Bleeding Yankee Blue: MY KING OF COMEDY

Monday, August 29, 2016

MY KING OF COMEDY

This has nothing to do with the New York Yankees or baseball in anyway. It has to do with laughter. Laughter in our lives.

I am always reminded by just how important a person should live their life and it's a simple routine, brought to us by the great Jimmy V.

"If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day."

Recently in my older life, I think about that line often and I follow that routine. It's made me a gentler soul of sorts. I read and watch Jimmy V's his speech a lot and that portion sticks with me.

I believe in laughter, I'm sensitive guy, and I probably think way too much. But I'll tell you something, I feel healthier because of it. I try to be kind, I try to engage folks, I love my friends and I love my family more. And most of all, through all of it, I try to keep a smile on my face.

Gene Wilder was a magnificent actor, but I was always blown away by his comedy and comedic timing.

Mel Brooks was a genius in helping to make Wilder into a person I fell in love with, but it was his collaboration with funnier men and women like Richard Pryor, Cleavon Little, Madeline Kahn that gave him the perfect balance.

There was never a racial divide when they worked together and that's because the art of laughter took priority. They were human beings trying to make a great performance. You could turn on any of these films with any type of tragedy or turmoil going on in the world and for the next few hours, you'd be lost in utter brilliance. Wars, concerns and chaos didn't matter. There was entertainment. There were smiles, laughter, and while it made you think, you understood the goal. It wasn't to insult or pit folks against each other, it was to entertain.

Gene Wilder died today, and it's sad for me personally. But the art lives on forever and it's comedy gold. Wilder was brilliant at what he and his co-comedians put together and I just needed to take a moment and mourn and smile and reflect a bit. Emotions are running deep on this one folks, the man was a genius. We've lost another good one.

But in the end, we all know that he's back with Gilda the love of his life, and ultimately that is what he wanted eventually anyway. She was his heart and now they are reunited.

Rest in peace friend. You've brought me much joy over the years and I will continue to watch... laugh, cry and think.