Life is filled with happy accidents. While walking around the North Hollywood Arts District a few weeks ago, I happened to walk past the El Portal theatre, and saw that comedian Rip Taylor would soon be performing a one man show there. A quick scan of discount ticket site Goldstar revealed that tickets were available for the last preview show May 16th. My wife and my friends from our Beachwood Canyon Breakfast Club (BCBC) gamely agreed to come along, and we showed up at the El Portal on a sunny Sunday afternoon with little idea of what to expect.
The performance began in predictable fashion, with an announcer prepping us for "the man who exposed Watergate and exposed himself in the parking lot..." and suddenly, there he was, sparkling buckle, bad wig, moustache and all. After beginning the show with a hefty dose of prop comedy (including a dis of Carrot Top), the wig came off, and Taylor settled into the rest of the show; an unexpectedly poignant series of recollections about his long and storied career in show business.
Beginning with tales of being molested in foster homes as a child and moving on through a consistent schedule of beatings in high school, Taylor revealed how he learned to cope with being an outsider through humor. "If they're laughing, they're not hitting you!", he discovered. His career as an entertainer began with a career putting on soldiers shows when he was drafted during the Korean War, and continued through stints in the strip clubs of DC and Atlantic City, the resorts of the Catskills, and finally a national televison debut on the Ed Sullivan Show.
It was during an appearance on The Merv Griffin Show that Taylor unintentionally stumbled on what was to become his trademark. After bombing badly while reading jokes off of cards, he tore up the cards and threw the pieces in the air. Walking over to join the host, he stumbled and knocked over Griffin's desk. Later that night he received a call from Griffin's people claiming the audience had loved his crazy chaotic routine and he was booked on the show again the following night.
Closing with an emotional plea that we all "keep looking toward the light," Taylor closed his show with a very reasonable amount of confetti.
If you're in L.A., Rip Taylor's one man show continues at the El Portal Forum Theatre through May 30th. He's a walking sparkling piece of show biz history.
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