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Billy Crystal’s 860: Laughter in the Face of Loss

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Billy Crystal appears on Broadway in the Imperial Theater to present 860 , a story of the devastating tragedy of how he and his wife lost their home of nearly 50 years in the 2025 fire in Palisades, CA in 2025. Well, that’s not all this one-man show is about. Perhaps Crystal thought the content was too downbeat for the audience. Or perhaps compared to his previous one-man onstage triumph, 700 Sundays, he determined the subject of losing one’s home in a fire could not sufficiently fill the allotted time of 100 minutes (without an intermission). Regardless, this production suddenly and strongly with Crystal running onto the set, which replicates his home office (now gone) with actual aerial footage of the fire filling the back wall. Crystal filled 700 Sundays with memories of his extended family, his nuclear family and, most pointedly, his father. In 860 , he regales the audience through the highlights of his career by displaying various mementos in that office: photographs, Emmys,...
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Title of This Johnny Carson Bio Foreshadows Its Biases

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      Johnny Carson remains one of TV’s most iconic figures, a fact underscored by the many books written about him. From Ed McMahon’s memoir to Henry Bushkin’s insider account, Carson’s life has been dissected from nearly every angle. Bill Zehme’s Carson the Magnificent, completed posthumously by Mike Thomas, enters this crowded field with more hagiography than biography. A sampling includes King of the Night: The Life of Johnny Carson ; And Now... Here's Johnny! The Life of Johnny Carson ; Johnny Carson: The Magnificent Life Of A Late-Night Legend ; and others by his friends and sidekicks. The latest entry in this crowded and competitive field is Carson the Magnificent by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas.  Zehme had written previously about Carson, most notably in a celebrated 2002 article in Esquire magazine, and he repurposed the stockpile of information he had gathered for this book. However, when Zehme passed prematurely from cancer, his friend and colleague M...
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Materialists comes to rescue of modern rom-coms

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The Materialists hits a number of grace notes, beginning with its well-chosen title. It's a rom-com that asks: What happens when we treat love like a transaction — a merger that capitalizes on each party’s strengths? The casting is spot-on, starting with Dakota Johnson, who brings her signature blend of dry humor and vulnerability to the role of Lucy, a professional matchmaker. Unlike some of her previous performances, she shows a refreshing range here, anchoring the film with quiet charisma. As Lucy, Johnson plays a woman both skilled at navigating the emotional needs of others and skeptical of the clichés she repeats for a living. There’s a subtle irony to her performance that really works.  Chris Evans surprises in a delightfully endearing turn as John, Lucy’s ex-boyfriend — a struggling actor still devoted to his craft. Playing against his usual heroic type, Evans demonstrates sharp comedic timing and a grounded vulnerability that’s genuinely appealing. Pedro Pascal brings sua...
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Lesson on the Craft of Stand-Up (and life, too, for that matter)

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I came across a fun book a few years in a dollar story titled Comedy at the Edge — How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America , by Richard Zoglin, who is an entertainment editor and writer at Time. It was a fun read because that groundbreaking period of entertainment greatly influenced me. In fact, many of my sensitivities as a speaker, media producer, marketing communicator and writer came out of this heady time. This book reminded me of many lessons I learned in that time: 1. BE TRUE TO YOUR VISION. Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Albert Brooks, Andy Kaufman - all of them had a unique view of comedy to express, whether it was expressing subject matter that was previously taboo, intricate wordplay, maintaining your unique vantage point (i.e., gender, race) or simply turning the tables on the audience through irony. If you have such a vision, whether you are the next Jackson Pollock or Le Corbusier, stick to it. 2.OLD METHODOLOGIES PASS. The comedians i...
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Hold Me Closer, Tiny Cancer

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It all started in 2022 with a Christmas dinner I was cooking. It was a family recipe, a hearty soup made with layers of toasted Italian bread, shredded chicken, mozzarella cheese, then the layers repeated. It's delicious comfort food. But my wife Marie came into the kitchen and asked (sternly), “What are you doing?” I was bewildered. “I’m baking the soup.” “You’re BURNING it! Can’t you smell that?” Actually, I could not. I couldn’t smell a thing, not even the usual pleasant aromas of this dish, as the cheese and bread baked to a golden brown on top. But I had an explanation for this. Months earlier I attended my fiftieth high school reunion ( oh, how it pains me to admit that ), and as a memento, I took home a mild case of Covid. A little fatigue, no fever, and it was knocked out of me with a little Paxlovid. So I just figured I had long Covid, which affected my sense of smell.  Oh, how I wish now that was all it was. Heading into 2023, not only was my sense of smell not returning,...
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