The Ahead-Of-His-Time Comedy Of Ernie Kovaks

A young TMV reader emailed me asking about a series of You Tubes I ran more than a year ago, wondering who the moustachioed comedian in it was because he had been so impressed. In fact, the comedian was Ernie Kovaks, a 1950s to early 1960s television comedy performer who was WAY ahead of his time.

I was a huge fan of his when I was in elementary school and still remember January 13, 1962 when I learned he died in a car crash, apparently while reaching to light his famous cigar. I was grief stricken and my classroom show and tell the next day was on a news article about his death. I also learned a lesson: I thought Well, he’s gone but his show and comedy will continue with someone else doing it! but in fact it didn’t. Just as in politics, in show biz someone who brings something personal to the table takes a lot of that something from the table when they leave the scene.

Kovaks was a HUGE influence on many comedians who later used irony in their comedy. His show was not typical 1950s-1960s adapted vaudeville, or adapted radio, or adapted night club comedy. It was highly visual, used existing television technology (and tried to expand it) took its time to build to a punch line, and was filled with irony and shocking-for-its time black humor. His death was a loss to the comedy world and if he is not totally forgotten today, he is barely known (at all) among many young students and consumers of comedy.

Here are two samples of his work. First, this calssic Dutch Masters commercial, written and starring Ernie. Aside from the fact it advertises tobacco, you could not see something like this on TV today:

Kovaks loved to experiment with visuals and ancient and bad music (he was a 1960s Dr. Demento), as well as zippy catchy music. Look at this almost surrealistic, famous, partly-silent skit that he taped on a tilted set — complete with sound effects, old music, and visuals (be sure to watch it after it ends since there is another cigar commercial).

A Kovaks show was written and directed (including camera angles) by Kovaks and starring Kovaks, so when his life ended on that road in 1962, he was gone from the scene in more ways than one. FOOTNOTE: He was way ahead of his time and did his comedy in his own universe at his own pace. So when you view it today, some holds up, some doesn’t, and some is puzzling — but Kovaks never meant his comedy to be like anyone else’s.