TV veterans to bid for uncanned laughter

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

What: "An Evening of Comedy" starring Jerry Van Dyke, Murray Langston and Steve Landesburg

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday-Sunday

Where: Suncoast

Tickets: $19.95; 636-7075

The Suncoast hits the comedy trifecta this week as three veteran comedians join forces to show some of the young upstarts how it's done.

Jerry Van Dyke, Murray Langston (The Unknown Comic) and Steve Landesberg made their names on television , but their first love was stand-up.

The three comedians spoke to the Sun recently, Van Dyke from Hot Springs, Ark., and Langston and Landesberg from Los Angeles.

Jerry Van Dyke

Van Dyke sticks in TV viewers' memories as assistant coach Luther Van Dam of the Minnesota State Screaming Eagles, the part he played on "Coach" from 1989 to 1997.

He debuted on national television in the early 1960s on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," his brother's series.

"We're two completely different types of people. Our styles are 100 percent opposite," Jerry Van Dyke says. "I'm more of a down-home country boy and he's more of a Cary Grant type. He never did stand-up and that's all I wanted to do.

"Dick's a loner. I've always been more outgoing than him. Mom always liked me best."

Jerry Van Dyke was the first choice for the lead in "Gilligan's Island," but turned it down for "My Mother the Car," which limped through one season on NBC.

"I didn't think it had a shot," he says. "But the thing is 'Gilligan' only lasted three years. In retrospect it was the best move I ever made because 'Coach' lasted nine years. If I had taken 'Gilligan's Island' I would never have gotten 'Coach' because I would have been established as Gilligan."

Murray Langston

Langston put a bag over his head and gained fame as the Unknown Comic.

A native of Canada, he was working as a computer operator in the early '70s when he landed gigs with Rowan and Martin and Sonny and Cher.

He started his own nightclub in Los Angeles, but went bankrupt, which led to an appearance on "The Gong Show."

"I was broke and needed the money, but I didn't want my friends to see me on the show," Langston says. "So I thought I would put a bag over my head, tell a couple of quick jokes and make union money, 250 bucks."

The Unknown Comic was a hit and he returned for 150 more shows. The bag became his calling card.

Langston is familiar with Las Vegas. "I was the first person ever to put three comics on a stage in Vegas," he says. "It was at the Landmark." He also played the Hacienda, Sahara, Dunes and Tropicana , becoming a well-known unknown comic.

A single parent, he's mostly retired, saying he'd rather spend time with his two daughters - 18 and 8 - at home in Tehachapi, Calif., than work.

His most recent whim was writing a play that's looking for a home - the male response to "The Vagina Monologues."

Steve Landesberg

You might remember Landesberg as the laid-back, cerebral detective on "Barney Miller."

"It was a great show," he says. "I ran into Hal (Linden, who played Miller) in a deli recently. Ron Glass and Max Gail, unfortunately I ran into them at a funeral in January for Ron Carey," who played Officer Carl Levitt.

Landesberg has always done stand-up. Only venues have changed.

"I used to be on the college circuit and now I'm on the condo circuit," the 61-year-old actor/comedian says. "It's the same people, just older. All over Florida people who are retired live in these communities that have big theaters where they book shows. It's true."

Landesberg is waiting to hear whether Starz will pick up the series "Head Case" after the original 10 episodes of the improvised show.

"If it happens, it happens. But they're negotiating, and I'm still not working," he says, discussing the changes in television.

"Now there are 7 million channels. I did a pilot once with a 19 share and we didn't get on. You have a 19 share now and you're in the top 10."

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