Well, it's nice to see you.
I don't like waiting so long for a guy that's not that big a star.
[Laughing]
[♫♪ Music ♪♫]
You're the last guy I would expect to see at the beach.
I picture you at the beach in, like, black socks and eating a hot dog with mustard.
[Laughing]
Where was the first place that Stan Irwin,
your manager, saw you perform?
>> He wasn't my manager. >> No?
Henry Slate ran the place, but he was very involved.
A guy called Lenny Bruce.
Another politically correct comic.
Yeah, they thought he was a little too dirty at that time.
>> Yeah. >> So they asked me to come and take his place.
I got in the Slate Brothers and all of a sudden I became a thing.
And they were lining up to see me.
Would you scan the audience during the opening
and kind of start to pick people out that you knew you could use stuff on,
or would it just happen in the moment?
At the moment.
I never look and say, "I'll pick on this guy or that guy.”
There's a lot of people here.
Look at these people here.
[Laughing]
This was not rehearsed.
It was in my personality.
>> So your act was never the same... >> No.
>> one night to the next. >> Well, no.
I have beginning, opening and ending.
You're kind of there, present in the moment,
and then it's on to the next, right?
That's it, yeah.
I'll tell you this.
What, am I on the Titanic?
I'll tell you this.
I'm staggering and I didn't even have a drink yet, for Christ's sake.
Did you ever write a screenplay?
I had trouble getting out of high school, for Christ’s sake.
Right.
“Cat" was a tough word for me to spell.
[♫♪ Music ♪♫]
Was your dad proud of you?
>> Was he supportive or was he critical? >> Oh, yeah.
He was a lovely guy.
>> You know the word “kibitzer”? >> Yeah.
Very warm and...
My dad was a salesman.
We used to go to the racetrack when I was a kid.
We'd play tag near the finish line,
you know, all the kids who'd go with their parents.
Father's Day we'd go to the racetrack.
But he never bet what he couldn't afford to lose,
>> but he just liked to play the horses. >> Sounds like my father.
>> Your father the same way? >> Yeah.
How about you? Did you play the cards...
No, I never, I never gambled.
They told me, "You don't gamble, you're not gonna work in Vegas."
>> You never gambled a little bit? >> No.
>> No blackjack? >> No.
>> No roulette? >> None of that.
>> Got it. >> I was a real monk.
[Laughing]
[♫♪ Music ♪♪]
So you started just joking around, making people laugh?
Yeah, yeah.
When did you figure out you could get paid for it,
or what was your first gig?
Hey, I'm 90.
Yeah, I know.
>> My first gig? >> Yeah.
It was with Rabbi Schwartz and the Bible.
[Laughing]
A hundred years ago.
There's the wife, huh?
She's built like my wife.
[Laughing]
Same type.
My wife takes off her bra at night and the head hits the sink.
[Laughing]
Was one of the first big places you played was the Sahara?
I played the Golden Nugget, too.
You'd have a midnight show, a 2 o’clock and then a 5 a.m.
Right.
>> Are these morning joggers coming to the 5 a.m.? >> No.
These are people who have been up all night, didn't get lucky?
No, they were waitresses in heat.
After the 5 o’clock show, would you be up a little bit afterwards
>> and then go to bed? >> Oh, yeah.
We'd go to Lake Mead and water-ski.
Nobody believes that, the way I am today.
And you were single then, when you first started.
There was a lot of fired cocktail waitresses, I'm assuming.
They all have children by me.
Hi, mother.
May I talk to you a moment?
Thank you.
What is your name?
>> Edna. >> Edna?
Edna what?
Winger.
Edna Winger.
Ah. [Laughing]
Nobody likes a wise guy, lady.
[Laughing]
What about this Ralph Lamb character?
Did you ever meet him, the Vegas cowboy sheriff?
Oh, yeah — hello.
The stories were famous about him.
That he would kind of keep the outfit and stuff and check in their casinos,
that he was kind of related to the senator and...
He wasn't, you know, a guy that I hung out with.
There's no, I don't have a wire, Don.
I'm just asking. It's just me talking to you.
I thought that...
I think the statute of limitations are well done.
You got that look, a cop look.
Well, I'm just asking you.
Just two guys talking next to the ocean like guys do, you know that.
[♫♪ Music ♪♫]
So there was a great music scene going on with the Rat Pack in Vegas.
There was a great stand-up scene, right?
How did you guys get to know each other and become friends?
The whole secret with me, rest his soul, was Sinatra.
He was a great friend.
We used to go to the steam room every night.
That's the story, they would sit and drink the water and...
The vodka, yeah.
Hair of the dog. I like that.
[Laughing]
Like a gentleman would after a cocktail waitress encounter.
I know where your head's at, and I like that.
>> Johnny Carson also was a big booster for me. >> Yeah.
He threw me in a pool once.
Just horseplaying.
Socially he wasn't, liked to mix with too many people.
Too shy?
He wouldn't do something like this.
Who would?
Well, you. You probably need the work.
[Laughing]
[♪♫ Music ♫♪]
You guys came from a different time.
There was a depression.
There was real problems, so the sense of humor, the entertaining,
you had a lot more strength.
Feels like the comics today aren't coming from an authentic place
and not apologizing for it.
People are more concerned about how they're gonna be perceived.
That's the take I have on it.
Well, I used to be like that.
But I always had that reputation of making friends.
Sounds crazy.
Making friends in what I do, you know.
You tease each other, you joke about each other's backgrounds, right?
>> Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. >> And you actually would bring people closer
by doing it.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Johnny has been a friend of mine for a lot of years.
I've been out with you very, very many, quite a few times in California.
I want to say publicly he's definitely cheap.
[Laughing]
I was with my friends.
We would always make fun of the stuff that,
whatever you were most insecure about or...
>> and that's how you, you know, it was more of a bond. >> Absolutely.
[♫♪ Music ♪♫]
Some salmon?
>> Toro? >> Toro? OK.
Terrific.
Look at that.
That salmon looks wild.
I love eating sushi when I'm close to the ocean.
It makes me feel powerful.
You know what I mean? [Laughing]
[Laughing]
Where are you from originally?
I'm from outside of Chicago.
I'm going to guess you're about 55?
Forty-six.
You look good.
Really good.
You only missed it by a decade.
[♪♫ Music ♫♪]
I think we did meet, though, because I could've sworn I said to Barbara...
The first time was at Danny Jansen's with the Oscars.
You were so nice to me.
This wasn't that far after “Swingers.”
You pulled me in and you said, "Hey, I really enjoy watching you."
You were so kind to me.
I was expecting you to take a shot, but you were actually so,
so kind of encouraging and I really appreciated that.
I have very few people that’s, say,
an enemy, I don't have a guy that walks around and says,
>> "That son of a bitch." >> Right.
But you're not looking for that.
You're looking to, you accept people where they're at, right?
That's right. I do.
I do.
Thanks for being so generous with — He's, this is on his as always.
Yeah, yeah. You know how he does it.
He loves to. He insists on it.
[Laughing]
He wants to keep a tab open for me for whenever I come here.
That's fine too. He loves that.
[Laughing]
Great to see you, pal.
Yeah.
>> You're tremendous. >> Good luck.
[♫♪ Music ♪♫]
You know, I used to go to Vegas when I wasn't even old enough
to play cards,
when I first moved out here at 18. I saw Sinatra play
at Bally's casino, actually, one time.
That was always kind of the golden age, Don's age,
and it was fun to get a chance to sit with him
and talk about that experience and what that was like early on.
I feel like I missed the opportunity to ask him about a reverse mortgage.
Maybe there'd be some money in that for him.
I don't have an AARP card, but I'm excited for the people that do.
I'm excited that we can provide this quality of entertainment to you guys.
Tomorrow's a new day, right?
There's always something exciting to look forward to, right?
You haven't seen it all before, so...
this should be a lot of fun.
What it do?
It's your boy, big Snoop Dogg,
and I need y'all to go subscribe right now to the AARP Channel.
You know what I'm talking about?
So you can seen Don Rickles and see his right-hand man,
no, his left-hand man, Snoop Dogg, live and direct.
Go subscribe right now.
What you waitin' on?
What did he say?
[Laughing]