Posted on 07/25/2005 11:48:38 AM PDT by Past Your Eyes
Heeeeere's Al, Thanks to Carson
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By JACQUES STEINBERG Published: July 25, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO, July 23 - As vice president, Al Gore learned that the most disarming way to counter his wooden image was to tell better jokes about himself than the late-night comedians did. Mr. Gore now says he received occasional tutoring on those one-liners from the master of the television monologue, Johnny Carson.
Mr. Gore said he had telephoned Mr. Carson on several occasions in the mid-1990's to seek his guidance on "timing and delivery."
"He let me call him up and bounce jokes off him and he would give me advice on the presentation of gags," said Mr. Gore, who said he had initially approached the retired "Tonight Show" host through a mutual friend. "It was such a privilege."
Mr. Gore said that Mr. Carson, who died in January, had even given him a couple of jokes. But Mr. Carson's greatest contribution, Mr. Gore said, came in 1994, when over the telephone he walked Mr. Carson through a skit he intended to do before a black-tie Washington dinner known as the Gridiron.
The idea, Mr. Gore said, was that he would be wheeled onto the dais on a hand truck, ramrod straight, and would slowly be cranked to his feet by "two guys in Acme delivery costumes."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Well too bad Johnny Carson is dead, or I would have enjoyed putting him on my liberal list.
I don't think it helped much.
I thought Al Gore invented the mono"log "
Now that Johnny Carson is dead and cannot refute his claims, Gore can BS all he wants in some stupid NY Slimes puff piece intended to repair Gore's reputation as a first class NUT!
Nix it, Mr. G. Too close to your normal entrance.
I've always been under the impression that the tonight show was Al's idea all along (right after he and tipsy provided the inspiration for 'Love Story').
ROFL!! Great picture. May I borrow it?
Now Gore needs to be wheeled in like Hannibal Lecter!
That said, I loved Johnny. I think most of what was left of any Hollywood class went with him.
Lessons from a master of timing, and what to show for it?
Agreed. He was a great entertainer!
What a self-congratulatory, sophomoric suck-up. Everything about this guy reeks of poser.
bugmenot.com doesn't seem to work for the NYT.
Then you'll love this.
Sez Al: "I think of myself as a recovering politician, and I'm on about Step 9," he told the New York Times in an interview.
Sure, blame it on Carson.
Was this before or after he invented the internet?
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