Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Stand up for comedy queen
Caroline Hirsch. Creator of Carolines Comedy Club:
“Like Streisand, I’m from Brooklyn’s Pulaski Street in Williamsburg. Parents in manufacturing. Did Catholic school, City College, FIT, took the subway and grew up here.
“My club was open 40 years. Started ’82. Small cabaret in Chelsea. First came Jay Leno. Then Jerry Seinfeld, Sandra Bernhard, Bill Maher. One agency rep’d others. They’d done Johnny Carson, Dave Letterman and we started with their people. Pee-wee Herman didn’t even then have an act, but he put it together. Jimmy Fallon came to do comedy songs.
’83 Billy Crystal got passed over for ‘Saturday Night Live.’ After Carolines, ‘SNL’ hired him their next season.
“One night Leno and Letterman brought Paul Reiser to open for them. Jim Gaffigan was in our comedy school. Lena Dunham took our comedy class. Judd Apatow snuck in to meet Pee-wee Herman.
“I know Tracy Morgan 20 years and we’ll work together again at Town Hall. I’m always in touch with Bill Maher, who’ll do our Beacon Theater Comedy Festival.”
Nov. 8 to 17 is Caroline’s New York Comedy Festival — 20th year. It’s 200 comedians, 300 shows, all five boroughs.
And what’s inside her old Broadway comedy palace Carolines?
“Times Square’s area was not good any longer. Getting too rough. And my tough landlord was not good to me after I paid the rent all those years — so I decided to leave it.”
And what’s there now?
“A pingpong place.”
Unfaithful acts
Lefty Harris questioning a Supreme Court nominee back when senator?
Slandering the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus, which helped include the Pledge of Allegiance words “under God” and raised millions for the Special Olympics? Just letting you know.
Watch out for H’wood hustlers
Enough political. I now go apolitical. Hollywood’s A-1 star is now “AI.” All have the same name: Deep Fake.
Website Bountii says Jennifer Aniston videos online offering free pots and pans for $10 have an aroma. Tom “Forrest Gump” Hanks’ dental plan? Elon Musk pushing cryptocurrency livestream? Taylor Swift hawking a Medicare plan? BS.
Bountii’s Jason Higgs warns: “Real celebs rarely promote products via unsolicited videos. Cross-check if a company uses Taylor Swift it’s on their website and social media.”
Me, still waiting for my Tom Cruise Maverick Magic Meal Maker. Only three easy $49.95 payments.
“Job” opened this week at the Helen Hayes Theater. Many celebrities were there.
Traffic so intense we arrived 10 minutes late. Our second-row seats had been commandeered.
We were shown lifts and dark stairs to the absolutely last row of the pitch black balcony. Action begins at the opening — which we missed.
Anyway, I couldn’t hear — so I didn’t understand what was happening. I’m told it was a hit.
East Side, West Side, all around the town — and you can’t get anywhere.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.