I've gone on at length about why I think the Jer is such a fascinating guy, so in honor of his big day, I'm just going to deliver a batch of links so you can experience his genius yourself:
* To start with, check out the "Official Jerry Lewis Comedy Museum and Store"
* Then check out the official MDA site. He's been doing stuff with them for a long time. And here's a clip from the 1998 telethon, when an intruder got through to Jer himself. (Be sure to listen to his anti-media rap, where he claims that 4 percent of the people in the world do bad things. I'd be curious to know how he arrived at that figure.)
* I'm not his only fan, natch. Here are a few fan sites from other Jer lovers. Hell, here's an Italian one!
* Want to read the best book on Jer? Check out Shawn Levy's endlessly fascinating "King of Comedy." Be sure to read the last chapter, which contains Levy's tale of a harrowing encounter with Jer himself. (This book, by the way, is at least partially responsible for bringing my lovely wife, Amy, and I together. Even before we were actually dating, I mentioned to her that I wanted to read this just-released book. Being a librarian, Amy proved her love by bending the rules for me and moving my name up on the reserved list. Wotta gal, huh?)
* Of course, if you want to read about Jer, you go to the source. His "The Total Filmmaker" isn't easy to find (or cheap), but it's worth every penny. Just dig this intro: "Film, baby, powerful tool for love or laughter, fantastic weapon to create violence or ward it off, is in your hands. The only possible chance you've got in our round thing is not to bitch about injustice or break windows, but to make a concerted effort to have a loud voice. The loudest voice known to man is on thousand-foot reels. Campus chants about war are not going to help two peasants in a rice paddy on Tuesday. However, something might be said on emulsion that will stop a soldier from firing into nine children, somewhere, sometime. Now; next year; five years from now. Try emulsion instead of rocks for race relations and ecology. That, love and laughter, has to be what it's all about. Then you'll survive. Maybe we'll all survive. Maybe." (And, lest you think I'm doing nothing but mocking the book, it's actually full of fascinating stuff. Jer was a film genius, no shit. You know he invented the video assist, don't you? Give the man his Thalberg Award, already!)
* There's a whole lotta Jer on DVD these days, thanks to Paramount. Read a fine review of them here. And read an appreciation of Jer here, courtesy of cartoonist Drew Friedman.
* Ever hear the foul-mouthed version of Jerry and Dean's radio ad for "The Caddy"? Hi-lar-i-ous. Funnier than the movie itself, in fact.
* The cult film site Subterranean Cinema has an entire section devoted to Jer's never-released concentration camp epic, "The Day the Clown Cried." It's virtually impossible to see the film, but you can read all about it here, see actual footage from the set and read two different versions of the script. Fascinating stuff! I just wish the movie itself could get released one day.
* Read about Jerry's notorious 1963 variety show at TV Tome and TV Party. You can even see a clip of it on the TV Party site. (And if you want to order an entire episode, go here.) Levy's book has a fascinating account of this legendary TV bomb, by the way. And speaking of legendary TV bombs, Jer made a guest appearance on "Pink Lady and Jeff," a contender for worst shot of all time. See a clip of that show here. (Scroll down to the bottom for the link to Jer's appearance.) I have the entire set (It's on DVD from Rhino) and can honestly say his spot is the high point. The only high point.
* Sure, Jer had his own long-running comic book series (he got custody of it after he and Dean split up), but did you know he was once used by Batman himself to demonstrate to Alpha, The Experimental Man, the concept of human emotions? It's true, as this panel posted at fellow Jer fan Fred Hembeck's blog proves!
See? Even Batman is a fan of Jer! Must be because he was the first celeb to make a cameo during one of those "Bat Climbs" on the brilliant "Batman" TV show!
I mean, really. Whether you're a fan or not. Whether you're French or not. Does it get any cooler than that?
Happy birthday, Jer!
5 comments:
I'm reading Levy's book right now. It's got tons of facts in it, it's great. I think I've already read Levy's account of Lewis chewing him out in Levy's contributuion Infant Terrible (which Levy also edited).
The film King of Comedy is probably my favorite film ever.
Some of my favorite parts in Levy's book are when he goes into exhaustive detail on Jerry's home, or what Jerry took on the road during a tour. It gives an amazing peek into the man's head.
Remember the cartoon "Will The Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?" I used to laugh my ass off at that show as a kid. I still remember some of the lyrics to its theme song.
"Here comes Jerry Lewis.
But he's not really here.
well, which one is he really.
It's not very clear.
For he's here, there, everywhere,
Up the street, down the stairs..."
Hmm, I guess that's as far as my memory will take me.
I'm sure you've mentioned it elsewhere (not in this post, however) but Funny Bones is an excellent movie - Lewis is great in it.
Also, it's Erik Estrada's birthday today. Doesn't he get a shout-out!
We've gotten into major knockdown, drag out arguements on my blog about Jerry. I've supported the guy 109% and continue to do so.
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