Wilde's Journey Keeps Us Laughing
By Tom Leyde

It's been a long time since I've thrown my head back and laughed as hard and as long as I did Saturday night.

It was while attending Larry Wilde's one-man show, "Going on Ed Sullivan," at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts in Carmel.

The show, which runs through Dec. 6, is a wonderful autobiographical romp through Wilde's struggle to become a successful standup comic.

Interviewing Wilde a few weeks ago about the show was a joy; seeing it was wonderful.

While the show is a little slow in the beginning as you learn about Wilde's family and boyhood, you're soon longing for the next hilarious story about his journey.

From accidentally spitting on the police chief's pants while giving him a shoeshine in Jersey City, N.J., to auditioning before Sullivan himself, Wilde's life was, well, wild and crazy.

For a time, he lived in a tiny Manhattan walkup apartment with a bathtub that doubled as a dishwashing sink and occasionally a bed. And his performance tuxedo had become so worn he had to patch it with Scotch tape.

From fleabag hotel rooms to rural Southern theaters, Wilde paid his comedic dues, driving around the country in an old Chevrolet. But just when he about to give up his quest for stardom, he got a break and move up a notch or five.

Videos of his appearances on TV sitcoms and still photos complement the show. Especially enjoyable are clips of him on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

He even included a little audience participation, having us pretend to be his lumberjack hecklers at a strip club in Oregon.

"Throw the bum off the stage!" and "Bring on the broads!" we yelled.

One of the funniest parts of the show is Wilde's recreation of an argument about pilfered strawberries among three widows who stayed with his family at the New Jersey shore one summer. It's a scream.

Wilde, who is working on his autobiography, tells of interviewing the top comedians of his day - Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante and others - for a book about comedy.

And throughout the show you get to know his darling mother, who encouraged him in his early days and freely doled out Jewish motherly advice.

Wilde, who changed his name from Wildman to Wilde for professional reasons, once did a pilot for a TV game show. When he told his mother the studio wanted a bigger name for the show's master of ceremonies, she replied: "If you hadn't of shortened your name, Larry, you would have gotten the show."

There are many heartfelt moments in the show and even more hilarity.

And what about appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show?" You'll still have to see the show for that story. I refuse to spill the borscht.


Reprinted from Tom Leyde's review in his Kicking Back column in the Salinas Californian