Eulogy

By Alan King

I knew Henny Youngman for 50 years, and until two weeks ago, he always called me kid. I saw him do stand-up for the first time 60 years ago, when I was 10 years old. When I left the club, my father asked me what I thought, and I said I thought he was funny. That was his greatest contribution. He was not progressive, he was not controversial or thought-provoking or political. He was just funny.

Every single day for 50 years, Henny walked into the Friars Club and said the same thing: "I want a table near a waiter"--and every day I'd say I'm not gonna laugh, but I did. He was called the King of the One-Liners, and he had a million of them. Recently he appeared at the Friars Club in a wheelchair, and he reeled off 40 one-liners before even saying hello. Everything was a non sequitur; there was no continuity, but there was a rhythm. He once said that after he did 20 jokes, he could just mumble and the audience would laugh, because it was his perfect rhythm that made him funny. Whenever anybody does a joke that has no rhyme, no reason, just rhythm, you'll think of Youngman.

Henny was a comedian's comedian--we knew what he was doing. He was putting everybody on; he was having fun and making fun at the same time, which is a great combination.

--By Alan King