Jimmy Kimmel Live
The world lost one of it’s best this week when it was announced actor/comedian Richard Lewis had passed away after a heart attack.
Richard touched the lives of millions through his acting and comedy. His lifelong best friend Larry David shared a heartfelt message about Richard’s passing on Wednesday afternoon and later in the evening, actor/comedian Bob Odenkirk was on Kimmel and shared a touching story about the impact Richard Lewis had on his comedy career.
After leaving Saturday Night Live where Bob worked alongside Conan O’Brien, Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, and others, Bob headed to LA as most SNL alums do and that’s where he encountered a new type of comedy that Janeane Garofalo was doing. As it turns out, it was Richard Lewis who pioneered this new ‘Personal Comedy’ style of sharing oneself on the stage.
I’m a bit too young to remember the Richard Lewis Stand-Up Era but old enough to remember seeing his stand-up specials as reruns on HBO and Comedy Central when I was younger, and of the age where my parents were never around so I was able to watch these stand-up specials when I almost certainly shouldn’t have been.
Here is the first Letterman appearance by Richard Lewis back in 1982, before many of us were ever born. He always had an incredible stage confidence, style, and star quality about him. Not to mention that anyone who ever was fortunate enough to cross paths with Richard remembers him as one of the nicest men in Hollywood.
Great set. What else can be said?