Joey Bishop followup

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on October 19th, 2007

John F. Morrison, writing for Philadelphia’s Daily News gives hometown boy Bishop the deluxe treatment in today’s edition.

Morrison seeks out quotes from various Philly luminaries, including local radio personality Jerry Blavat, who belches out this finely polished nugget of idiocy:

“He never used dirt or smut in his acts,” Blavat said. “Today, you can’t do that. Don Rickles is the only one left and he’s 80.”

Firstly, why does a reporter run with such nonsense? When the person you’re interviewing presents you with such lunacy, why do you not ask another question (or three? or four?) until you get some quote that comports just the tiniest bit with reality? (If Morrison can’t get a simple story about standup comedy right, can we believe anything we read– about matters that are far more important– in a modern daily newspaper?)

Secondly, what the hell is Blavat talking about? Rickles is the only one not using smut? How about Brian Regan? Or how about that other young Philly comic, Bill Cosby? Blavat might be 67 years old, but is that any excuse to be so utterly out of touch with popular culture? The old “These kids today are such potty-mouths” attitude is more like something that an 87-year-old might adopt. But what’s Morrison’s excuse?

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