Jerry Lewis performance what is this?

[Joe Rogaine]

Jerry Lewis Shreds

[~L]

In his life time he has raised around a billion dollars for the MDA and sings this song at the close of each yearly marathon.  As creepy as this clip looks, and as weird as he can be, the man is still considered a genius.  There are plenty of Jerry Lewis fans and experts in "Jerry moments" out there, who could offer more detailed analysis, I am not that knowledgable of him.

[cavorting with nudists]

The thing is, he was a genius at one point.  I'm not talking about his lousy movies (any more than Richard Pryor, for instance, should be evaluated on the strength of his movie performances alone), but in the early days, with Dean Martin, he really could be hysterically funny.  Dave the Spazz probably knows all about the drug regimen that's brought his to his present pass, and yeah, we all love the French for considering him a great director, but nobody should dismiss him out of hand without seeing some of the Martin & Lewis TV shows or filmed nightclub bits.

[buffcoat]

I loved him in Mad Men.

[Eric Fishlegs]

Yeah, but even when he was funny he'd still do things like this-
[urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlT9porBIsQ&playnext=1&list=PL18329F919B835165][/url]

[cavorting with nudists]

Actually--and this comes from someone who doesn't have all that much use for the Beatles--I kinda liked that!  But, not to ride a hobby horse, Jer is obviously more in command, more in the pocket, and more confidently swingin' than that poor kid.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Is that a St. Sanders video?

[~L]

Sounds like, as of today, Jerry Lewis got kicked off the telethon instead of being given an opportunity to have one final time. 

[iAmBaronVonTito]

that was tough.

[methanolcereal]

Are people making fun of this?

It's more sad than anything.

The dude has done a lot of dumb movies and stuff but he's done far more of his fair share of real good and has had at least in my memory, a ton of health problems but kept doing it.

Maybe I'm just gauging reactions wrong?

[nec13]

Sounds like, as of today, Jerry Lewis got kicked off the telethon instead of being given an opportunity to have one final time.

Neither Lewis nor the MDA have explained why the sudden split, but it was clear that the charity has been thinking for some time about revamping the telethon, to attract new audiences.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/01/140116890/jerry-lewis-will-not-participate-in-mda-telethon-says-publicist

That's no way to treat a guy who is largely responsible for raising $2 billion dollars for your cause.

Regardless of what you think of him as an entertainer, he didn't deserve to be cast aside like that.

[~L]

I don't think he deserves such a "Heave ho' ".  Jerry brought MD awareness into peoples homes for 60 of his 85 years; he has done so much, and has raised so money for MDA (over 2 billion dollars over 45 years) Now, it's Nigel Lithgow, so you think you can dance, but can he raise 60 million dollars in the new 6 hour time slot? Can Lithgow make young people care about this disease enough to open their wallets, is there even any money in young people's wallets these days? Will there be a goodbye and recognition event for Jerry on the show?  Jerry is scheduled to give a press conference on Labor Day.  I think it is sad that Jerry Lewis never gets the positive recognition or the thanks he deserves. 

[buffcoat]

I spent my entire childhood hating Labor Day because there'd be no TV because of the damn telethon.  Still: good cause.  I don't care how much of an ass he was to anybody or how irrelevant they suddenly thought he was.  Show some class.  The whole world could use a little more class.

[Gilly]

Not only did they split, but this year they are only doing a 5 or 6 hour event.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

So is no one gunna say that the audio is taken from somewhere else?