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 whats 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 ...
One of the funniest men who ever lived. Rest easy, Mr. Winters. Thank you for the laughs.
It’s a Mad, Mad, World!
Rest in Reace Jonathan.
Thanx, Jon.
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...
Mr Winters also served in the United States Marine Corps for over 2 years in the Pacific theater during WWII.
The man was a comic genius.
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.
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.
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?
Dang.
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.
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.
BTTTT!
He was great with Jack Klugman on The Twilight Zone episode “A GAME OF POOL”. He played Fats Brown.
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