Caesar Hails the ‘Laughter’ of His Old Friends

Woody Allen, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart and Howard Morris are among those who praise Sid Caesar in the new Showtime documentary “Hail Sid Caesar! The Golden Age of Comedy,” which appears Thursday on Showtime after “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” Neil Simon’s memoir of his years as a writer on Caesar’s comedy series, “Caesar’s Hour.” Nathan Lane stars in “Laughter” as the fictionalized version of Caesar, Max Prince.

“Hail Sid Caesar!” features Caesar’s home movies and personal photos, interviews with the comic and digitally restored highlights of his classic comedy sketches from his seminal comedy series, “Your Show of Shows,” in which he starred with the late great Imogene Coca, and “Caesar’s Hour.”

Also included in the 80-minute documentary are interviews with several of the series’ writers, including Allen, Simon, Brooks, Mel Tolkin and Danny Simon, as well as with the shows’ regulars: Reiner, Howard Morris and Nanette Fabray.

Caesar recently chatted about “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” and his memories of doing a live comedy show 39 weeks a year for eight years. The interview took place before the death last week of Coca. Earlier this week, Caesar said of his co-star: “I loved Imogene. I really did.” His Web site, https://www.sidcaesar.com, features a tribute to Coca.

Question: Had you seen the theatrical version of “Laughter on the 23rd Floor?”

Answer: I saw the play in New York opening night and I saw it opening night out here.

Q: What did you think of the movie version?

A: It’s quite different. [Neil] did a dramatic piece. Everyone goes in expecting laughs, and it’s a dramatic piece about what happened the last couple of months of the show. I mean, there is a lot of fiction in there, but there is a lot of truth in there. It was more of a piece you could relate to; it wasn’t just laughs.

The documentary is what happened, and the movie--it is almost what happened. It’s such an honor to have this being done, for someone to take time out to write a play and a movie.

Q: Did you have the same relationship with your brother David as Max Prince does in “Laughter”?

A: My brother and I were very, very close. My brother--nobody had a brother like this. He was an older brother, and any time I needed him he was there. If I was in trouble, he was there. He was my father. He was the funny one. He was a funny, funny man, just by himself with no writers. He was very quiet, very very shy and very very funny. He was with me my whole life. He passed in 1995. I was blessed with 73 years with him.

Q: Do you think comedy shows are as creative today as “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour?”

A: I am not saying there is no creativity today--there is--but it is not as flourishing as it used to be. And the language that is allowed to be used--I think it’s degrading. It has taken television down.

Q: You did the shows live on Saturday nights. Would you talk about the day’s preparations for the telecast?

A: The cameras would be turned on at 7 a.m. and at 8, the chorus came in and rehearsed all the musical numbers. They would rehearse for two hours and then I came in at 10 and we would have a loose blocking [for the cameras], then a tighter blocking, the a “tight fit” blocking. And it was an hour and half each time. Then we had a dress rehearsal to see if you could make your costume and makeup changes on time. Then we would look at the show and maybe change the running order. So we did it five times in one day.

Q: In “Laughter,” there’s a scene in which Max is dressed in the wrong clothes for a sketch. Did that ever happen to you?

A: It did. What happened was I was doing a bus sketch with Carl, but they changed the running order. I said to my dresser, “Did you get the change”? He said, “Don’t worry.” He dressed me for the old routine--a leotard with leopard skins and gold lame boots. It was an actor’s nightmare. I looked out on stage and it was a bus sketch. I said “shirt, pants!” In 12 seconds, I had somebody’s shirt, pants, clothes. I walked out and [Reiner] said “You’re kind of late this morning.” I said, “Yeah. I had a little trouble dressing.” I crossed my legs and he said “Boy, look at those shoes. They are beautiful.” I had those gold lame boots on. I said, “They look nice, but you have to feed them every morning and take them for a walk at night.”

Q: How did you find such terrific young writers?

A: I heard about them, or somebody would introduce them. I would talk to them. I would let them work for a couple of days and then I would judge them. I was very, very lucky. I had the best writers around.

Q: Did the networks rely as much on ratings in the 1950s as they do today?

A: It’s always ratings. But they didn’t appreciate talent in those days. They said, “He’s sick. Get another comic.” I had a problem with drinking and pills. I did that so I could go to sleep. I would lie down and I couldn’t shut [the show off]. So you could drink yourself to sleep and take pills. They didn’t turn around and say, “How can we help you?” They said, “We got to let you go. Your ratings are down. Goodbye.” Isn’t that nice? Not even a thank you.

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* “Hail Sid Caesar! The Golden Age of Comedy” can be seen Thursday night at 11:45 on Showtime. The network has rated it TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14).