Bonus Round!
• Favorite Jewish saying
Se vet dir helfn vi a toytn bunkes. “It will help you like a dead man will be helped by eye cups.” I haven’t used that in years. It just came to me.
• Favorite Jewish curse
Du zol vaksn beets bay dayn tokhes un pishn burik zup. You should grow beets on your ass and piss beet soup. Du zol vaksn a trolley oytomobil arayn dayn mogn un drek transfers. You should grow a trolley car in your stomach and shit transfers.
• Most overused Yiddish word
“Oy” is not overused. It’s used enough.
• Best Jewish tradition
Not hitting other people.
• Worst Jewish tradition
Going to shul.
• Favorite Jew
My new favorite Jew is Abraham Lincoln.
• Favorite anti-Semite
I think Hitler wins hands down.
• Favorite comedian today
There are three: Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
• Favorite Jewish food
Latkes. I haven’t had them in a long time. Potato latkes.
• Favorite biblical character
It would have to be Moses.
• Least-favorite Jewish food
There’s no such thing. Tongue sandwiches. I just had a tongue sandwich. I had it sliced and then I boiled it to get the salt out.
Photos: © Eric Grigorian
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I LOVE Carl Reiner..love love Mel Brooks…Mel is a genius. His bDway shows, his comedic patter, his films, no matter the genre, Mel’s BRILLIANT…Feel terrible he never had kids as then I’d have hope of his genes descending into his heirs.
Too bad. You abetter save everything Mel did as his work is a legacy.
Good interview.
Mel Brooks has a son, Max Brooks, who’s the author of “World War Z” and early zombie books. “World War Z” is coming out as a film soon starring Brad Pitt.
these gentlemen are national treasures. humor is magic medicine
I often thought of your collaboration with Mel Brooks(AKA Kaminisky). Mr. Brooks and I lived in the same building in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. I was a child and Melvin was a young adult who was probably writing comedy then. It took me about thirty years before I realized that much of the material of Reiner & Brooks came from experiments on Lee Avenue.and the Bronx. Much of this humor wound up on Your Show Of Shows. I am waiting for someone to release recordings of these shows. One day Melvin started banging on my door and told my mother that he need my help in the street. My mother was very happy to get rid of me for a while so she told Mel to take care of me. Of course my mother didn’t see that Mel was wearing a plastic suit of armor, had a plastic sword and rope. He took me downstairs, tied me up and put me on the trolley tracks. As the trolley came down Lee Avenue, he jumped on and attacked the conductor with his plastic sword – Yelling – “take this trolley to the Brooklyn Bridge.” Of course the trolley only went as far as the Williamsburgh bridge. I rolled off of the tracks and was laughing so hard that I might have wet myself. Years later I saw you and Mel do a routine that had many of the elements of the trolley story. Coincidence – I don’t think so. Carl – you have made tremendous contributions to the comedy business. You should continue for a hindred und szonzek years. That you.
These two men Carl Reiner and Mel brooks are so good I wish they could live forever.i believe their work will.