Brother Theodore - Food Sermon

[PullMyPeeper]

gollum

[monsta64]

Brother Theodore was a total genius!

[AndrewGilmore1986]

This is 25 years ago or so- they would NEVER let someone this brilliant on national television today because he's not bland enough.

[slobomotion]

Got to see him live twice in NY, once in the '70s, once in the '80s. Thank Einstein for saving him!

[herrveidt]

Brother T. had a theater in the Village back in the 80's I use to see him all the time walking around and he was the nicest guy you would ever like to meet...

[Mesarphelous]

Brother Theodore was the greatest man of the twentieth century.

[Clutnuckle]

This speech is captivating in the strictest sense of the word. The way he speaks is so instantly enthralling and even though he dabbles in the absurd and the weird, he's never a complete joke. I'll always be laughing with him.

[revgen123]

HOW MUCH FUNNIER IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF THEODORE PLAYED THE ROLE OF THE SOUP NAZI ON SEINFELD? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN 100 TIMES MORE FUNNY.

[desirefirst]

@revgen123 welcome to the net, please stop SHOUTING your whole post

[aitraining]

Lived till 94 yrs old. Way to go Brother Theodore!!!!

[aitraining]

The great Brother Theodore!!

[flabbyhabbybabby1]

Food filthafies the saliva of your spittle.

[RealParadoxBlues]

What's sad is that there are people who actually believe this.

[rmjon23]

Thanks so much for posting this! I remember when Letterman first got his NBC show (1981?), and there were people like Brother Theodore on there quite often. This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I can easily imagine George Carlin cracking up over this schtick. Stand-up surrealist philosophy at its best!

[stillstandin4you]

fuckers cut him off do they not realize talent

[RobGoth100]

You have to watch it a couple of times to get it.

[Scodiddly]

Genius... and English wasn't even his native language. 

[kenytco68]

It's an absolute miracle as to how he could maintain a straight face during this monologue.

[tamoore61]

He would be so at home at the MRT.

[2ubester2]

He comes off as bat s#*t crazy but he makes a lot of sense. "You eat of death, how can you expect to live" I can see how the divine state of humanhood could (should) exist purely on Prana, the breath of life, energy of stars. We do actually without realizing it or knowing what it is.

[jpishot]

To the commenter below, thanks for the information but I believe this is called COMEDY.

[Everfalling]

you know there was actually a movement called Breatharianism (i'm not joking, look it up) that tried to train the human body to subsist only on universal energy called 'prana'. so, yeah, this man is crazy, but he wasn't the only crazy one out there that thought food was bad for you (or at least unnecessary)

[Bolenderable]

Brrrrrrrim

[dcgrapes]

But they won't come home....they Can't come home....THEY HAVE NO LEGS......YOU tore them off and ATE them....REMEMBER!!!??????

[ZombiedustXXX]

This is the brilliance of Brother Theodore. It is a masterpiece of rant!

[gablefan01]

Letterman used to be the only place you could see eccentrics. Now that he doesn't have them on anymore, there's nowhere left. TV is so homogenized and sterilized...it's pathetic. I hate to think that any aliens out there may be judging us by our television programs being beamed out there...

[Fiercefighter2]

@gablefan01 dont worry all they watch is 4chan

[Rurne]

@gablefan01

And yet, Dangerfield let Hicks on, while Letterman's producers tried to neuter his act. I never really thought Letterman was truly on the comics' side.

And I think that any aliens out there have been thoroughly scared away from this planet by the recent insurgence of the stay-at-home Farmville-playing lolcat moms who have nothing better to do than copy-paste the same memes 8 million times a week.

[sausagebelly]

"Your supermarkets? Supermorgues!"

[aege8th]

I saw him years ago in the Village. He was hilarious but you definitely got the impression that even though he was making jokes, he was dead serious about everything he said!

[ghostwhiskey]

man that is sooo funny i had no idea that dude was a humorist i only know him from the 'burbs,im suprised so much of the letterman audiance got the joke

[JaffMastaJ]

Brilliant as usual from Brother Theodore. When he nonchalantly takes a drink of water at 5:07 in the middle of his rant killed me. The most genius moment, imo.

[sevenoverthree]

I loved his delivery of "just plain folks" line. XD

[Chesterton7]

My favorite comedian.

[JewelForumdotCom]

I used to love wathching this guy on the air.

[JanBenes]

I also saw all this stuff when it first aired. I can't take Letterman anymore since he went to CBS, just not the same show. No more risks, no more scary characters.

[scratch17]

I agree. I usually skip the opening segment. Too much at laughing at nothing. Oh yeah and that nasty cough, reminds me of grandpa.

[MrPotatoesLatkie]

This is such abrilliant performance that I had to download it, just in case some wacko from Intellectual Property has youtube delete it.

[scratch17]

that seems to be a problem lately

[RainMan34]

Right across the street.

[dewanevl]

I also heard that the reason he was on so much is that he lived pretty close, and if a guest canceled at the last second, he could be down there pretty quick. Lucky for us! Brother Theodore was fantastic.

[RainMan34]

He was fantastic. Such a unique and funny individual.

[fahqmein]

"...I'm just plain folks..."

[lighthouse44]

"...you are food-lums". LMAO! Brother Theodore was so unique and his rants were simply beyond description. After listening to one of his performances, you come away thinking: "I don't know what the hell I just witnessed, but it was insane, brilliant, hilarious, and I want more!"

[HConstantine]

Thanks so much for putting this up.

[bakhtn]

apparently, letterman hated this guy, but every time he came on millions of more people used to watch. letterman reluctantly had him on.

[JackSzwergold]

Could not be further from the truth. Letterman invited him on the show himself and Brother Theodore scripted out the way the "interview" part of each appearance would play out with Letterman and his writers. His stage persona is an act that he was doing in the 1950s until the 1990s.

[RainMan34]

If Letterman "hated" him, he wouldn't have invited him back to the show so many times. I think Letterman adored Theo on some level, even the awkward moments were totally worth it.

People enjoyed watching the spontaneity of Theo's performances, Letterman included.

[bakhtn]

I stand corrected. I know they must have liked each other. This was kinda an act I think.

[nadsblaster]

I knew the Bro...toward the end, he had notebooks full of new material tht he never performed because he couldn't memorize it (I didn't dare to ask him to let me read it, which I now regret). I wonder if his estate's executor ever looked into publishing it?

[scratch17]

Your very lucky. I always wanted to see him perform. It's one of my life's biggest regrets that I never made the trip to NYC just to see him

[prospectiveman]

Hey Nadblaster...I'm curious...was this guy serious? or was all this just an act? First time I saw him on TV was when Letterman asked if he was wearing a Banlon shirt....hilarious stuff. Compelling, fascinating, and yet hilariously crazy at the same time. How did you know him?

[powergirl901]

@nadsblaster I wonder if he was improvising at times...it's not unheard of, comics do it all the time. What an original guy though. Every time I see him, he wipes out every notion that's developed in my head in the meantime (of not seeing him), and I must encounter him fresh again. That's pretty amazing. It's like he's living in the spiritual "now" whenever and wherever he is (was).

[pbmachinima]

Wow, I haven't seen this in so long! This is the best Brother Theodore clip I think.