The Great Don Rickles

To know me is to know I adore Don Rickles. He was on Letterman last night and I checked the CBS website just now hoping to find a link to his full appearance. All I could find was a two minute long portion of his appearance. I had to go to Youtube for the whole thing. I don't know how long these two videos will be up but take a look at them. The guy is 82 years old and as quick as he's ever been. There are a few clunkers here but if you fire shots off like Don does you are going to have a couple of moments that don't go over well. His Obama joke went over badly but I think it had more to do with his delivery than the content of the joke. Watch how Letterman masterfully allows Don to recover. That bit is on the second video.

Don's appearances on Letterman over the years have been special. They have a great rapport. I don't know if I've ever seen any guest make Dave laugh like Rickles. Many times Dave will insert himself into an interview, with Rickles he just plays the straight man and sits back and laughs. If you have some spare time to go to Youtube and do a search of "Rickles Letterman" and you will find hours of special stuff.