Rare Dave Letterman Footage

[nisq]

does he not like Dexter?

[Mastakuia]

The late night king

[Drewboii3496]

you know what i just found out. letterman is ranked in the top 10 for comedy central stand up comedians. i thought he was a tv host?

[TehComedyStore]

@Drewboii3496 Letterman was a respected stand-up before getting his own TV show, he honed his craft here at the Store alongside Jay Leno

[Drewboii3496]

@TehComedyStore oh wow never knew that. how come i cant find any stand up of his on youtube?

[9162vb48]

He was a stupid hick *then* and guess what ...

[xXLiTTlePsycKosXx]

his favourite word -> tremendous

[ayush709]

early david letterman

[YarielaJM]

he looks like Mike Jagger here :)

[PostalPete]

Kinda looks like a weird Daniel Tosh...

[Arinator74]

South Park ripped Letterman with "Aides"?

[eeky97]

omg his standup sucked, but he rally hit it home later in the video when he said in a roundabout way: i just made 80 people laugh, in the big scope of things that means nothing" BRAVO...a man with a vision!

[tommyrock69]

It's amazing he ever made it. Then again, he worked at the same thing for years and years and years. Tenacity has its merits.

[rohitrez]

@tommyrock69 so tru mate- im a standup starting out after 2 months, it takes ages. anyone who makes it has earnt their stripes in the clubs bombing for 2years plus!

[2mmbroz]

Awesome! Go see Michael Zhang! just search "Michael Zhang, 12 years old stand up comedian at the Hollywood Improv"

[JeffroTV]

I bet the lady had a fro under her dress

[MyDestinyin2012]

And they said white people couldn't grow fros! Caufros were cute too!

[comanchio1976]

Dexter Morgans's real dad

[mackles]

booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooo

[xxxHeyZeusxxx]

Gary Muledeer

[FLASH2394]

my god comedy has evolved soooo much. if letterman were a standup comic today he would probably get booed of stage

[MrRyanSams]

@FLASH2394 so has Letterman, I highly doubt that would happen :P

[FLASH2394]

@MrRyanSams are you kiddin me? letterman is the cheesiest celebrity ever

[eeky97]

@FLASH2394

you obviously havent followed Letterman in his career. I will agree with you in that,

i do think he and his show has been washed up for well over a decade. However he and his show was

VERY competitive with Carson. Sorry you prolly wouldnt understand this if youre not 40+....just a lil history lesson

[catholicpriest1]

@eeky97 Letterman was never in competition with Carson. Letterman's show was broadcast after Carson's show. In fact, Carson OWNED the NBC Letterman show.

[eeky97]

@catholicpriest1

youre right..

[leparditas]

serious letterman its weird! lol

[TheMeistereckhart]

The clothes! The hair! The walls! When the fuck was this...???? 60's????

[ricarleite]

Dave bombing...

[rleary1]

Letterman spent a season on one of Mary Tyler Moore's Variety Shows. I think this was probably close to that time.

[AlexTheLunchBox]

Holy shit it's dexter.

[TELEVISIONARCHIVES]

Watch the NBC shows and you see a much less serious Letterman. His CBS show is awful

[CamiloSanchez1979]

Was this broadcasted in a local station? because I mean, was it that being in the 70s, 80s gave u the right to have shitty studios?

[crlnewlls]

He reminds me of Eric Forman off of That Seventies Show...

[cdoftx]

wow, he's young but he's old

[photoman2004]

letterman looks like a skinny Jaws from James Bond

[blazak]

That's some shitty stand up.

[tnrc75]

@blazak Well done Jon Stewart.

[edthewise]

Bob Ross??

[ReppinDK87]

funky

[dancesonpoles]

Letterman actually looks pretty cool

[alramone1]

@dancesonpoles Yeah Dave was pretty handsome as a young guy

[TheDinnerTimeBoys]

he used to suck. like REALLY hard

[hgates101]

and then Letterman would become one of the most successful comedians of all time

[MegaObserver1]

At the time (circa 1977), Mitzi Shore didn't pay any of the comics at the Comedy Store. Not long after this, one of the regular comics there led a "strike" demanding that they get something for appearing, even if it was only $25 per night or something similar. The strike leader? Jay Leno.

[Vulturefood]

there and today, I think Letterman is Buddy Ebsen's lost child.

[yaywhewclips242]

Dave was kinda cute when he was young.

[jbforeveryoung]

Letterman could have been the next Carson. Instead he became too political. He'd be kicking Leno's ass today if he could keep his political views out of the spotlight. Check out my anti-leno video if you're bored.

[DoNotBeHighandMighty]

@jbforeveryoung

Yeah, true. I can't stand when late show hosts are very political. It becomes the same crap day after day. so predictable. You watch comedy central and see John Stewart and Stephen Colbert and they are very funny, but we don't need to see it everywhere. I would like to see "originality." Carson was by far the best. And I have never watched him except for clips on the internet.

[tnrc75]

@DoNotBeHighandMighty Well don't watch it then.

[leroyinc]

@jbforeveryoung No, he became too lazy. His show, except for interviews, is stale and boring and he seems perfectly content to leave it that way.

[TwiPrime]

Nice post.

Man, I hated Dave around that time, but I think it was just because I was about five and hated for anyone to host the Tonight Show other than Johnny.

[Jspeterson]

ever heard of orthodontology?

[romfordboy13]

"Struggling comic"...he's worth how much now exactly? :)

[Seston]

wow, its strange seeing letterman humble

[hgates101]

And then Letterman went on to dominate late night television!!!

[serviceisntfreek]

wow letterman really did come out of the sea

[Fersomling]

I first noticed Dave's comedy genius after he invented my hero, Larry "Bud" Melman.

[kotapaka]

looks like someone from the simpsons

[nakamichiguy]

Letterman says he's 'lazy' about his act, this is typical self-deprecating Dave. He's notoriously critical of himself and works his butt off. He isn't as brilliant as he was in his old NBC Late Night show these days, but he can still hit it out of the park like no one else.

[MarcusKiner]

I don't think it's that he's lost intelligence, and he cares more about the business of everything.

[rongravy]

Dave was a playah!

[thatsprettygood]

Damn. I'm amazed at what a lack of charisma all of these late night people have (except Conan).

[leroyinc]

"I don't put a great deal of time into my act."

And he follows that formula to this day, trotting out stale material night after night!

[bashbrannigan]

Amazing stuff. I wonder what Howard Itskowitz is doing these days?

[thedoors360]

i love letterman

[thequeenlives]

I take that back....I was wrong....David actually said that Richard Pryor probably has influence a lot of young comedians more than Lenny Bruce did at that particular time....but he didn't specify himself.

[thequeenlives]

Michele, David wasnt saying that Richard Pryor had an influence on him....if you listen to the question he was asked, he was saying that Lenny Bruce didn't DIRECTLY influence him, but said "...maybe he influenced Richard Pryor maybe...", because Richard Pryor was so dirty and controversial in his stand-up, as was Lenny 'Bruce, therefore, Pryor may site Lenny Bruce as an influence. That's what David was saying. David Lettermans a legend. Love him...

[slap1328]

i'm glad to see Letterman didn't go with the white-guy afro which seemed to be a pre-requisite back in those days...white-guy afros anger me.

thank you, won't you.

SL

[mollitoff]

@slap1328 I don't think the "white guy afro" was anything more than the result of long-hair growing on curly headed guys. 70s everyone was trying to grow out their hair. If my white dh's hair grows out he gets afro. He'd have to use product to get rid of it.

[Seoulsmoke]

@slap1328 I think the Jewfro, however, was acceptable

[ozoneocean]

@slap1328 How racist.

[tucsonia]

Letterman, the self-admitted lazy comedian leads the hosts of the show to think "Nah, this guy is going nowhere". Hahahaha! Still David I wish you would try harder and try to recapture your old NBC eighties magic. C'mon, I know you can do it!

[jsokol27]

ah man, this is classic.

[verinjushi]

interesting that the video is cut off just before they speak about not getting paid at the club... this must have been filmed before the Strike.

[ComicJeenyus]

Even back then, Dave had that "Isthmus of Pnama" hair...

[stevereader]

the audio is poor. great video though. thanks comedystore. please keep posting.

[teenagehomo]

More great gold from The World Famous Comedy Store archives...keep 'em commin!

[wmarkj]

thanks for posting :)

[uxoricide]

haha nice gold chain letterman

[whollywithoutmerritt]

tremendous.