The Wurster call was full of gold. So much quotable stuff. The Jerry Ferrara interview was also unexpectedly fantastic.
From where I'm standing the show's already firing on all cylinders. In context of everything detailed in "the blog post" it's a real testament to Tom's showmanship that he still manages to deliver at such a high level.
Callas was the sidekick on Jerry Lewis' short-lived talk show in the 80's. Even as a kid, I realized how bizarre it was.
I knew the name "Charlie Callas" but was having trouble placing the face until I watched that 1978 performance someone linked earlier. In retrospect I think it was a blocked memory.
I definitely saw him on TV when I was a kid, and I remember being really unsettled by it. This guy was obviously a professional entertainer, and the audience was laughing, but I didn't find it funny at all... but instead of thinking, "well, that's just not for me" I thought he might have been evil- either people were so frightened of him they laughed to humor him, or he was compelling them to laugh through some kind of dark power.
Wow, I just realized that my childhood was terrifying.
