan. You know,

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Speaker 1: these people are not necessarily what we would call sex workers.

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Speaker 1: They hang out with you. They laugh at your jokes.

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Speaker 1: They converse with you. There were also, there was also

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Speaker 1: a uniform that changed over time.

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Speaker 3: Of course, yeah.

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Speaker 1: But that was like, from what I remember- Thanks again, Dad.

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Speaker 1: I'll admit if you're listening to the show that I

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Speaker 1: did steal some of your Playboys.

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Speaker 3: Vintage.

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Speaker 1: From what I remember with the advertisements they used to

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Speaker 1: have in the magazine for the Bunnies, there was, it

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Speaker 1: was like, there were even ears at some point.

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Speaker 2: A little cotton tail.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and then maybe, I feel like I'm remembering some

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Speaker 1: kind of collar thing.

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Speaker 7: I think there was a collar with a bow tie.

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Speaker 2: That's correct. And an off-the-shoulder, almost kind of like bustier

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Speaker 2: leotard kind of onesie thing.

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Speaker 1: Yep.

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Speaker 2: And I believe they're wearing stockings and high heels. Some

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Speaker 2: of them would have those cigarette carts that they would

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Speaker 2: carry and, you know, sell cigarettes and get people's drink

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Speaker 2: orders and stuff.

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Speaker 1: Oh, and themed. Sometimes they would change it up a

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Speaker 1: little bit for the holidays.

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Speaker 2: That makes sense.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 7: You did great. You did great.

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Speaker 3: You did great.

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Speaker 6: Again, I was never at the Chicago club, so I

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Speaker 6: only know from the pictures and such. But, yes, so

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Speaker 6: that was the vibe of this club. Again, with the

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Speaker 6: bow tie, I guessed. And I'm using quotes around it

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Speaker 6: because these were just young women. But the rule was

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Speaker 6: you weren't allowed to touch or date these women. He

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Speaker 6: was very careful to make it not a quasi strip

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Speaker 6: club or a quasi like, you know, you're going to

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Speaker 6: hook up with these girls or anything like that. And

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Speaker 6: also they wanted to make it, you know. Get as

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Speaker 6: many women customers in there as well.

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Speaker 3: Oh, sure.

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Speaker 6: So part of this, and this is interesting. We didn't

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Speaker 6: go into it. The guy who ran the food and

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Speaker 6: drink concession for this club and then eventually it became

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Speaker 6: a circuit was Arnie Morton, who eventually has these famous

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Speaker 6: steakhouses all across the country.

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Speaker 1: Wait, the Morton Steakhouse guy? Yes.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 7: Same guy. Same guy. So this is one of his

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Speaker 7: earliest gigs.

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Speaker 6: And they had this crazy pricing plan, which was everything was,

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Speaker 6: this is when it opened, everything was $ 1.

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Speaker 3: 50.

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Speaker 6: A drink was $ 1.

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Speaker 7: 50. Your meal was $ 1.

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Speaker 3: 50.

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Speaker 6: A pack of cigarettes and a lighter with the Playboy

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Speaker 6: logo on it was $ 1.

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Speaker 7: 50.

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Speaker 6: Like that was their kind of thing. And it's like, again,

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Speaker 6: with Hef, it's a runaway success. Like thousands and thousands

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Speaker 6: of people are pouring or paying 25 bucks to be

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Speaker 6: a member. Everyone kind of got accepted. And then could

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Speaker 6: get part of this sophisticated lifestyle surrounded by these beautiful women.

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Speaker 6: And part of the experience was there was always two

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Speaker 6: rooms for show business. And those were usually a singer

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Speaker 6: and a comic. So this is where Dick Gregory.

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Speaker 7: Comes into the picture. Now, at the time.

444
00:22:59,260 --> 00:23:01,820
Speaker 6: It's, you know, Chicago has this big nightclub called the

445
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,780
Speaker 6: Chez Paris, which is run by the mob and is

446
00:23:04,820 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 6: a white nightclub. That was like the big place you

447
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:10,750
Speaker 6: could play in Chicago. So acts from the Chez Paris,

448
00:23:10,790 --> 00:23:13,870
Speaker 6: but also play the Playboy Club. And one of these

449
00:23:14,030 --> 00:23:18,330
Speaker 6: acts in January 1961, so it's, I guess, 11 months later,

450
00:23:19,390 --> 00:23:22,780
Speaker 6: is named Professor Irwin Corey.

451
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,679
Speaker 7: Does that name ring a bell to either of you?

452
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:27,560
Speaker 1: That's, I gotta be honest.

453
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:28,360
Speaker 2: Not right off now.

454
00:23:28,420 --> 00:23:30,270
Speaker 1: Not to me. Not right now. Okay.

455
00:23:30,310 --> 00:23:34,909
Speaker 6: He was a very curious kind of almost experimental avant-garde

456
00:23:34,950 --> 00:23:38,870
Speaker 6: comedian who pretended to be professor and then would give

457
00:23:38,970 --> 00:23:42,889
Speaker 6: lectures on different topics in a very crazed kind of,

458
00:23:42,890 --> 00:23:45,210
Speaker 6: do you remember like the way Einstein had his hair

459
00:23:45,330 --> 00:23:45,830
Speaker 6: all crazy?

460
00:23:46,050 --> 00:23:47,090
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.

461
00:23:47,130 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 6: That was, that was, so Erwin Corey, for some reason

462
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,280
Speaker 6: is like, you know, I don't want to work seven

463
00:23:53,300 --> 00:23:55,420
Speaker 6: days a week. I don't want to work Monday through Sunday.

464
00:23:55,460 --> 00:23:58,400
Speaker 6: Can I get Sunday off? You know, I appreciate this

465
00:23:58,510 --> 00:24:01,750
Speaker 6: gig you're giving me here at the Playboy Club, but

466
00:24:02,310 --> 00:24:06,930
Speaker 6: I don't want to do it. So Hef, who had

467
00:24:07,090 --> 00:24:10,010
Speaker 6: seen Dick Gregory, he was the host of this club

468
00:24:10,030 --> 00:24:12,230
Speaker 6: called the Robert Show Club, which is a black club

469
00:24:12,270 --> 00:24:16,110
Speaker 6: in Chicago, and said, well, why don't we give this

470
00:24:16,150 --> 00:24:19,950
Speaker 6: kid a chance for $ 50? So we hired him that night,

471
00:24:20,350 --> 00:24:23,350
Speaker 6: and there were some Southern people in the crowd and

472
00:24:23,450 --> 00:24:24,970
Speaker 6: Dick Gregory got there late.

473
00:24:25,010 --> 00:24:28,659
Speaker 7: It was snowing, gets on stage and just kills it.

474
00:24:28,850 --> 00:24:33,290
Speaker 6: Like all of his instincts are 100% correct on how

475
00:24:33,310 --> 00:24:36,629
Speaker 6: to handle these crowds, how to talk about race, how

476
00:24:36,670 --> 00:24:39,030
Speaker 6: to talk about the fact that he had been in

477
00:24:39,070 --> 00:24:40,530
Speaker 6: the South and he did the joke, you know, I

478
00:24:40,550 --> 00:24:43,030
Speaker 6: spent four weeks there, one night or that kind of

479
00:24:43,070 --> 00:24:44,879
Speaker 6: thing and kills it.

480
00:24:45,550 --> 00:24:48,350
Speaker 7: And then immediately like, oh, let's hire this guy.

481
00:24:48,690 --> 00:24:52,940
Speaker 6: And in a way, that's the first time African-American comedian

482
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,550
Speaker 6: had been hired in a white nightclub with a couple exceptions.

483
00:24:57,010 --> 00:24:59,030
Speaker 6: But that, yeah, but that was a big thing. But

484
00:24:59,050 --> 00:25:00,810
Speaker 6: there's more to the story. Can I keep going?

485
00:25:00,890 --> 00:25:01,890
Speaker 7: Oh, please, please.

486
00:25:01,970 --> 00:25:03,869
Speaker 1: We're on the edge of our seat here, actually.

487
00:25:04,390 --> 00:25:07,850
Speaker 6: So Dick Gregory starts, you know, he had never heard

488
00:25:07,890 --> 00:25:11,050
Speaker 6: of making $ 50 a night times seven. Like that was

489
00:25:11,090 --> 00:25:13,850
Speaker 6: like out of the, it was mind blowing to him

490
00:25:13,910 --> 00:25:16,070
Speaker 6: that he could be making this much money doing comedy.

491
00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:20,290
Speaker 6: And word spreads quickly about this kid who, who is

492
00:25:20,310 --> 00:25:22,790
Speaker 6: doing great at the Playboy Club. So the New York

493
00:25:22,830 --> 00:25:27,550
Speaker 6: Times luckily writes a review of it and then Time Magazine.

494
00:25:28,190 --> 00:25:30,770
Speaker 6: And this is where the story gets really interesting to me.

495
00:25:31,210 --> 00:25:35,419
Speaker 6: Dick Gregory's dream was to be on The Tonight Show

496
00:25:35,940 --> 00:25:39,639
Speaker 6: with Jack Parr. That was the big break, that he

497
00:25:39,660 --> 00:25:41,340
Speaker 6: was the Carson before Carson.

498
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:41,859
Speaker 2: Of course.

499
00:25:42,420 --> 00:25:46,879
Speaker 6: So he was friends with this singer named Billy Eckstein,

500
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,290
Speaker 6: another guy you're not going to know.

501
00:25:48,310 --> 00:25:50,169
Speaker 1: But- All right.

502
00:25:50,290 --> 00:25:53,990
Speaker 6: A famous 40s, 50s singer. And Billy was like, I

503
00:25:54,190 --> 00:25:56,850
Speaker 6: don't know if you noticed this. Whenever there's a black

504
00:25:57,190 --> 00:26:01,860
Speaker 6: comedian on Jack Parr, he lets them do their act.

505
00:26:02,260 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 6: And that would usually be like an impression. It's like

506
00:26:04,820 --> 00:26:07,399
Speaker 6: he had George Kirby on that kind of thing. But

507
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,699
Speaker 6: he would never bring him over to the couch to

508
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,540
Speaker 6: sit down like he's just a normal American comedian.

509
00:26:13,190 --> 00:26:15,350
Speaker 2: Well, in general, getting brought over to the couch is

510
00:26:15,369 --> 00:26:18,070
Speaker 2: the dream of any comic doing the late show, doing

511
00:26:18,109 --> 00:26:19,430
Speaker 2: a late show like that. Yeah, yeah.

512
00:26:19,530 --> 00:26:20,969
Speaker 7: No question. No question. No question.

513
00:26:21,030 --> 00:26:26,770
Speaker 6: But when this Time magazine article hits, Jack Parr, producer,

514
00:26:26,869 --> 00:26:29,429
Speaker 6: calls Dick Gregory and is like, we'd love to have

515
00:26:29,470 --> 00:26:31,670
Speaker 6: you on the show. And he's like, I'm not going

516
00:26:31,690 --> 00:26:33,810
Speaker 6: to do the show unless you let me sit down

517
00:26:33,869 --> 00:26:35,650
Speaker 6: and talk to Jack Parr.

518
00:26:35,930 --> 00:26:37,869
Speaker 7: Because he had never even thought of this.

519
00:26:38,310 --> 00:26:42,470
Speaker 6: He never realized until Billy Eckstein pointed it out to him.

520
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,550
Speaker 6: that this was a thing that Jack Parr was doing,

521
00:26:45,869 --> 00:26:49,650
Speaker 6: whether consciously or unconsciously. So the producer was like, well,

522
00:26:49,670 --> 00:26:50,990
Speaker 6: you know, that's not the way it works.

523
00:26:51,030 --> 00:26:51,690
Speaker 7: You do a set.

524
00:26:51,750 --> 00:26:53,730
Speaker 6: If it goes well, you might come back and do

525
00:26:53,790 --> 00:26:55,990
Speaker 6: another set. He's like, well, then I'm not doing your show.

526
00:26:56,890 --> 00:27:00,770
Speaker 6: And then apparently a couple, a day later, the producer's like, fine,

527
00:27:01,190 --> 00:27:02,840
Speaker 6: you can do the show and we'll talk to you.

528
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,210
Speaker 6: And so, Again, I keep going back to this emotional

529
00:27:07,250 --> 00:27:11,629
Speaker 6: IQ of how to handle this situation and parlaying what little–

530
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 6: I mean, you can imagine. He's just playing the Playboy Club.

531
00:27:15,020 --> 00:27:18,699
Speaker 6: What little power he had to get what he wanted,

532
00:27:19,220 --> 00:27:22,439
Speaker 6: and that was also a breakthrough moment. And then he

533
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,270
Speaker 6: became like a hero, and that's the moment. That's why

534
00:27:26,290 --> 00:27:29,669
Speaker 6: we're talking to you right now, like that moment. And

535
00:27:29,690 --> 00:27:31,330
Speaker 6: then everything changed from there.

536
00:27:31,609 --> 00:27:35,030
Speaker 1: I have a question before because, yes, everything changes from there.

537
00:27:35,090 --> 00:27:39,350
Speaker 1: But there's one question I wanted to clarify here, especially

538
00:27:39,410 --> 00:27:44,420
Speaker 1: with the tonight show with Jack Parr. It sounds like

539
00:27:44,460 --> 00:27:48,300
Speaker 1: there was an emotional calculation on his part or at

540
00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:52,620
Speaker 1: least some very clever diplomacy because didn't they invite him

541
00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:57,270
Speaker 1: more than once and eventually like, parr finally called him

542
00:27:57,310 --> 00:28:00,429
Speaker 1: right that's that's the thing that got me about it because.

543
00:28:00,410 --> 00:28:01,930
Speaker 6: Oh is there more to that that might be right

544
00:28:01,990 --> 00:28:05,030
Speaker 6: you're saying that that before like parr just wanting him

545
00:28:05,109 --> 00:28:07,990
Speaker 6: on the show eventually parr calls him personally and he

546
00:28:08,060 --> 00:28:11,419
Speaker 6: says to jack parr who we idolized i'm not going

547
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:12,879
Speaker 6: to do the show unless you have me on is

548
00:28:12,900 --> 00:28:13,500
Speaker 6: that correct.

549
00:28:13,300 --> 00:28:15,520
Speaker 1: That's what that's what uh that's what i had heard

550
00:28:15,580 --> 00:28:18,119
Speaker 1: i wanted to see that source because to me if

551
00:28:18,180 --> 00:28:22,229
Speaker 1: that's if that's what happens what's fascinating about that is

552
00:28:22,310 --> 00:28:24,369
Speaker 1: that it gets to a point where it's kind of

553
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:29,679
Speaker 1: leveraging maybe the ego of the host of the show,

554
00:28:29,780 --> 00:28:32,640
Speaker 1: because they're like, you know, I'm this huge show. What

555
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,340
Speaker 1: this guy's too good. What gives, you know?

556
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,870
Speaker 7: Yeah. I, I, you know, I will look into that.

557
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,070
Speaker 6: Cause I did, we didn't go into, we just more,

558
00:28:40,090 --> 00:28:43,330
Speaker 6: we're talking about the club, but, and I do know

559
00:28:43,390 --> 00:28:46,209
Speaker 6: that he turned down the show. I don't remember the

560
00:28:46,230 --> 00:28:50,530
Speaker 6: jackpot himself call, but that could be absolutely correct. And

561
00:28:50,930 --> 00:28:53,750
Speaker 6: if that is, I mean, there's also, if you think

562
00:28:53,830 --> 00:28:58,530
Speaker 6: about it, there was like this thing about black people

563
00:28:58,670 --> 00:29:01,130
Speaker 6: and being pushy and uppity and all like that was

564
00:29:01,170 --> 00:29:05,390
Speaker 6: like a way to like marginalize a lot of those guys.

565
00:29:05,410 --> 00:29:08,530
Speaker 6: So I like that he was willing to risk that,

566
00:29:08,650 --> 00:29:11,250
Speaker 6: all of that to sit.

567
00:29:11,110 --> 00:29:11,990
Speaker 7: Down on the couch with Paul.

568
00:29:12,030 --> 00:29:14,010
Speaker 6: And Paul ended up loving him and having on the

569
00:29:14,050 --> 00:29:18,490
Speaker 6: show numerous times. And that, as we like to say

570
00:29:18,620 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 6: on our show, blew open the gates to- having African-Americans

571
00:29:23,460 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 6: not only on the show, but older African-Americans finally getting

572
00:29:28,260 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 6: a shot on television and stuff.

573
00:29:30,590 --> 00:29:34,310
Speaker 2: Well, we've heard Dick Gregory later in his life describing

574
00:29:34,390 --> 00:29:36,969
Speaker 2: this period, but we haven't heard any of his comedy.

575
00:29:37,170 --> 00:29:39,070
Speaker 2: And I think we should hear a little moment of

576
00:29:39,310 --> 00:29:41,390
Speaker 2: one of the bits. that might have been something he

577
00:29:41,430 --> 00:29:44,030
Speaker 2: would have performed on the Jack Parr show.

578
00:29:44,490 --> 00:29:46,950
Speaker 3: You know, I feel so sorry for Willie. I hate

579
00:29:46,970 --> 00:29:50,240
Speaker 3: to see any baseball player having troubles, but that's a great.

580
00:29:50,020 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 4: Sport for my people.

581
00:29:51,940 --> 00:29:53,900
Speaker 3: That is the only sport in the world where a

582
00:29:53,900 --> 00:29:55,740
Speaker 3: Negro can shake a stick at a white man and

583
00:29:55,760 --> 00:30:02,790
Speaker 3: won't start no ride. LAUGHTER Of course, now, don't get

584
00:30:02,830 --> 00:30:03,530
Speaker 3: me wrong now.

585
00:30:03,570 --> 00:30:04,370
Speaker 2: We're doing all right.

586
00:30:05,210 --> 00:30:06,990
Speaker 3: Now, at the rate we're going 10 years from now,

587
00:30:07,010 --> 00:30:08,810
Speaker 3: you might have to be my color to get a job.

588
00:30:09,550 --> 00:30:11,510
Speaker 3: If you get me right, I'll get in there and

589
00:30:11,530 --> 00:30:15,370
Speaker 3: raise taxes on you. I mean, now, don't get me wrong.

590
00:30:15,470 --> 00:30:17,490
Speaker 3: I wouldn't mind paying my income tax if I knew

591
00:30:17,530 --> 00:30:22,430
Speaker 3: it was going to a friendly country. And we have

592
00:30:22,450 --> 00:30:24,630
Speaker 3: a lot of racial prejudice up north, but we're so

593
00:30:24,710 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 3: clever with it. Take my hometown, Chicago. I mean, you

594
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:29,940
Speaker 3: can't see it just.

595
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:30,400
Speaker 2: Going in there.

596
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 3: When Negroes in Chicago move into one large area and

597
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,010
Speaker 3: it looks like we might control the votes, they don't

598
00:30:36,030 --> 00:30:41,110
Speaker 3: say anything to us. They have a slum clearance. You

599
00:30:41,130 --> 00:30:42,730
Speaker 3: do the same thing on the West Coast, but you

600
00:30:42,750 --> 00:30:43,490
Speaker 3: call it freeways.

601
00:30:46,290 --> 00:30:49,230
Speaker 1: So what we've done here so far is trace this

602
00:30:49,290 --> 00:30:52,489
Speaker 1: guy's evolution to the gates. And then when they were

603
00:30:52,570 --> 00:30:56,260
Speaker 1: blown open, as you said, he could have, if we

604
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,030
Speaker 1: want to speculate— he could have done what some people

605
00:30:59,110 --> 00:31:02,070
Speaker 1: decide to do when they're successful in entertainment and just

606
00:31:02,450 --> 00:31:04,830
Speaker 1: stayed in that lane and just, you know, worked on

607
00:31:04,890 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: comedy and honed his craft and then eventually, you know,

608
00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:13,020
Speaker 1: retired or just exclusively gone on to do Comedy Central

609
00:31:13,060 --> 00:31:15,820
Speaker 1: roast or something. But he took it a step further.

610
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,750
Speaker 1: And you mentioned this earlier, Wayne, when you say everything changed.

611
00:31:21,150 --> 00:31:25,670
Speaker 1: So what changed exactly? What was Dick Gregory's next phase

612
00:31:25,730 --> 00:31:26,070
Speaker 1: in life?

613
00:31:26,390 --> 00:31:27,320
Speaker 7: Well, Two things.

614
00:31:27,540 --> 00:31:29,900
Speaker 6: When I say that everything changed, I meant that everything

615
00:31:29,980 --> 00:31:35,310
Speaker 6: changed in stand up in that now Americans, club owners,

616
00:31:35,660 --> 00:31:41,270
Speaker 6: TV bookers were interested in the voices of African-American comedians.

617
00:31:41,630 --> 00:31:44,810
Speaker 6: That's what I meant by everything changed. So you now

618
00:31:44,870 --> 00:31:48,430
Speaker 6: had like suddenly Nipsey Russell is on television a lot

619
00:31:48,470 --> 00:31:52,590
Speaker 6: more and, you know, Slappy White and these older comedians

620
00:31:52,650 --> 00:31:57,630
Speaker 6: like Moms Mabley and Pig Meat Markham. like suddenly they

621
00:31:57,690 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 6: have a resurgence because people are kind of curious about

622
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:04,260
Speaker 6: this world of comedy. And there's, you know, this underground

623
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,520
Speaker 6: world of dirty records with, you know, Red Fox and

624
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 6: Lawanda Page and all of those people.

625
00:32:09,500 --> 00:32:11,060
Speaker 7: So it's just, it's.

626
00:32:10,900 --> 00:32:13,780
Speaker 6: Like kind of like if you go to the African-American

627
00:32:13,820 --> 00:32:16,580
Speaker 6: Museum at the Smithsonian and they show you the clips

628
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,900
Speaker 6: of the comedians from that era, they're all post-1960. Like

629
00:32:20,940 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 6: they're all post-1961 when he broke through. Like they're all,

630
00:32:25,220 --> 00:32:27,950
Speaker 6: and a lot of people were getting sets and jobs.

631
00:32:28,430 --> 00:32:30,340
Speaker 6: So it was just a, it was a bit of a,

632
00:32:30,990 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 6: a great kind of resurgence. And then through those doors

633
00:32:34,460 --> 00:32:38,980
Speaker 6: walks Flip Wilson and Bill Cosby. And then Richard Pryor,

634
00:32:39,020 --> 00:32:42,520
Speaker 6: Richard Pryor makes his television debut in 1964. That's only

635
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:47,420
Speaker 6: three years after this moment. It's like, it's a real like, okay,

636
00:32:47,460 --> 00:32:52,490
Speaker 6: now we're on, everything's changed and comedians and audiences are

637
00:32:52,550 --> 00:32:56,830
Speaker 6: ready to accept as Dick Gregory liked to say, Just

638
00:32:57,330 --> 00:33:02,300
Speaker 6: one person talking flat footed on stage to a white crowd.

639
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,640
Speaker 1: And then what were like he continued to work as

640
00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:08,340
Speaker 1: a comic, right? To great acclaim.

641
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 6: He was suddenly making a lot of money. He hired

642
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:14,120
Speaker 6: a couple of writers to help him create more material

643
00:33:14,140 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 6: because he was really in demand. He put out records.

644
00:33:17,020 --> 00:33:20,360
Speaker 6: He's like he's a thing. Dick Gregory is a thing.

645
00:33:20,820 --> 00:33:25,180
Speaker 6: And then he gets very involved with the civil rights movement. movement,

646
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,480
Speaker 6: which don't forget, I mean, this is before the Voting

647
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,220
Speaker 6: Rights Act and before the Housing Act and all of that.

648
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,840
Speaker 6: So this is before Martin Luther King in 1963 makes

649
00:33:34,900 --> 00:33:40,340
Speaker 6: the big speech. So he starts marching with Martin Luther

650
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,660
Speaker 6: King and making speeches and raising money. And what happens

651
00:33:44,780 --> 00:33:51,460
Speaker 6: is he starts canceling nightclub dates and basically says, like, look,

652
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 6: I can do these jokes and I can do these

653
00:33:53,220 --> 00:33:55,680
Speaker 6: jokes these guys wrote for me and this is all great,

654
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,680
Speaker 6: but there's a bigger wave that I'm involved with now.

655
00:34:00,070 --> 00:34:04,170
Speaker 6: And that basically kind of like marginalized his standup act

656
00:34:04,230 --> 00:34:07,690
Speaker 6: and made him this civil rights icon at the time.

657
00:34:07,730 --> 00:34:11,730
Speaker 6: So we basically canceled tens of thousands of dollars worth

658
00:34:11,770 --> 00:34:14,450
Speaker 6: of gigs so he could be involved with this movement

659
00:34:14,530 --> 00:34:17,420
Speaker 6: and would talk about it. And then he became sort

660
00:34:17,460 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 6: of identified with that and Because he was doing that,

661
00:34:21,780 --> 00:34:25,780
Speaker 6: opened the door again for like the Cosbys and Flip

662
00:34:25,820 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 6: Wilson and, you.

663
00:34:27,460 --> 00:34:29,540
Speaker 7: Know, Pryor and all of those gentlemen.

664
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,600
Speaker 2: But then he essentially, you know, so those floodgates were open.

665
00:34:32,940 --> 00:34:35,029
Speaker 2: All those folks stepped in to kind of fill that vacuum.

666
00:34:35,090 --> 00:34:37,910
Speaker 2: And then he kind of walked away from this career

667
00:34:37,950 --> 00:34:39,990
Speaker 2: in a lot of ways. I mean, maybe not entirely,

668
00:34:40,030 --> 00:34:43,410
Speaker 2: but he clearly had bigger fish to fry. He had

669
00:34:43,469 --> 00:34:45,969
Speaker 2: higher priorities, a higher calling, you could say.

670
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 7: No question. No question.

671
00:34:47,460 --> 00:34:50,060
Speaker 6: And that really motivated him very much. And then I

672
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,630
Speaker 6: think in a way it hurt his career, his standup career.

673
00:34:53,730 --> 00:34:56,610
Speaker 7: And I also, for some reason, I just don't.

674
00:34:56,450 --> 00:35:01,110
Speaker 6: Know if he was that dedicated to standup once he

675
00:35:01,150 --> 00:35:04,189
Speaker 6: had sort of cracked this code and was like, okay,

676
00:35:04,230 --> 00:35:07,270
Speaker 6: I can do this and I can release these albums.

677
00:35:07,330 --> 00:35:09,799
Speaker 6: I can make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year

678
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,080
Speaker 6: and where I used to make, you know, $ 5.

679
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 7: Doing this, this gig.

680
00:35:14,180 --> 00:35:18,009
Speaker 6: And yeah, He just– he was very much motivated in

681
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 6: racial equality, which is– I could understand that, which I'm

682
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:24,700
Speaker 6: sure what he had to endure growing up in that

683
00:35:24,739 --> 00:35:25,360
Speaker 6: time period.

684
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:35,660
Speaker 1: We followed some of his work in this field, in

685
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:40,319
Speaker 1: the civil rights movement. He also was advocating for the

686
00:35:40,380 --> 00:35:45,580
Speaker 1: rights of Native Americans and for gender equality, which We

687
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,420
Speaker 1: found a couple of stories. One that really stood out

688
00:35:49,500 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 1: was he even got the attention of J. Edgar Hoover

689
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:58,339
Speaker 1: at one point when he ran for president in 1968,

690
00:35:58,340 --> 00:36:00,840
Speaker 1: which I had no idea he actually ran for president.

691
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,500
Speaker 1: But the rumor is from documents that came out later

692
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,760
Speaker 1: that J. Edgar Hoover considered Dick Gregory such a threat

693
00:36:08,940 --> 00:36:12,219
Speaker 1: that he ordered the Chicago office of the FBI to

694
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:16,330
Speaker 1: contact the mob to neutralize.

695
00:36:16,910 --> 00:36:20,270
Speaker 2: Yeah, quote-unquote neutralize, whatever that means.

696
00:36:20,430 --> 00:36:24,590
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe it's something less sinister, to neutralize him during

697
00:36:24,630 --> 00:36:28,049
Speaker 1: that race. And I guess I wanted to ask you,

698
00:36:29,070 --> 00:36:33,130
Speaker 1: given what you said earlier about the biggest comedy club

699
00:36:33,250 --> 00:36:36,989
Speaker 1: or white nightclub in Chicago being run by the mob,

700
00:36:37,469 --> 00:36:40,460
Speaker 1: was the mob still really active in Chicago and the

701
00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:41,990
Speaker 1: comedy scene in the 60s?

702
00:36:43,340 --> 00:36:43,660
Speaker 4: Yeah.

703
00:36:43,980 --> 00:36:46,540
Speaker 6: I mean, it was starting to fade away a little

704
00:36:46,580 --> 00:36:49,819
Speaker 6: bit as these other rooms opened up. But basically, the

705
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:54,240
Speaker 6: nightclub era, which started right after the end of Prohibition

706
00:36:54,280 --> 00:37:00,950
Speaker 6: and vaudeville dropping, a lot of nightclubs across the United States, South, North, Southwest, Northwest,

707
00:37:01,390 --> 00:37:04,950
Speaker 6: were mob-run organizations. One of the most famous in New

708
00:37:04,989 --> 00:37:08,750
Speaker 6: York was a room called the Copacabana, which you see

709
00:37:08,950 --> 00:37:12,819
Speaker 6: in these– Scorsese movies all the time but that was

710
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:16,420
Speaker 6: they had the biggest headliners Martin Lewis and those guys

711
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:21,060
Speaker 6: would perform there Sammy Davis with the Wilmaston trio and

712
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,820
Speaker 6: those dudes were all mob run and then mob ran

713
00:37:24,950 --> 00:37:29,130
Speaker 6: obviously Las Vegas and then had their hooks deeply into

714
00:37:29,450 --> 00:37:33,469
Speaker 6: uh Miami which was also this big scene I mean

715
00:37:33,510 --> 00:37:36,050
Speaker 6: I guess the only place the mob didn't really run

716
00:37:36,590 --> 00:37:39,810
Speaker 6: too much was the uh the Borscht Belt up in

717
00:37:39,830 --> 00:37:43,450
Speaker 6: the mountains of the Adirondacks, upstate New York, where kind

718
00:37:43,489 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 6: of like Jewish comedians were performed there during the summers.

719
00:37:46,900 --> 00:37:50,040
Speaker 2: Let's move on really quickly to a very important event

720
00:37:50,739 --> 00:37:54,660
Speaker 2: in the Freedom Summer or the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi,

721
00:37:55,300 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 2: where all these marches took place. This is a very

722
00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,640
Speaker 2: big kind of high watermark point for the civil rights movement.

723
00:38:01,260 --> 00:38:03,779
Speaker 2: There is a bombing of a church called the Mount

724
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:09,410
Speaker 2: Zion Church, and three young men are sent to investigate it. Goodman, Cheney,

725
00:38:09,510 --> 00:38:12,830
Speaker 2: and Schwerner, and they do not come back alive. They

726
00:38:13,030 --> 00:38:16,230
Speaker 2: are murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan and

727
00:38:16,570 --> 00:38:19,870
Speaker 2: Deputy Sheriff Cecil Ray Price. This is all proven, who

728
00:38:19,930 --> 00:38:24,460
Speaker 2: is also a Klansman. And basically, Dick Gregory goes there,

729
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,680
Speaker 2: confronts the sheriff, and sticks his finger in his face

730
00:38:27,700 --> 00:38:29,700
Speaker 2: and says, I know you did this, and we're going

731
00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,520
Speaker 2: to pin it on you. And he reaches out to

732
00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:37,870
Speaker 2: Hugh Hefner, who puts up $ 25, 000 of 1964 money which

733
00:38:37,950 --> 00:38:41,930
Speaker 2: is no chump change for a reward for anyone that

734
00:38:41,950 --> 00:38:44,830
Speaker 2: can lead to the arrest or proof that these men

735
00:38:45,190 --> 00:38:47,430
Speaker 2: had something to do with it and to find the bodies.

736
00:38:48,270 --> 00:38:51,049
Speaker 2: There is conjecture that the FBI already knew where the

737
00:38:51,070 --> 00:38:54,760
Speaker 2: bodies were. They just didn't want to create a giant storm.

738
00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:58,840
Speaker 2: And so they kept quiet. And essentially, Gregory, with the

739
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,700
Speaker 2: help of his friend Hugh Hefner, took these men to

740
00:39:01,739 --> 00:39:06,259
Speaker 2: task and everyone essentially, I mean, the degrees to which

741
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,030
Speaker 2: they were punished, you could kind of argue were not

742
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,310
Speaker 2: nearly fitting the crime, but they were exposed. And that

743
00:39:13,370 --> 00:39:16,549
Speaker 2: brings us around to Hefner kind of, I don't know,

744
00:39:16,570 --> 00:39:18,950
Speaker 2: you think of him as this kind of impresario of

745
00:39:19,070 --> 00:39:21,330
Speaker 2: smut or something like that. But as you said, he

746
00:39:21,370 --> 00:39:24,190
Speaker 2: was very interested. He was very progressive. He was all

747
00:39:24,230 --> 00:39:27,250
Speaker 2: about literature and good writing. And people joke about, oh,

748
00:39:27,350 --> 00:39:30,300
Speaker 2: I only read Playboy for the articles. But there's... a

749
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:31,799
Speaker 2: lot of truth to that. I mean some of the

750
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:35,670
Speaker 2: greatest writers of all time have gotten their start writing

751
00:39:35,750 --> 00:39:38,970
Speaker 2: shorts for Playboy or articles or having short stories published.

752
00:39:39,290 --> 00:39:44,060
Speaker 2: So it absolutely has a place in that kind of canon. And–

753
00:39:44,820 --> 00:39:49,259
Speaker 2: More recently, Dick Gregory, unfortunately, we lost several years ago,

754
00:39:49,300 --> 00:39:51,700
Speaker 2: but near the end of his life, he participated in

755
00:39:51,820 --> 00:39:54,740
Speaker 2: a roast of Hugh Hefner, and he had a really

756
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:56,400
Speaker 2: interesting quote.

757
00:39:56,620 --> 00:40:00,100
Speaker 1: In 2001, right, during the roast of Hugh Hefner, he

758
00:40:00,219 --> 00:40:06,440
Speaker 1: actually went beyond the typical insult stuff, right? And I

759
00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:09,609
Speaker 1: think this is what you had mentioned earlier, Wayne, where

760
00:40:09,620 --> 00:40:12,129
Speaker 1: he says, You had a courage when no one was

761
00:40:12,190 --> 00:40:15,209
Speaker 1: bringing in blacks and minorities and let you stand flat

762
00:40:15,290 --> 00:40:18,190
Speaker 1: footed in America and just talk. You brought me in.

763
00:40:18,550 --> 00:40:21,190
Speaker 1: You didn't give me a lecture. You gave me no instructions.

764
00:40:21,570 --> 00:40:23,990
Speaker 1: I come here tonight not to roast you, but to

765
00:40:24,050 --> 00:40:26,540
Speaker 1: say that had you not had the guts back then,

766
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:29,060
Speaker 1: we black comics that the world has been able to

767
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:31,700
Speaker 1: look at and understand our genius, we would be in

768
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,340
Speaker 1: some pot roasting in debt, knowing we were never going

769
00:40:35,420 --> 00:40:38,609
Speaker 1: to make it. And I have to ask because that's

770
00:40:38,650 --> 00:40:39,950
Speaker 1: such a powerful statement.

771
00:40:40,530 --> 00:40:42,150
Speaker 7: It is to this day.

772
00:40:42,330 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 1: Yeah. Were they like friends past the business stuff, past

773
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:50,960
Speaker 1: like the giving the start? Because that's a very personal,

774
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:57,250
Speaker 1: sincere statement. Did they interact throughout his career in activism

775
00:40:57,310 --> 00:40:58,270
Speaker 1: as well as comedy?

776
00:40:58,610 --> 00:41:00,509
Speaker 7: Well, I know this.

777
00:41:00,630 --> 00:41:06,509
Speaker 6: I know in 1962– When Lenny Bruce got arrested at

778
00:41:06,550 --> 00:41:08,870
Speaker 6: the Gate of Horn, which was this little club also

779
00:41:08,930 --> 00:41:12,330
Speaker 6: in Chicago that Hef put up his bail money and

780
00:41:12,370 --> 00:41:16,390
Speaker 6: just felt like what Bruce is trying to do with language,

781
00:41:16,570 --> 00:41:20,129
Speaker 6: I'm trying to do with, you know, with literature here.

782
00:41:20,190 --> 00:41:25,330
Speaker 6: Like show, use satire and language and cartoons to sort

783
00:41:25,370 --> 00:41:28,779
Speaker 6: of elevate this art, not only the humor, but the

784
00:41:28,820 --> 00:41:32,100
Speaker 6: conversation about America in general. So I know he's always

785
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:35,260
Speaker 6: been an activist in that. I don't know how close

786
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,759
Speaker 6: they were through the years. I know that there's dozens

787
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,959
Speaker 6: of Dick Gregory interviews where he thanks Hugh Hefner for

788
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,020
Speaker 6: having the courage to put him on that stage and

789
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,979
Speaker 6: or the foresight to put him on that stage. So

790
00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:55,390
Speaker 6: I know he was like extremely grateful. Obviously, what happens is,

791
00:41:55,410 --> 00:41:58,629
Speaker 6: I hate to say this, the Playboy clubs were basically

792
00:41:58,710 --> 00:42:02,380
Speaker 6: like Dick Gregory immediately got bigger than the Playboy clubs,

793
00:42:02,739 --> 00:42:05,140
Speaker 6: which became this circuit. There was like 20 of them

794
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:06,300
Speaker 6: all over the United States.

795
00:42:06,580 --> 00:42:08,299
Speaker 7: Phoenix, St. Louis, you know.

796
00:42:08,739 --> 00:42:13,270
Speaker 6: So Miami, New Orleans, Boston, New York. So he was

797
00:42:13,370 --> 00:42:17,710
Speaker 6: already too big to play the Playboy circuit. So I

798
00:42:17,750 --> 00:42:20,350
Speaker 6: don't know if that was a thing between the two

799
00:42:20,390 --> 00:42:20,670
Speaker 6: of them.

800
00:42:20,730 --> 00:42:21,410
Speaker 7: I'm not sure.

801
00:42:21,850 --> 00:42:26,750
Speaker 6: But I've heard Dick Gregory numerous times thank Hugh Hefner

802
00:42:26,790 --> 00:42:28,110
Speaker 6: for that moment.

803
00:42:28,610 --> 00:42:31,129
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he really did kind of go

804
00:42:31,190 --> 00:42:33,469
Speaker 2: out on a limb when he, you know, he did

805
00:42:33,510 --> 00:42:35,590
Speaker 2: kind of have the world, you know, on a platter

806
00:42:35,630 --> 00:42:37,219
Speaker 2: at that point because of, like you said, the Playboy

807
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:39,819
Speaker 2: magazine just printing money and kind of having a sense

808
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:42,800
Speaker 2: that he was untouchable. And that's really important. But also

809
00:42:43,060 --> 00:42:45,339
Speaker 2: any other person could have done something completely different with

810
00:42:45,380 --> 00:42:47,299
Speaker 2: that kind of success and that kind of power. And

811
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:49,560
Speaker 2: he instead took a chance and went out on a

812
00:42:49,580 --> 00:42:53,589
Speaker 2: limb when he didn't have to. And without that moment,

813
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:56,169
Speaker 2: Dick Gregory wouldn't have had the platform to affect such

814
00:42:56,650 --> 00:42:59,049
Speaker 2: social change that he did, not to mention blowing the

815
00:42:59,090 --> 00:43:01,790
Speaker 2: doors wide open for black comics, you know, around the world.

816
00:43:02,150 --> 00:43:02,390
Speaker 1: Yeah.

817
00:43:02,630 --> 00:43:05,350
Speaker 6: It's a, it's an incredible story and it all happens

818
00:43:05,430 --> 00:43:09,080
Speaker 6: in this, you know, in this little club in Chicago,

819
00:43:09,100 --> 00:43:14,180
Speaker 6: in the middle of winter, January, 1961, there's a snow

820
00:43:14,260 --> 00:43:17,640
Speaker 6: storm and these takes a bus to the gig and

821
00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:20,000
Speaker 6: he gets off on the wrong stop. The whole story

822
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:22,320
Speaker 6: is just crap. So he's running through the snow and

823
00:43:22,340 --> 00:43:24,739
Speaker 6: he's slipping and he's never been to the playboy club.

824
00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:27,120
Speaker 6: So he doesn't know exactly where it is. And then

825
00:43:27,140 --> 00:43:31,230
Speaker 6: he gets there and yeah, he gets on stage and

826
00:43:32,330 --> 00:43:36,489
Speaker 6: does his thing. As you just reflect on like his

827
00:43:36,630 --> 00:43:41,390
Speaker 6: use of language and the casualness of his performance. And

828
00:43:41,450 --> 00:43:43,280
Speaker 6: he is just like, this is his moment.

829
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:46,620
Speaker 7: And he absolutely embraces it.

830
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:51,280
Speaker 1: And speaking of speaking of thanking and speaking of moments,

831
00:43:51,580 --> 00:43:54,759
Speaker 1: you know, we can we can thank Hugh Hefner the

832
00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:57,760
Speaker 1: way that Dick Gregory did. But we also have to admit,

833
00:43:58,180 --> 00:44:00,540
Speaker 1: you know, this wouldn't have been near as big a

834
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:04,810
Speaker 1: moment had Dick Gregory not been such a talented writer,

835
00:44:04,910 --> 00:44:08,090
Speaker 1: performer and comic. So I don't want to get away

836
00:44:08,170 --> 00:44:11,450
Speaker 1: from how just objectively good the guy is.

837
00:44:11,790 --> 00:44:14,350
Speaker 2: And also so savvy. I think it's not to be

838
00:44:15,070 --> 00:44:19,090
Speaker 2: overlooked that he wasn't rolling over when he kind of

839
00:44:19,130 --> 00:44:22,230
Speaker 2: did these maybe a little bit more palatable performances for

840
00:44:22,270 --> 00:44:25,690
Speaker 2: white audiences. he was being smart. He was reading the

841
00:44:25,750 --> 00:44:28,589
Speaker 2: room in a way that was able to like keep

842
00:44:28,630 --> 00:44:32,310
Speaker 2: him in the game. And, you know, as his comedy progressed,

843
00:44:32,370 --> 00:44:34,450
Speaker 2: I guess, or as his career progressed and he was

844
00:44:34,489 --> 00:44:37,350
Speaker 2: able to take more risks, you know, he was very

845
00:44:37,430 --> 00:44:40,549
Speaker 2: outspoken about race and politics and all of that, even

846
00:44:40,650 --> 00:44:41,280
Speaker 2: in his acts.

847
00:44:41,660 --> 00:44:42,300
Speaker 7: No question.

848
00:44:42,570 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 6: Again, it goes back to what we were speaking about

849
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:48,560
Speaker 6: earlier about you said savvy. I said, you know, emotional IQ.

850
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:51,239
Speaker 6: Like he just, I felt like he had a, a

851
00:44:51,430 --> 00:44:55,810
Speaker 6: really heightened level of like how to play these situations.

852
00:44:56,250 --> 00:44:59,509
Speaker 6: And he had seen, if I'm not mistaken, sometimes they

853
00:44:59,530 --> 00:45:02,510
Speaker 6: would have like, I don't know if it was Sammy

854
00:45:02,550 --> 00:45:06,770
Speaker 6: Davis at this Robert Show Club, and he watched Nipsey

855
00:45:06,870 --> 00:45:09,609
Speaker 6: Russell play a crowd. And sometimes they would get white

856
00:45:09,650 --> 00:45:12,930
Speaker 6: crowds coming into the Robert Show Club, which was a

857
00:45:12,969 --> 00:45:16,350
Speaker 6: black club, but they would let white people in, obviously.

858
00:45:16,810 --> 00:45:19,930
Speaker 6: So I think he had seen some other black comedians

859
00:45:20,370 --> 00:45:23,399
Speaker 6: like work the room. And he's like, okay, I think

860
00:45:23,460 --> 00:45:26,339
Speaker 6: I know how to crack this, this code. I think

861
00:45:26,380 --> 00:45:30,629
Speaker 6: I know the combination, uh, that, that'll, that'll make it work.

862
00:45:30,969 --> 00:45:36,430
Speaker 1: So this, this is a watershed pivotal moment, uh, in,

863
00:45:36,630 --> 00:45:42,759
Speaker 1: in comedy and in American society overall, uh, you know,

864
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:47,279
Speaker 1: longtime listeners know one thing that, uh, that I never

865
00:45:47,340 --> 00:45:49,219
Speaker 1: shy away from a Noel. I don't think you shy

866
00:45:49,260 --> 00:45:52,770
Speaker 1: away from it either. is admitting when we need to

867
00:45:52,830 --> 00:45:57,410
Speaker 1: know more about something. So thank you so much, Wayne Fetterman,

868
00:45:57,450 --> 00:46:02,370
Speaker 1: for introducing not just us, but our audience to Dick

869
00:46:02,469 --> 00:46:05,870
Speaker 1: Gregory and talking to us, even though you established pretty

870
00:46:05,930 --> 00:46:08,549
Speaker 1: early on in today's episode that you would always rather

871
00:46:08,590 --> 00:46:09,530
Speaker 1: be talking to Casey.

872
00:46:09,690 --> 00:46:12,549
Speaker 2: That's fair. We feel the same way. Trust me. I

873
00:46:12,590 --> 00:46:14,629
Speaker 2: want to really quick, I just tell a very, very

874
00:46:14,690 --> 00:46:17,950
Speaker 2: short story. I, uh, had an interesting privilege to– I

875
00:46:18,630 --> 00:46:22,050
Speaker 2: was a reporter for public radio when I lived in Augusta, Georgia,

876
00:46:22,630 --> 00:46:25,910
Speaker 2: and I got to cover the funeral of James Brown.

877
00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:29,940
Speaker 2: And Dick Gregory actually spoke and gave a eulogy at

878
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,080
Speaker 2: James Brown's funeral, and I was not aware of him,

879
00:46:32,380 --> 00:46:33,900
Speaker 2: and that was the very first time I had ever

880
00:46:33,940 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 2: heard of this man. And I really thought of him

881
00:46:36,660 --> 00:46:39,160
Speaker 2: much more– all the research I did, which wasn't much,

882
00:46:39,500 --> 00:46:41,850
Speaker 2: that he was much more of an activist. So hearing

883
00:46:41,890 --> 00:46:44,830
Speaker 2: this completed part of his story– It's really fascinating. But

884
00:46:44,870 --> 00:46:47,630
Speaker 2: he gave a really powerful speech at James Brown's funeral.

885
00:46:48,410 --> 00:46:50,110
Speaker 2: It was really interesting to see him kind of in

886
00:46:50,130 --> 00:46:54,430
Speaker 2: the flesh and a really fascinating man. Very, very glad

887
00:46:54,450 --> 00:46:56,670
Speaker 2: to know more about him. So thank you, Wayne, for

888
00:46:56,710 --> 00:46:57,930
Speaker 2: hipping us to this story.

889
00:46:58,310 --> 00:47:02,450
Speaker 7: Well, you know, I'm just– you're welcome.

890
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 1: So, Wayne, at this point, people have heard us mention

891
00:47:08,940 --> 00:47:13,100
Speaker 1: your podcast that you do with your co-host, Andrew Stephen.

892
00:47:13,580 --> 00:47:17,240
Speaker 1: I just want to let everybody know that the history

893
00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:21,339
Speaker 1: of Stand Up Season 2 is coming out now as

894
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:23,799
Speaker 1: we speak. It hasn't all been released yet, though, right?

895
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:24,840
Speaker 7: That is correct.

896
00:47:25,340 --> 00:47:29,739
Speaker 6: We are still editing, interviewing people, putting things together for

897
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:30,320
Speaker 6: this season.

898
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:35,680
Speaker 1: So the last episode I listened to, if you're interested

899
00:47:35,739 --> 00:47:39,859
Speaker 1: in hearing more about the Playboy circuit, is Season 2,

900
00:47:39,860 --> 00:47:42,680
Speaker 1: Episode 2, which came out just a few days ago.

901
00:47:43,340 --> 00:47:47,880
Speaker 1: as we record this, and it explores the story of

902
00:47:47,969 --> 00:47:52,069
Speaker 1: Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine and how they became, this

903
00:47:52,130 --> 00:47:54,750
Speaker 1: is a quote here from your show, Wayne, how they

904
00:47:54,790 --> 00:47:59,130
Speaker 1: became unlikely champions for an era of comedy between nightclubs

905
00:47:59,270 --> 00:48:00,250
Speaker 1: and the comedy boom.

906
00:48:00,610 --> 00:48:02,700
Speaker 7: That's exactly, I can't believe I came up with something

907
00:48:02,739 --> 00:48:03,460
Speaker 7: that articulate.

908
00:48:03,500 --> 00:48:04,040
Speaker 3: That's great.

909
00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:05,640
Speaker 7: That's very succinct.

910
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:06,300
Speaker 1: You've done good.

911
00:48:06,340 --> 00:48:08,859
Speaker 2: You've done good, Wayne. It's a great show. Where can

912
00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:13,040
Speaker 2: folks find that? What's the best way to pull that up? I.

913
00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:18,089
Speaker 6: The classic, wherever you get your podcast, whether it's, you know,

914
00:48:18,170 --> 00:48:20,669
Speaker 6: on iTunes or Stitcher.

915
00:48:20,770 --> 00:48:22,930
Speaker 7: I'm not sure, whatever. It's, it's everywhere.

916
00:48:22,950 --> 00:48:24,009
Speaker 2: It's there. It's out there.

917
00:48:24,090 --> 00:48:27,620
Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. It's easy to get. It's easy to get.

918
00:48:27,660 --> 00:48:30,960
Speaker 6: And thank you very much for, listening to it. I, um,

919
00:48:31,340 --> 00:48:34,000
Speaker 6: you know, I, this is a, I'm passionate about this,

920
00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:35,680
Speaker 6: but I, I just don't know how many people are

921
00:48:35,719 --> 00:48:38,980
Speaker 6: really interested in the history of standup as opposed to

922
00:48:39,460 --> 00:48:42,180
Speaker 6: standups now, you know, that, you know, talk about their

923
00:48:42,219 --> 00:48:43,100
Speaker 6: careers and stuff.

924
00:48:43,739 --> 00:48:46,779
Speaker 1: I've actually, I've been keeping note here. I'll, I'll confess

925
00:48:46,820 --> 00:48:49,750
Speaker 1: there were a couple of older comics that you had

926
00:48:49,890 --> 00:48:53,170
Speaker 1: mentioned in the course of today's episode where I was

927
00:48:53,210 --> 00:48:54,810
Speaker 1: writing them down. I was like, Oh wait, I've got

928
00:48:54,830 --> 00:48:56,290
Speaker 1: to look that guy up. I got to see if

929
00:48:56,350 --> 00:48:59,530
Speaker 1: I can hear something. So I've got some homework today

930
00:48:59,550 --> 00:49:03,890
Speaker 1: and I'll probably be posting some stuff about this on

931
00:49:04,110 --> 00:49:08,120
Speaker 1: our own Ridiculous History Facebook page or Instagram. You can

932
00:49:08,540 --> 00:49:13,380
Speaker 1: find us there. You can also find us on Twitter. Wayne,

933
00:49:13,460 --> 00:49:15,469
Speaker 1: I'm going to volunteer you. It looks like you are

934
00:49:15,510 --> 00:49:17,670
Speaker 1: also available on Twitter at Fetterman.

935
00:49:17,950 --> 00:49:18,310
Speaker 3: Correct.

936
00:49:18,989 --> 00:49:21,069
Speaker 2: And if you want to find me, and Ben individually,

937
00:49:21,430 --> 00:49:24,190
Speaker 2: we keep up a pretty decent Instagram profile. I am

938
00:49:24,410 --> 00:49:25,859
Speaker 2: at HowNowNoelBrown.

939
00:49:26,340 --> 00:49:28,319
Speaker 1: And you can see me getting kicked into and out

940
00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:32,759
Speaker 1: of various countries at Ben Bolin. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

941
00:49:32,820 --> 00:49:33,500
Speaker 1: Don't make fun of me.

942
00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:33,850
Speaker 7: I love it.

943
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:34,400
Speaker 4: I love it.

944
00:49:35,260 --> 00:49:38,060
Speaker 1: So that is our show, everyone. Thank you so much

945
00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:40,860
Speaker 1: for tuning in. We'd love to hear your take in

946
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,890
Speaker 1: some of your favorite comics throughout history, right?

947
00:49:44,030 --> 00:49:48,050
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Thanks to super producer Casey Pegram. Thanks to Alex Williams,

948
00:49:48,070 --> 00:49:51,569
Speaker 2: who composed our theme. Big thanks to Christopher Haciotis, who

949
00:49:51,630 --> 00:49:55,239
Speaker 2: is here in spirit. and Jonathan Strickland, who, you know,

950
00:49:55,260 --> 00:49:57,899
Speaker 2: he can take a long walk off a short pier.

951
00:49:58,040 --> 00:50:01,069
Speaker 1: Big thanks to Jonathan Strickland, a.k.a. The Quizster. I know

952
00:50:01,090 --> 00:50:02,730
Speaker 1: you and I don't see eye to eye on that.

953
00:50:03,090 --> 00:50:06,410
Speaker 1: And big thanks to Wayne, and thank you so much, folks,

954
00:50:06,489 --> 00:50:07,290
Speaker 1: for listening.

955
00:50:07,690 --> 00:50:18,480
Speaker 2: We'll see you next time. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio,

956
00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:21,460
Speaker 2: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

957
00:50:21,500 --> 00:50:22,780
Speaker 2: listen to your favorite shows.