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Remembering Jonathan Winters, the 'father of improvisational comedy'
LA Times ^ | 4/12/13 | Deborah Vankin

Posted on 04/12/2013 4:10:50 PM PDT by Impala64ssa

The trailblazing comic improviser Jonathan Winters, who died Thursday at age 87, was a seminal influence on scores of comedians and the person Robin Williams credits as his mentor.

Winters' high energy, unpredictable and often surreal comic riffs included an array of characters, reenactments of movie scenes and pointed, quick-morphing sound effects that he often produced on the spot.

Take, for example, his 1964 appearance on "The Jack Paar Program." In order to illustrate Winters' genius for creating comedy out of thin air, Paar gave him a simple wooden stick. “Do something with the stick” Paar said, and in what’s now a classic bit, Winters morphed from wayward fisherman to tepid circus ringmaster with a whip, to highbrow flute player.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bigw; entertainment; jonathanwinters; winters
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I first saw Jonathan Winters in Mad Mad Mad World, way back when. He had me ROTFLMAO ever since. RIP
1 posted on 04/12/2013 4:10:51 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
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To: Impala64ssa

One of the funniest men who ever lived. Rest easy, Mr. Winters. Thank you for the laughs.


2 posted on 04/12/2013 4:12:30 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: Lurker

It’s a Mad, Mad, World!

Rest in Reace Jonathan.


3 posted on 04/12/2013 4:15:39 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: Lurker
Pairing him up with Mork was genius.

Thanx, Jon.

4 posted on 04/12/2013 4:16:23 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: Lurker

One of the funniest men who ever lived. Rest easy, Mr. Winters. Thank you for the laughs.

...loved his work, ever since I was a kid back in the mid sixties...in pace resquiescat...


5 posted on 04/12/2013 4:17:57 PM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: Impala64ssa

The Stick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwWDa1xPTPA


6 posted on 04/12/2013 4:17:58 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: Impala64ssa
THIS one ?
7 posted on 04/12/2013 4:18:35 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: SandRat

Mr Winters also served in the United States Marine Corps for over 2 years in the Pacific theater during WWII.


8 posted on 04/12/2013 4:20:10 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: Impala64ssa

The man was a comic genius.


9 posted on 04/12/2013 4:21:00 PM PDT by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
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To: Impala64ssa

Semper Fi. Rest in peace. Jonathan Winters was a class act and one of the funniest comedians I have ever seen. He never used profanity or made overly crude sexual references. Most comedians today can’t go 2 minutes without cursing or talking about sex in a crude way. Winters was also Marine combat vet from WWII. His brand of comedy will be missed.


10 posted on 04/12/2013 4:25:11 PM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: Impala64ssa

I was maybe 4 or 5 years old in the mid fifties and saw this strange man on live TV doing a routine about a space ship approaching a mother ship. He was making all the sound effects himself. He had me laughing hysterically. That’s been true ever since. I count him a genius along with Richard Pryor and George Carlin. I will miss him.

RIP Jonathan.


11 posted on 04/12/2013 4:27:26 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: ConorMacNessa
A Marine WWII Vet has Reported to St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.
12 posted on 04/12/2013 4:30:03 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: Impala64ssa

However often you laughed at him, and however deserving of praise Winters may be it is utterly ridiculous to call him the “father of improvisational comedy.” My reaction to it is the same as I have when I hear the Earl of Sandwich credited with inventing the sandwich. Does anyone really think no human thought of putting meat or cheese—or meat and cheese—between two pieces of bread before that guy? Balderdash!

Imprivisational comedy is at least older than speech, and is probably as old as homo sapiens. I’ve noticed, as have all pet owners, the hint of a sense of Humor in animals. But I’ll let that go. Grant humor is something uniquely human, and all that remains is demonstrating the improvisational kind is the oldest kind, which obviously it is. Is anyone going to seriously argue planned comedic routines came before Humor off the top of your head?


13 posted on 04/12/2013 4:34:57 PM PDT by Tublecane
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To: Impala64ssa

A twofer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOBb5dXh-Ik&feature=youtube_gdata_player


14 posted on 04/12/2013 4:35:41 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: Impala64ssa
Winters also played a few serious roles. A pool hustler in a Twilight Zone episode comes to mind. We used to listen to his albums in the late 1960s. Great stuff. RIP Mr. Winters.
15 posted on 04/12/2013 4:36:32 PM PDT by 4yearlurker (God Bless Margaret Thatcher.)
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To: Impala64ssa

Dang.


16 posted on 04/12/2013 4:39:07 PM PDT by noblejones (Obama rules!)
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To: Impala64ssa
Jonathan Winters came from a very prominent banking family in Dayton, Ohio.
I remember watching him on his daily 15 minute local TV show in the mid fifties. He had many of his later characters including Maudie Frickert and did all the sound effects. Funny as heck even to a young teenager.

He served in the Marine Corps during or just after WWII and had a routine about an amphibious landing that was absolute roll on the floor laughing your can off funny. I agree with the story, he cannot be replaced. After him the others are pale imitations.

17 posted on 04/12/2013 4:39:10 PM PDT by Tupelo (Old, Bald, Ugly, Fat and Broke in Arizona)
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To: Tublecane

Yeah, also I understand that George Washington was not actually the biological father of all Americans in the late 18th century. I can’t understand why they call him the father of his country.


18 posted on 04/12/2013 4:40:12 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: Tublecane

BTTTT!


19 posted on 04/12/2013 4:44:45 PM PDT by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: Impala64ssa

He was great with Jack Klugman on The Twilight Zone episode “A GAME OF POOL”. He played Fats Brown.


20 posted on 04/12/2013 4:46:02 PM PDT by ohiobushman
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