The setup was dirty and the punchline was filthy. Whenever Breitbart brought his friends around to Bean’s house, he would cajole him until he told the joke. It was a joke that Bean said Andrew used to say was “existential” because the punchline was a bit non-linear. Orson Bean began his comments by mentioning that he had already sought and gotten approval from the rabbi to tell the joke. There were hundreds of people at the funeral and, because it was Andrew who was being memorialized, most of the eulogists had funny stories to share. I mention it just because I remembered how in awe I then was watching him. ![]() He seemed to be really in awe of the guy.īean brought the house down at Andrew’s funeral with a joke far-too salacious for me to repeat here. The times I spoke to Andrew about him I remember his eyes lighting up. I am old enough to remember seeing Bean on television a lot when I was a kid and, as a comedian, I was probably more interested in the fact that he was Andrew’s father-in-law than most. ![]() He was Andrew Breitbart’s father-in-law, and in his book Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, Andrew credits Bean with beginning his conversion to conservatism by getting him to listen to Rush Limbaugh. The dramatic outcome inspired a national catchphrase as the host turned to the three and said: “Will the real (notable’s name) please stand up?”īean’s style appealed to both Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, and he appeared on “The Tonight Show” more than 200 times.įor conservatives - especially those of us who were activists during the Tea Party era - Bean’s legacy extends far beyond comedy. In a 1983 New York Times interview, he recalled his early career in small clubs where the show consisted of “me - master of ceremonies, comedian and magician - maybe a dog act, and a stripper.” It was a piano player in one such club, he said, who suggested replacing Dallas Burrows with some funny name like “Roger Duck” - or Orson Bean.īean’s quick wit and warm personality made him a favorite panelist for six years on “To Tell the Truth.” The game required the panelists to quiz three contestants to figure out which one was a real notable and which two were impostors. ![]() Bean’s comedic bona fides date back to when comedy clubs were far more vaudevillian, which then led to him becoming a staple on television for a very long time:
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