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Make Me Laugh
''Make Me Laugh'' was an American television game show in which contestants watch three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian had sixty seconds to try to make the contestant laugh for a maximum of $180. The hosts The original version, with Robert Q. Lewis as host, aired for three months in 1958 on ABC. Bobby Van hosted a syndicated revival during 1979–80, and Ken Ober hosted a 1997 revival on Comedy Central, replaced for the second season by Mark Cohen. ABC version Each episode featured four guests. Originally, the first three guests were civilians, while the fourth was a celebrity who played for a home viewer who was chosen by pulling a postcard from a revolving drum. This was later changed to having celebrities playing for home viewers throughout the whole show. Syndicated version On the syndicated version of ''Make Me Laugh'' hosted by Bobby Van, contesta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Game Show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed by a game show host, host, sharing the rules of the program as well as commentating and narrating where necessary. The history of game shows dates back to the invention of television as a medium. On most game shows, contestants either have to answer questions or solve puzzles, typically to win either money or prizes. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services provided by the show's sponsor. History 1930s–1950s Game shows began to appear on radio and television in the late 1930s. The first television game show, ''Spelling Bee (game show), Spelling Bee'', as well as the first radio game show, ''Information Please'', were both broadcast in 1938; the first major success in the game show genre was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Van
Robert Jack Stein (December 6, 1928 – July 31, 1980), known by his legalized stage name Bobby Van, was a Musician, musical actor and dancer, best known for his career on Broadway theatre, Broadway, in films and television from the 1950s through the 1970s. He was also a game show host and panelist. Early life Van was born to Jewish vaudeville parents in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up wikt:backstage, backstage, witnessing many memorable Great Depression, Depression-era acts. Originally, Van took ''King'' as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio (music), trio "Gordon, Reed and King"). He finally opted for ''Van'', after seeing a Van Johnson poster hanging in his sister's bedroom. In a 1976 interview, Van said he had legalized his name change from 'Stein'. Career Van began his career as a musician, playing trumpet. When his band played a venue in the Catskills, Van was asked to fill in as a song and dance man for another act. His act drew rave review ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Dreesen
Tom Dreesen (born September 11, 1939) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Life and career Dreesen grew up in Harvey, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago.Kathy O'Malley. "Crazy white boy; Tom Dreesen does comedy about blacks in black clubs". ''Chicago Tribune''. November 5, 1989. 5. He attended Thornton Township High School there. While working as an insurance salesman in 1968, he met Tim Reid through a local United States Junior Chamber, Jaycee chapter, and the two teamed up as Tim and Tom, the first biracial stand-up comedy duo in the United States. Shortly thereafter they sought the assistance of radio personality Vince Sanders, who would coach the act and handle some of its business affairs for the next four years. Though their material is now considered cutting-edge for its time, the pair struggled to make a living together and split up in the mid-1970s. However, each found individual success: while Reid landed a major role on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'', Dreesen made appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yakov Smirnoff
Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (russian: Яков Наумович Похис; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (russian: Яков Смирнов; ), is a Ukrainian-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Soviet Union, then immigrated to the United States in 1977 in order to pursue an American show business career, not yet knowing any English. He reached his biggest success in the mid-to-late 1980s, appearing in several films which include ''Moscow on the Hudson'' with Robin Williams, ''The Money Pit'' with Tom Hanks, ''Heartburn'' with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, and '' Brewster's Millions'' with Richard Pryor. He was a star of the television series ''What a Country!'' and was a recurring guest star on NBC's hit television series ''Night Court'' playing a part of Yakov Korolenko. His comic persona was of a naive immigrant from the Soviet Union who was perpetually confused and delighted by life in the United States. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Mule Deer
Gary Mule Deer (born Gary C. Miller; November 21, 1939) is an American comedian and country musician. Biography During a career spanning six decades, Gary Mule Deer has performed on many major concert stages in the United States, and has made over 350 television appearances, including many on both ''The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson'' and the ''Late Show with David Letterman'', both of whose hosts he had met early in his career at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. He was one of six comedians, along with Jay Leno, to star on the first HBO comedy special, ''Freddie Prinze and Friends'', was the co-host of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert for four years on NBC, a regular on ''Make Me Laugh'', and a frequent judge on ''The Gong Show''. He has made over 100 appearances on The Nashville Network, including the last two years as a cast member on ''Hee Haw''. He appeared in films such as ''Annie Hall'', '' Up In Smoke'' and ''Tilt''. He is currently featured on the DVDs "Jeff Foxworthy's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallagher (comedian)
Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr. (July 24, 1946 – November 11, 2022), known mononymously as Gallagher, was an American comedian who became one of the most recognizable comedic performers of the 1980s for his prop and observational routine that included the signature act of smashing a watermelon on stage with a wooden sledgehammer. For more than 30 years, he played between 100 and 200 shows a year, destroying tens of thousands of melons with the sledgehammer he called the "Sledge-O-Matic". Early life Gallagher was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on July 24, 1946, to a family of Irish and Croatian heritage. Until the age of nine, he lived in Lorain, Ohio, but because of his asthma, the family moved to South Tampa, Florida, where he attended Henry B. Plant High School. He went on to graduate from the University of South Florida with a chemical engineering degree in 1970. He minored in English literature. Career After college, Gallagher began working as comic/musician Jim Stafford ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Binder
Mike Binder (born June 2, 1958) is an American filmmaker, stand-up comedian, and actor. Life and career Binder, descended from Russian-Jewish immigrants, grew up in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham. During the summers of 1966 through 1975, he attended Camp Tamakwa, a summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ... in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada; that experience was the inspiration (and the filming location) for his 1993 film ''Indian Summer (1993 film), Indian Summer''. Beginning his career as a screenwriter and standup comedian, in March 1990 with the March 9 theatrical premiere of his first screenplay, ''Coupe de Ville (film), Coupe de Ville'', directed by Joe Roth and co-produced by Binder, and his own HBO stand up comedy special, broadcast th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vic Dunlop
Vic Dunlop (November 6, 1948 – August 13, 2011) was an American stand-up comedian and film and television actor. Dunlop gained national attention appearing in such television series and films as ''Make Me Laugh'', ''Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour'', ''The Richard Pryor Show'', ''Harper Valley PTA'', ''Skatetown, U.S.A.'', ''The Devil and Max Devlin'', '' Martians Go Home'' and ''Night Patrol Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...''. Dunlop died August 13, 2011 at age 62 from complications of diabetes. References External links * American male comedians American stand-up comedians American television personalities American male film actors American male television actors Deaths from diabetes 1948 births 2011 deaths {{US-comedian-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer (born August 4, 1944) is a retired American actor, stand-up comedian, and author. He is best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch, whom he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', as well as in guest appearances on several other series. He portrayed the character for 23 years, from 1993 to 2016. Belzer retired from acting at age 71 in 2016. Early life and education Belzer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Frances and Charles Belzer, a tobacco and candy retailer. He grew up in a Jewish family. He described his mother as frequently physically abusive, and he declared that his comedy career began when trying to make his mother laugh to distract her from abusing him and his brother. After graduating from Fairfield Warde High School, Belzer worked as a reporter for the ''Bridgeport Post.'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. In 1987, Mandel starred alongside Amy Steel in the comedy film '' Walk Like a Man''. From 1982 to 1988, Mandel played the rowdy ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama '' St. Elsewhere''. He also created, voiced and starred in the FOX children's cartoon '' Bobby's World''. Additionally, he has been a judge on NBC's ''America's Got Talent'' since 2010, and Citytv's ''Canada's Got Talent'' since 2022. He hosted the American NBC and later CNBC game show ''Deal or No Deal'', as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. In 2022, he began hosting the first season of Netflix's ''Bullsh*t the Game Show''. Early life and education Mandel was born and raised in the Willowdale area of North York, Ontario. He is Jewish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Saget
Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fuller House'' (2016–2020). He additionally was the original host of ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' (1989–1997), and the voice of narrator Ted Mosby on the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014). Saget was also known for his adult-oriented stand-up comedy, and his 2014 album ''That's What I'm Talkin' About'' was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. Early life Saget was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1956, to a Jewish family. His father, Benjamin, was a supermarket executive, and his mother, Rosalyn "Dolly", was a hospital administrator. Early in his life, Saget's family moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he briefly attended Lake Taylor High. Saget would later attribute the start of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garry Shandling
Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as '' Sanford and Son'' and ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. He made a successful stand-up performance on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' where he became a frequent guest host. Shandling was, for a time, considered the leading contender to replace Johnny Carson. In 1986, he created ''It's Garry Shandling's Show'', which aired on Showtime. It was nominated for four Emmy Awards (including one for Shandling) and lasted until 1990. Shandling's second show, ''The Larry Sanders Show'', began airing on HBO in 1992. He was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1998, along with Peter Tolan, for writing the series finale. In film, he had a recurring role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in ''Iron Man 2'' and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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