But Don Rickles...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Don Rickles could never do his kind of humor today. Some of it was incredibly racist. He got away with it because he poked fun at his own religion. That was cringe too.

[Beakybird]

1. He wasn't very funny either. I'll laugh at something not PC if it's funny.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. He was good in Casino.

[AngryOldDem]

9. I always found his insult "comedy" cringeworthy and not funny.

Contrast that with the Johnny Carson roasts. Jokes were taken in the spirit — or spirits, LOL — in which they were intended, which were not meant to insult or hurt.

Do they even have roasts anymore?

[JoanofArgh]

22. He was a life long Democrat, surprisingly.

* Rickles was not always an insult-slinging comedian. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where his classmates included Jason Robards, Grace Kelly and Anne Bancroft. He had an early undistinguished stage career before gravitating toward comedy work, starting out in strip joints and working his way up to nightclubs, casinos, records, television and movies.

* Rickles did not think of himself as an “insult comic.” He said his act was all in fun and that his barbs were exaggerations delivered with good humor. “I’m the guy that makes fun of the boss at the Christmas party on Friday night and Monday still has his job,” he once said.

* A lifelong Democrat, Rickles performed as part of Ronald Reagan’s second presidential inauguration. He joked that he took the job because he wanted to hang out with Sinatra.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-rickles-factbox/factbox-six-facts-about-comedian-don-rickles-idUSKBN1782K6

[True Dough]

2. Even watching some David Letterman segments

there were things that were wildly inappropriate by today's standards (well, by the standards back then as well, but too few people were willing to speak up about it).

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. I don't think he was a bigoted guy but he made a lot of bigoted jokes.

[Beakybird]

5. Agree

[LakeArenal]

6. Talk about something gross that Al Franken was punished for:

A Bob Hope USO tour. Geezweez honey.
Talk about misogyny and racism. Al’s sin was just participating in the age old “fun”.

[NBachers]

7. I always thought it was a stroke of genius to cast him as the casino manager in Scorsese's Casino.

From Cinemablend:

During the filming of Casino, Martin Scorsese wanted to cast Don Rickles because he was a Las Vegas fixture and wanted to give the film more authenticity. Rickles was a frequent headliner at several casinos throughout his career, such as the Sands Casino. It was easy for him to act in Casino because he based his performance off of real people he knew.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1644770/read-martin-scorseses-touching-reflections-on-don-rickles

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. In his skits did he ever make fun of wise guys in the audience?

[NBachers]

10. That's a good question. There's a clip of him roasting Scorsese and DeNiro at an awards show. If he

went after wise guys, it was probably just nibbling around the edges. I think he was connected enough in Vegas to know where he couldn't go. But that's just speculation on my part.

[Kaleva]

11. He made jokes about Sinatra's connections with mob figures

[Kaleva]

12. The Dean Martin Roasts wouldn't be accepted today

[MineralMan]

13. I never liked Rickles. Humor by insulting others doesn't make me laugh.

His schtick was always lame, in my opinion. Cheap jokes at the expense of others. Weak sauce.

I was at a comedy show years ago, sitting in the front row of tables. I have a big-ass white beard and white hair. The comic chose me out for ridicule. He pointed at me and said, "What do we have here? Moses?"

I stood up, turned around to face the rest of the audience and took a deep bow. I got the laugh, instead of the comic. The rest of his set did not go well. Taking a cheap shot is poor comedy.

[ChazII]

27. A round of applause

for the way you handled the situation. That is what I would have had my son do.

[MineralMan]

28. Thanks. I have a bag of such tricks I can use when needed.

I felt a little bad for the stand-up comic, though. But, that's what you get when you pick on someone like me in the audience who likes to play to the crowd. The audience laughed riotously, but not for the comedian. Zing!

[ChazII]

29. And that is the beauty of this trick, n/t

[wanda4rafi]

14. The people who went to Rickles live shows were there to be "attacked" and

knew what they were paying to see and hear. It was like people going to see Gallagher and hoping to be spewed with all kinds of crap. At least Rickles was funny, imo. His was an equal opportunity schtick.

Ricky Gervais gets away with similar materiel the last few years at the Golden Globes. But, because the victims are rich and famous nobody cares.

[treestar]

15. Most of his targets would be other white guys

if I recall correctly. He'd only have a few other targets.

[Towlie]

16. The funniest Don Rickles joke ever was by Carnac the Magnificent (Johnny Carson).

 
←


(Carnac holds the envelope to his forehead with his eyes closed and announces the answer.) "Don Rickles".

(He opens the envelope and reads the question.) "What does a general say to his troops when he wants them to put on their rickles?"

[Hekate]

17. Never thought he was funny

[Mr.Bill]

18. I was always a Rickles fan

and saw him several times live. At the end of his act, he always gave a real nice talk about his style of humor and in words I can't even paraphrase now explained it all and the reason behind it in a way that made people feel okay about it. Anyone who was close to him always said he was a very nice person, and I don't doubt that at all.

[Polybius]

19. You think it's cringe if a person pokes fun at their own religion, race, or nationality?

It's a lot better than doing it to someone else's.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. Yeah. I never liked Woody Allen perpetuating the stereotype ofJewish men as diminutive and neurotic.

Jackie Mason was equally cringe. And joking about entire groups should be verboten and if not verboten approached gingerly.

[Polybius]

23. So this would be inappropriate?

Reagan jokes about the Irish ar around 4:45. He goes on to say that in his position, Irish jokes are the only ethnic jokes that he could tell.

&ab_channel=red5va

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Everybody has different lines.You never know when you cross them.

I know Reagan once made a joke about Italians and the mafia that fell flat and he had to walk it back. Even President Obama made a Special Olympics joke that fell flat that he had to walk back. When I used to be with my Jewish friends I made jokes about ourselves that I would never make it I was among members of other faiths.

[JoanofArgh]

21. Don Rickles was a lifelong Democrat. I've watched videos of him appearing at Reagan's inauguration

as Gov. of California and President and skewers Reagan, they're actually pretty funny.

[Demsrule86]

24. I hate Don Rickles. My Uncle like him and had records...he was awful...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. LMFAO