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Interview With Sid Caesar

Aired November 05, 2003 - 15:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What Milton Berle was to Tuesdays and Ed Sullivan to Sundays, Sid Caesar was to Saturdays. TV's first generation of superstars didn't just dominate their time slots, they dominated the airwaves.
For Caesar, the salad days -- sorry, Sid -- began with the "Admiral Broadway Review" in 1949. "Your Show of Shows" debuted in 1950, and for four amazing years, four grueling years for the cast, TV history was made one week at a time, and everybody watched.

"Your Show of Shows" drew an estimated 60 million viewers, at a time when only 44 million U.S. households had televisions. And today, there are 108 million TV homes, but the most-watched show gets less than half of Caesar's audience.

The legend himself remembers those times in a memoir called "Caesar's Hours." And we're privileged to welcome him to "LIVE FROM..."

Hi, Sid.

SID CAESAR, TV LEGEND: How are you?

PHILLIPS: I'm doing well. We have good communication. Do you hear me OK?

CAESAR: I can hear you, but everything is a little delayed.

PHILLIPS: All right. No problem.

CAESAR: OK.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know what? We'll just take our time here. We've got plenty of time.

Oh, good.

PHILLIPS: All right. Yes, just kick back. Pour yourself a cocktail. Here we go.

CAESAR: All right. I'll have a Tommy Androna (ph).

PHILLIPS: Well, gin -- well, a martini.

All right, I've got to ask you, I was reading through the book, so many wonderful just memories that you touch on from your family, to your wife, to television. I want to talk about double talk. Take me back to Yonkers, OK, and your dad's restaurant, and how you were this little boy, and you observed all of these different folks listening to all of these different accents. That's kind of where it all began, your trademark.

CAESAR: Well, my father, right, he had a little restaurant in Yonkers, New York. And my school was about, oh, about five, six blocks away. So, I used to go there for lunch -- excuse me.

PHILLIPS: And smoke a few cigars.

CAESAR: No, I was a kid. I was going to school. I was in the ninth grade. I didn't smoke cigars yet.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CAESAR: You're way ahead of me.

PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. OK, I'll behave myself. You go ahead.

CAESAR: And I used to go in, and I'd have lunch at my father's restaurant, and then I'd pick up a few dishes at lunchtime to help him out. And every time I went over to a table -- like one table was all Italian, the next table was all German, the next table was all French -- and they would teach me, you know, the dirty words first, which I discarded. And I'd listen...

PHILLIPS: Such as?

CAESAR: No, I'm not going to say the words.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CAESAR: We don't need that. What for? But I used to listen to them, and then I'd get -- every language has its own song, it's a different song. Like French, French is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

PHILLIPS: Wait a minute. You're just sort of -- well, I guess it sort of makes sense. You got a few words in there.

CAESAR: Yes, whatever you want to put in, you can put in.

PHILLIPS: All right. How about a little Italian?

CAESAR: How about a little Italian? OK, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

PHILLIPS: Well, I caught pizza and I caught brioche (ph). Now, what would these folks -- as you're in the restaurant, what would these friends say to you, or these patrons say to you?

CAESAR: They're not friends. They were customers.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CAESAR: But friends, they were friends of my father, and they were customers that came in to eat. PHILLIPS: All right. Now, you carried this on, though. This isn't just, you know, what became your trademark as a little boy, but, you know, you used to drive Florence crazy, your poor wife, such a patient woman. We have this picture of the two of you. She's quite the babe, by the way. Now, tell me how you would go to these restaurants and you would start ordering, and she'd say, oh, Sid, please, no, don't do it to me.

CAESAR: No, I never did that. If we were in a foreign country and if the waiter was like a little, you know, snippy and he didn't pay attention or whatever, I would say, Garsone (ph), (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Oh! And you saw action.

PHILLIPS: I bet. And what did Florence do?

CAESAR: Well, she just stood there, sat there, because after that, he watched my finger on the menu (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And he'd watch my finger, and he would bring what I wanted.

PHILLIPS: All right, Sid, take me to the writer's room. I was reading about this in the book. This is so great. I mean, you and Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. I love this one shot, Mel Brooks trying to sell you an idea. Tell me about the energy in this room where all the madness was created.

CAESAR: Oh, this was -- the writer's room was a special place. When we used to come in, in the morning, we'd come in about 9:00, 9:30, and I'd say, everybody, when you come in, you check your ego at the door. Because everything -- what I said didn't go. It's what was funny, that's what went. That's the main thing. It didn't -- well, there's the $5 number. Want to hear that?

PHILLIPS: Yes, do you want to listen to it?

CAESAR: Oh, that's the -- that's "Sunset Boulevard."

PHILLIPS: There you go. We've got a little bit of everything for you.

CAESAR: Well, I remember that.

PHILLIPS: So, tell me, as you look at these, and you remember just the comedy and the humor and the writing, I mean, there was this connection with you and Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. All of you have gone on to do such amazing things. You're all a little crazy, I've got to say.

CAESAR: Well, it's not crazy. It's you want to do something you've got to do it. I mean, there's no two ways about it. You can talk about it, you can think about it, you can talk and think and think, but when you've got to do it, you've got to know what you're doing. You must know what you're doing, because it's very, very important. You know, you've only got -- when we used to do it, it was live. Live is a different animal than what you've got today.

PHILLIPS: I know, Sid, I want to ask you that. Final question here. Humor now, OK, versus when you had your show. What do you think of the "Saturday Night Live," the David Letterman? I mean, it's such a different entity now.

CAESAR: Oh, sure. I mean, it's altogether different. You see, live was a different animal. When you're live, you're in charge, because there's nobody going to go clip, clip, clip, clip. So, you're in charge, and that gives you a chance to get a rapport with the audience. You know what I mean? Because you don't have to stop every three or four minutes to take a different shot and take a different shot. This was done live.

I'll give you a little example. I once gave a lecture in Columbia University about television, and everybody in the audience was a producer or a director or this or that, or an actor. And I talked for an hour about, you know, 90 -- or an hour and a half show live. And I said -- I answered question and answer. And the first guy that stood up said, Mr. Caesar, we understand the show was done live, and it was an hour and a half long. But could you tell me, how long did it take to shoot the hour and a half?

PHILLIPS: Oh, gee. And you said?

CAESAR: Ninety minutes. Because they had no idea of what live was. He said, supposing it didn't get a laugh. I said, then we go a little slower. That's all. And then you want to do this, you want to do that. Everything can be done, because you're in charge. And you don't have to stop every four minutes, or five minutes, however long the shot takes.

But it was -- and we had no cue cards, no teleprompter. The teleprompter wasn't invented. But we had no cue cards, because the cue cards take away the eye, you know, if I'm saying. I want to tell you want I want. You're right there. And you tell me what I'm going to say to you, because I've got this and I'm reading the cards.

You know, even in a sketch, you have to be a good actor. An actor is a man, a good actor is a man who watches and listens. You watch the other person and you watch their eyes, because that's what's telling you everything. You watch the eyes. And then you listen to the person, not just be a cue. You listen for the information and how they modulate their voice. And then you can go right in and modulate back. And because that's what gives you the push-off. You know, comedy is not the joke, it's the reaction.

PHILLIPS: And, you know, that's so much with interviewing, too -- looking into the eyes and really listening to what the person is saying.

CAESAR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: I hope you'll come to Atlanta so you can sit next to me next time and we can look into each other's eyes, Sid.

CAESAR: It would be a pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Sid Caesar, it's an absolute pleasure. Your new book is out. It's fantastic. I know a lot of...

CAESAR: And there are some DVDs coming out also.

PHILLIPS: Oh, look at you, all hip with the DVDs. All right, Sid Caesar live...

CAESAR: It's sidcaesar.com.

PHILLIPS: All right, sidcaesar.com, unedited, here we go. I wish we could keep talking for 90 minutes. Thanks so much, Sid.

CAESAR: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired November 5, 2003 - 15:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What Milton Berle was to Tuesdays and Ed Sullivan to Sundays, Sid Caesar was to Saturdays. TV's first generation of superstars didn't just dominate their time slots, they dominated the airwaves.
For Caesar, the salad days -- sorry, Sid -- began with the "Admiral Broadway Review" in 1949. "Your Show of Shows" debuted in 1950, and for four amazing years, four grueling years for the cast, TV history was made one week at a time, and everybody watched.

"Your Show of Shows" drew an estimated 60 million viewers, at a time when only 44 million U.S. households had televisions. And today, there are 108 million TV homes, but the most-watched show gets less than half of Caesar's audience.

The legend himself remembers those times in a memoir called "Caesar's Hours." And we're privileged to welcome him to "LIVE FROM..."

Hi, Sid.

SID CAESAR, TV LEGEND: How are you?

PHILLIPS: I'm doing well. We have good communication. Do you hear me OK?

CAESAR: I can hear you, but everything is a little delayed.

PHILLIPS: All right. No problem.

CAESAR: OK.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know what? We'll just take our time here. We've got plenty of time.

Oh, good.

PHILLIPS: All right. Yes, just kick back. Pour yourself a cocktail. Here we go.

CAESAR: All right. I'll have a Tommy Androna (ph).

PHILLIPS: Well, gin -- well, a martini.

All right, I've got to ask you, I was reading through the book, so many wonderful just memories that you touch on from your family, to your wife, to television. I want to talk about double talk. Take me back to Yonkers, OK, and your dad's restaurant, and how you were this little boy, and you observed all of these different folks listening to all of these different accents. That's kind of where it all began, your trademark.

CAESAR: Well, my father, right, he had a little restaurant in Yonkers, New York. And my school was about, oh, about five, six blocks away. So, I used to go there for lunch -- excuse me.

PHILLIPS: And smoke a few cigars.

CAESAR: No, I was a kid. I was going to school. I was in the ninth grade. I didn't smoke cigars yet.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CAESAR: You're way ahead of me.

PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. OK, I'll behave myself. You go ahead.

CAESAR: And I used to go in, and I'd have lunch at my father's restaurant, and then I'd pick up a few dishes at lunchtime to help him out. And every time I went over to a table -- like one table was all Italian, the next table was all German, the next table was all French -- and they would teach me, you know, the dirty words first, which I discarded. And I'd listen...

PHILLIPS: Such as?

CAESAR: No, I'm not going to say the words.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CAESAR: We don't need that. What for? But I used to listen to them, and then I'd get -- every language has its own song, it's a different song. Like French, French is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

PHILLIPS: Wait a minute. You're just sort of -- well, I guess it sort of makes sense. You got a few words in there.

CAESAR: Yes, whatever you want to put in, you can put in.

PHILLIPS: All right. How about a little Italian?

CAESAR: How about a little Italian? OK, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

PHILLIPS: Well, I caught pizza and I caught brioche (ph). Now, what would these folks -- as you're in the restaurant, what would these friends say to you, or these patrons say to you?

CAESAR: They're not friends. They were customers.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CAESAR: But friends, they were friends of my father, and they were customers that came in to eat. PHILLIPS: All right. Now, you carried this on, though. This isn't just, you know, what became your trademark as a little boy, but, you know, you used to drive Florence crazy, your poor wife, such a patient woman. We have this picture of the two of you. She's quite the babe, by the way. Now, tell me how you would go to these restaurants and you would start ordering, and she'd say, oh, Sid, please, no, don't do it to me.

CAESAR: No, I never did that. If we were in a foreign country and if the waiter was like a little, you know, snippy and he didn't pay attention or whatever, I would say, Garsone (ph), (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Oh! And you saw action.

PHILLIPS: I bet. And what did Florence do?

CAESAR: Well, she just stood there, sat there, because after that, he watched my finger on the menu (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And he'd watch my finger, and he would bring what I wanted.

PHILLIPS: All right, Sid, take me to the writer's room. I was reading about this in the book. This is so great. I mean, you and Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. I love this one shot, Mel Brooks trying to sell you an idea. Tell me about the energy in this room where all the madness was created.

CAESAR: Oh, this was -- the writer's room was a special place. When we used to come in, in the morning, we'd come in about 9:00, 9:30, and I'd say, everybody, when you come in, you check your ego at the door. Because everything -- what I said didn't go. It's what was funny, that's what went. That's the main thing. It didn't -- well, there's the $5 number. Want to hear that?

PHILLIPS: Yes, do you want to listen to it?

CAESAR: Oh, that's the -- that's "Sunset Boulevard."

PHILLIPS: There you go. We've got a little bit of everything for you.

CAESAR: Well, I remember that.

PHILLIPS: So, tell me, as you look at these, and you remember just the comedy and the humor and the writing, I mean, there was this connection with you and Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. All of you have gone on to do such amazing things. You're all a little crazy, I've got to say.

CAESAR: Well, it's not crazy. It's you want to do something you've got to do it. I mean, there's no two ways about it. You can talk about it, you can think about it, you can talk and think and think, but when you've got to do it, you've got to know what you're doing. You must know what you're doing, because it's very, very important. You know, you've only got -- when we used to do it, it was live. Live is a different animal than what you've got today.

PHILLIPS: I know, Sid, I want to ask you that. Final question here. Humor now, OK, versus when you had your show. What do you think of the "Saturday Night Live," the David Letterman? I mean, it's such a different entity now.

CAESAR: Oh, sure. I mean, it's altogether different. You see, live was a different animal. When you're live, you're in charge, because there's nobody going to go clip, clip, clip, clip. So, you're in charge, and that gives you a chance to get a rapport with the audience. You know what I mean? Because you don't have to stop every three or four minutes to take a different shot and take a different shot. This was done live.

I'll give you a little example. I once gave a lecture in Columbia University about television, and everybody in the audience was a producer or a director or this or that, or an actor. And I talked for an hour about, you know, 90 -- or an hour and a half show live. And I said -- I answered question and answer. And the first guy that stood up said, Mr. Caesar, we understand the show was done live, and it was an hour and a half long. But could you tell me, how long did it take to shoot the hour and a half?

PHILLIPS: Oh, gee. And you said?

CAESAR: Ninety minutes. Because they had no idea of what live was. He said, supposing it didn't get a laugh. I said, then we go a little slower. That's all. And then you want to do this, you want to do that. Everything can be done, because you're in charge. And you don't have to stop every four minutes, or five minutes, however long the shot takes.

But it was -- and we had no cue cards, no teleprompter. The teleprompter wasn't invented. But we had no cue cards, because the cue cards take away the eye, you know, if I'm saying. I want to tell you want I want. You're right there. And you tell me what I'm going to say to you, because I've got this and I'm reading the cards.

You know, even in a sketch, you have to be a good actor. An actor is a man, a good actor is a man who watches and listens. You watch the other person and you watch their eyes, because that's what's telling you everything. You watch the eyes. And then you listen to the person, not just be a cue. You listen for the information and how they modulate their voice. And then you can go right in and modulate back. And because that's what gives you the push-off. You know, comedy is not the joke, it's the reaction.

PHILLIPS: And, you know, that's so much with interviewing, too -- looking into the eyes and really listening to what the person is saying.

CAESAR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: I hope you'll come to Atlanta so you can sit next to me next time and we can look into each other's eyes, Sid.

CAESAR: It would be a pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Sid Caesar, it's an absolute pleasure. Your new book is out. It's fantastic. I know a lot of...

CAESAR: And there are some DVDs coming out also.

PHILLIPS: Oh, look at you, all hip with the DVDs. All right, Sid Caesar live...

CAESAR: It's sidcaesar.com.

PHILLIPS: All right, sidcaesar.com, unedited, here we go. I wish we could keep talking for 90 minutes. Thanks so much, Sid.

CAESAR: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.