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Friday December 26, 2003

Hail the comedic hero

Caesar’s autobiography a peek into a comic genius’ mind

by dan pine
staff writer

If you’re under 30, you’ve probably never heard of Sid Caesar. But to anyone old enough to remember black-and-white Philcos with rabbit ears, Caesar is a conquering hero.

Arguably the man most responsible for the art of TV sketch comedy, Caesar often gets shortchanged when compared with pioneers like Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason. Yet his contributions are no less important to the evolution of television.

His two NBC series — “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hours” — were ratings powerhouses for most of the 1950s. Not only was he personally popular, but his writing staff included some of the greatest names in comedy: Woody Allen, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart all honed their skills under Caesar’s employ.

Caesar and company brought a distinctly New York/Jewish sensibility to television, thereby paving the way for the Seinfeldization of American comedy.

Now 81, Caesar is still going strong, overseeing his own Web site and marketing DVDs of his classic bits. He also recently published an autobiography, “Caesar’s Hours: My Life in Comedy with Love and Laughter.” For anyone who likes to laugh, the book is a valuable glimpse into the mind of a comic genius.

Caesar wrote the book with ghostwriter Eddy Friedfeld, and scanning the clipped prose, one can practically hear the whirring of Friedfeld’s tape recorder. Naturally, Caesar casts himself in the best possible light, even when describing his well-known battles with alcoholism and addiction. But the man can be forgiven. Of far greater interest is the story of Caesar’s humble New York origins, his rise to the top of the fledgling medium of television and his theory of comedy.

Though a product of the Jewish immigrant experience, Caesar makes only oblique references to his Jewishness in the book. Born in 1922, he was much enamored of the American popular culture that came of age in the years prior to World War II.

Caesar made a living as a jazz musician before discovering his own comedic talents up in the Catskills. In the Jewish summer resorts he developed the staples of his future act: foreign language double-talk, pantomime and — with his 6-foot-plus frame — an imposing physicality. Caesar leapfrogged to success first as a touring comic, Broadway star and movie actor before the young medium of live television beckoned in the late 1940s.

Much of Caesar’s autobiography is taken up with an extensive behind-the-scenes look at his two shows. He goes on and on over several chapters, describing the talents of his co-stars and writing staff, and he includes lengthy transcriptions of numerous sketches.

Caesar fans will remember fondly the characters Doris and Charlie (the typical 1950s married couple played by Imogene Coca and Caesar), the know-it-all Professor, jazz musician Progress Hornsby, the Hickeloopers and many other “Show of Show” gems.

But reading the scripts don’t do the sketches justice. Caesar’s brilliance can only be understood by watching him work. The transcriptions as they stand don’t read all that funny, and by most measures, the humor — at least on the page — seems dated and quaint.

But seeing Caesar in action, with Coca, Reiner or Howie Morris, or even all alone on the stage, one understands why he remains a revered figure today. (A few choice clips are available for viewing on his Web site, http://sidcaesar.com.)

As for the ingrained Jewishness of Caesar and his writers, they never tried to hide it. Caesar recalls Larry Gelbart being asked why “all of my writers tended to be young and Jewish. ‘Probably because all of our parents were old and Jewish,’ was his reply.”

Gelbart is later quoted as saying, “We were gifted, neurotic young Jews punching our brains out.”

In certain passages of the book, Caesar comes off a touch egotistical. He takes full or partial credit for all kinds of comic inventions that likely would have arisen anyway, and he seems to resent his second-tier status in the TV pantheon. This may be partially his own fault because he has steadfastly refused to allow syndication of his shows, thus preventing subsequent generations from discovering him (his online DVD supermarket should ameliorate the problem somewhat).

Yet Caesar is also refreshingly honest. He generously credits Florence Caesar, his wife of 60 years, for helping him through the rough patches, and he seems to have attained a measure of serenity in his golden years.

He deserves it. As hard as he drove himself during his heyday, Sid Caesar has surely taken in the lesson he taught his fans half a century ago. “If I’ve learned anything over all these years,” he writes, “it’s that a little laughter is good for the soul.”

“Caesar’s Hours: My Life in Comedy With Love and Laughter” by Sid Caesar with Eddy Friedfeld (307 pages, PublicAffairs Books, $26)

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