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School is back in session for another unconventional master class on the art of comedy. Continuing the format established in GREAT PERFORMANCES' past two seminars on the technique of tickling an audience, "Professor" Alan King hosted a third university forum exploring the historical (and hysterical) principles of stand-up comedy. Taped with a Los Angeles student audience at Caltech, this semester's featured guests are Bill Maher (POLITICALLY INCORRECT), Rita Rudner (PETER'S FRIENDS), Larry Gelbart (creator of M*A*S*H), and legendary comic Shecky Greene. Together with King as elder statesman, these master comedians pay tribute and compare experiences through anecdote, analysis, and more than a few well-timed zingers.
Comedian, actor, producer Alan King died of lung cancer on Sunday, May 9, 2004 at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The New York native began as a stand-up comedian while still a teenager and went on to fame and fortune as a performer on television, in nightclubs, and the movies. He was 76, and is survived by his wife, three children, and seven grandchildren.
Read writer Sarah Birnbaum's essay on the continued appeal and success of the third installment of THE COMEDY OF COLLEGE; brief career profiles of the current lineup of masterful jokesters -- Larry Gelbart, Shecky Greene, Bill Maher, Rita Rudner; and an extensive interview with Larry Gelbart about writing for television, theater, the movies, and more.
Additional funding for this program was provided by Sony.
Top banner photos: Bill Maher; host Alan King; Rita Rudner; Shecky Greene. |
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Bill Maher and Alan King. |
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Alan King and Rita Rudner. |
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The program is not available from Shop Thirteen or Shop PBS. |
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