Modified On October 11, 2004
We were directed to a splendid appreciation of the late Rodney Dangerfield that appeared in the Tampa Tribune. Written by Jeff Houck, the piece appeared today. Here’s our favorite quote:
Dangerfield’s best professional attribute, Durst said, was that “he recognized funny was funny and never copped an attitude about whether it was loud or profane or clever or slapstick. He was the Godfather of Comedy, and he will be missed, mostly by bartenders and hookers.”
We were struck by paragraphs five and six:
Brian McKim, editor of SheckyMagazine.com, an online magazine about stand-up comedy, said Dangerfield’s success in the mid-to-late 1970s came at an age at which most comedians are beginning to wind down.
“His enthusiasm, his persona, his world-weary demeanor all meshed nicely with his advanced years and his hangdog appearance,” McKim said. “And he wasn’t merely content to be successful on his own. His Young Comedians specials, in cooperation with HBO, gave a boost to the careers of many comedians, Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks and Bob Saget among them.”
Happy that we could be a small part of such a decent sendoff! Houck also does what many haven’t: he ends the whole tribute by listing about two dozen of Rodney’s jokes. Read the whole thing here.