Gilbert Gottfried - RIP

[Kevin Bresnahan]

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/gilbert-gottfried-dead-dies-comedian-aladdin-1235231387/

Gilbert was funny as hell. He was unafraid to tell the hard jokes. He could be disgusting. He could be nasty. But man, am I going to miss him. One of the best "groan laugh" comedians ever.

All 3 gone in the past 7 months...

And Louie Anderson too...

The comedy world has taken some big hits in this past year.

[Larry Kart]

2 hours ago, bresna said:

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/gilbert-gottfried-dead-dies-comedian-aladdin-1235231387/

Gilbert was funny as hell. He was unafraid to tell the hard jokes. He could be disgusting. He could be nasty. But man, am I going to miss him. One of the best "groan laugh" comedians ever.

All 3 gone in the past 7 months...

And Louie Anderson too...

The comedy world has taken some big hits in this past year.

A review I wrote in 1987:

 

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried may be best known for the currently ubiquitous TV ads in which he squints up his face and says, in an overwrought, strangulated tone of voice, ''This candy bar is intense!''

 

But the relationship between those efforts and Gottfried`s in-person act, which is on display through Sunday at George`s, is roughly the same as that between Shirley Temple and Dracula-not only because Gottfried`s sense of humor is as weird as can be but also because there is a definite edge of danger to it.

 

Greeted by applause, Gottfried begins by saying, ''Stop, stop . . . oh, stop it''-in the same way several generations of Borscht-belt comics have attempted to garner more acclaim by pretending to deflect it. But his manner already speaks of genuine annoyance, and by the time he segues into ''You`re much too kind . . . you`re disgustingly kind . . . have some self-respect,''  the tables have been turned.

 

Gottfried`s basic character is that of a young Jewish denizen of New York who is haunted by the ghosts of his perpetually querulous grandparents. Thus when Gottfried`s extends his sendup of the ''you`re such a beautiful audience'' syndrome and says, ''I`d like to take each and every one with you home with me and tie you up and smear you with chocolate and peanut butter,'' the grandfather voice breaks in to add ''and not even a good-quality peanut butter''-which then leads to a further disquisition on how bad such a quality of peanut butter might be and where and how one might obtain it.

 

Another of Gottfried`s obsessions-perhaps the chief one -is the odor of overripe decay that emanates from mediocre or out-of-date entertainment.Referring to ''the famous musical `Bingo, Karl!,` which starred Bonnie Franklin as Karl Marx'' (don`t ask how Gottfried managed to get onto that topic), he insisted over and over that ''Bonnie Franklin has a big musical-comedy background,'' until the inanity of that familar brand of showbiz puffery took on an hilariously abstract ghastliness.

 

Satire, however, may not be what Gottfried has in mind, because he really doesn`t look down on the greasy pathos of failed entertainment. Instead he seems to celebrate it-as though, like the late Lenny Bruce, he believed that the whole world functioned on the level of an out-of-work lounge act.

 

Accosted by a spaceship full of aliens, Gottfried is approached by their leader, who asks: ''Ben Gazzara's a good actor-why can`t he get a series?''

 

And who else could conceive of, let along bring to life ((and with perfectly accurate voice impersonations) ''The Honeymooners, The Movie''-in which the roles of Ralph Kramden, Norton, Trixie and Alice are played  respectively by James Mason, Richard Burton, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson?

 

Yes, Gilbert Gottfried is a strange and funny fellow. And perhaps he is here to remind us that we inhabit an increasingly strange and funny planet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HutchFan]

Nice write-up, Larry.  

I saw Gottfried perform once many years ago.  I don't remember much of his act.  But I do remember that it was strange and that I was laughing hard for the entire evening.

R.I.P.

I and my friend, estimable and typically rathe reserved Chicago Tribune  critic (at the time) Dave Kehr, were in tears of laughter almost the whole time.

[clifford_thornton]

Always loved him but never saw him live. Very sad news -- RIP.

[JSngry]

He wasn't always funny, but when he was (which was usually(, he was killer. RIP.

[jlhoots]

Wasn't afraid to get fired. R.I.P.

[mjzee]

https://twitter.com/mannyfidel/status/1513966261469863939?s=20&t=GI2cwCoAwjFe7dqOEljf1Q

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

 

[Eric]

3 hours ago, mjzee said:

https://twitter.com/mannyfidel/status/1513966261469863939?s=20&t=GI2cwCoAwjFe7dqOEljf1Q

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

 

That is quite good.  Thanks for sharing.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I heard on the news that he had been dealing with a rare genetic muscle disorder called Type II Myotonic Dystrophy, a kind of muscular dystrophy, for a long time. Apparently, people often have it and don't realize it until they are older as the early symptoms like muscle weakness, shortness of breath, difficulty with stairs etc. are often attributed to just "getting old".

Edited April 14, 2022 by bresna

[mhatta]

RIP.  For some reason, they used Fly With The Wind...I found amusing.  Gilbert also seemed to fond of it, too.

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by mhatta

[Brad]

In The NY Times, an appraisal  

Only Gilbert Gottfried Could Be So Dirty and So Heartbreakin

[Rooster_Ties]

This remembrance from Terry Gross…  (You have to hear it, don’t just try and read it — trust me.)

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092823237/remembering-comic-gilbert-gottfried

Edited April 26, 2022 by Rooster_Ties