Advertisement

Mel Brooks will pay tribute to Sid Caesar on ‘Conan’

Early in his career, Mel Brooks wrote for Sid Caesar. He remembers the comedy legend on "Conan" on Tuesday.

Early in his career, Mel Brooks wrote for Sid Caesar. He remembers the comedy legend on “Conan” on Tuesday.

(Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images)
Share via

Sid Caesar had a profound influence on the comedy aspirations of young Conan O’Brien. And on Tuesday, he’ll have Caesar’s former colleague Mel Brooks on “Conan” to discuss the comedy master, who died last week at age 91.

The day Caesar died, O’Brien took a few minutes on his show to pay tribute to the man who he says inspired him to get into comedy. It was a fateful trip with his father to the Hearthstone Plaza in Brookline, Mass., to see “10 From Your Show of Shows,” a feature-length compilation of the best sketches from Caesar’s NBC sketch comedy show from the 1950s.

PHOTOS: Sid Caesar | 1922 - 2014

Advertisement

“When it was over, I thought to myself: ‘I don’t know what that guy’s doing, but I want to do that,” O’Brien said on his show.

Now, O’Brien will get a chance to further explore his idol’s legacy with Brooks, one of the writers from “Your Show of Shows.” Working on the show was one of Brooks’ earliest jobs in show business, alongside other future comedy stars Carl Reiner and Neil Simon. When “Your Show of Shows” ended in 1954, Brooks followed Caesar to his next show, “Caesar’s Hour.”

PHOTOS: Celebrities react to Sid Caesar’s death

Advertisement

Caesar later made an appearance in Brooks’ TV series “When Things Were Rotten” and had a role in the Brooks’ feature film “Silent Movie.”

Brooks will be O’Brien’s guest for most of the hour, meaning that the discussion will be more substantial than the usual late-night segment, and probably a bit closer to O’Brien’s long-form digital series “Serious Jibber Jabber.”

In fact, Brooks has already been a guest on “Serious Jibber-Jabber,” discussing his own long comedy career with O’Brien last October.

Advertisement

ALSO:

Celebs in New York lose their $100 bets with Jimmy Fallon

Sid Caesar dies at 91; comedy giant of the small screen

Sid Caesar: Five TV clips that demonstrate his comic genius


Advertisement