Interview · moment 16 of 26
The Big Comics of the Early 80s: Rich Jeni, Rodney Dangerfield, Larry David
from Small Talk with Colin Quinn | The Tim Dillon Show #343 · #343
4 min
Guest
Colin runs through who was considered big in the early comedy scene—Rich Jeni, Ronnie Shakes, Eddie Murphy at the Comic Strip, Richard Lewis—and tells stories about Larry David's confrontational stage persona and Rodney Dangerfield's real generosity backstage.
- Rich Jeni was considered the man among working comics, doing all the Rogue gigs in the early 80s.
- Eddie Murphy would come into the Comic Strip once every six months and just dominate the room.
- Larry David would get mad at the audience in seconds—he tested crowds unfairly from the start.
- Tim was there when Larry David got into a fight with a drunk friend of Lenny Dykstra's who called him a Jewish bastard.
- Larry's opening bit was asking the audience if they'd taken French in high school, ready to turn hostile if they didn't understand his tu/vous conjugation joke.
- Rodney Dangerfield would show up at his own club in the bathroom with a Heineken and go on stage for 10-15 minutes of real comedy.
- Tim tried to sell Rodney a few jokes and Rodney told him they were shitty and just moved on.
- A lady once came up to Rodney quoting his famous catchphrase, and he told her to go fuck herself.
Larry DavidRodney DangerfieldEddie MurphyRich JeniLenny DykstraGilbert GottfriedRonnie ShakesJerry SeinfeldWendy WilliamsRichard Lewis