As you may have heard by now comedy legend Sid Caesar has died at the age of 91
Over the coming days we will hear many great stories about Sid but I thought I’d offer one that came to mind when I heard the news, a story told by Carol Burnett.
Back when she was starting out she used to sneak backstage and watch Sid and company do dress rehearsal and then she’d run home and watch the live broadcast.
One day she watched them do a courtroom sketch. Although Sid was mostly known for comedy they also did drama. In this scene a jury foreman comes out and declares a defendant guilty.
Sid as the attorney then delivers an impassioned speech on behalf of his client and the jury changes their mind.
When the show went live the young actor playing the foreman got nervous and blew his line, declaring the defendant not guilty. This left Sid hanging but he was a pro and quickly recovered, ad libbing to make the scene work.
Then they went to commercial after which Sid would come out to say good night. So he had maybe 2 minutes. He looked around and asked where the actor was. Told that the man, humiliated, had left Sid ran out onto the street and caught up to him.
Putting his hand on the young man’s shoulder he looked him in the eye and said
“It’s ok…. it’s ok…. come back next week”
Then he rushed back and did his goodbyes.
Now that is class.