After 50 years, this master still knows what makes America laugh

By Jerry Fink

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Shelley Berman has worn a lot of hats during his 50-year career — stand-up comedian, author, teacher, lecturer, TV actor, movie star.

Berman, 82, brings his stand-up act to the Improv at Harrah’s this week.

In his latest film, Berman portrays Adam Sandler’s father in “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” which opened this month. “If they had a premiere, I wasn’t invited,” Berman says from his home in Los Angeles.

He’s also a TV dad, playing Larry David’s father on the hit HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “I don’t know if I will continue,” says Berman, a native of Chicago. “I’m just waiting for a telephone call. I love working with Larry David. He’s a brilliant comedian.”

When he isn’t on the set for that role, he might be on the set of ABC’s “Boston Legal” shooting his role as a judge.

Or he may be touring his one-man show. Or lecturing on “How History Affects Comedy.” Or teaching writing (humor, literary, dramatic) at the University of Southern California, which he has done since 1982. He has written three books and continues to write and act. In 2006, he hosted the annual Chabad Telethon broadcast in several cities.

You’re a busy man. How much time do you devote to stand-up?

As much as I can. I love to do it. But it’s not my first choice. Doing the recurring kooky judge on “Boston Legal” is a love of mine. It’s wonderful fun for me. And it pays well. I’m very happy with that, very proud of it.

How long have you been doing stand-up?

Maybe 3,000 years. I began doing stand-up in 1957, I believe.

How has comedy changed in the past 51 years?

How has the art changed is significant. It has gone through many changes. Right now the tendency is to use emphatic words for emphasis, not to upset the audience or be free with your mouth. Frankly it’s just emphasis. It does help the laugh, not the joke necessarily. It all began with the terrible time we went through with Vietnam — men were burning draft cards and women were burning their bras and blacks were forming organizations like the Black Panthers. There were lots of problems — we were a very problematic nation. Then one day the language of anger became very, very important, particularly to comedians. Richard Pryor was upsetting us with language and George Carlin was upsetting us with language. The language in comedy changed considerably.

Is it harder to make people laugh today than in 1957? Are people more serious?

I’m not sure that the answer isn’t the opposite. I think people are laughing just as easily today as ever. Maybe it’s a kind of hysteria. You see Jay Leno and he’s taking the news and putting it right to the people and they’re laughing. We’re seeing comedians now who are on Comedy Central and they’re doing stuff very, very up to date. They are using political humor and it’s working. People love seeing people poking fun at politicians.

Who do you like among today’s comedians?

Lewis Black. I love him. He has that one dirty word he has to use all the time. It isn’t mean, it’s just his emphasis word. He’s hysterical. I love to watch him. He’s the angriest man I’ve ever seen. He’s bitching about that which seems to bother most of us.

I watched George Carlin work and I love him. Richard Pryor was a thrilling comedian. A friend of mine, (political comedian) Mort Sahl had a profound effect on my work when I started out years ago. He’s still hanging in there. He gets his work. He’s doing OK. It’s a bit different than it was years ago, when it was him looking at the world — now it’s more Mort looking at Mort.