Name: Celebrity Brush With Robert Redford | David Letterman
Uploaded: 2025-09-17T20:55:16.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Celebrity Brush With Robert Redford | David Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-09-17. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Celebrity Brush With Robert Redford | David Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-09-17. Transcript available.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a brand new year, and we have a brand new show, and
it's very exciting.
It's going to be different. It's going to be fresh. We have a wonderful...
Wait a second. Hold it. Wait a minute. Wait a second.
Yes, Paul.
Listen, you know, I know you get all excited about this new year thing and
everything.
It's wonderful, but let's be realistic.
It's the same studio. It's the same format.
Right.
No offense. It's the same jokes.
It's the same show. It's late night.
No, no, no, no, no. See, that's where you're wrong, Paul.
It's not late night. It's not late night. It's late night 87.
Thank you. Thank you. That's right.
So, in other words...
You're saying the old late night is dead.
That's right. Brand new show, brand new ball game.
Well, that's fabulous. You know, I got to say, I'm excited.
You know, when the TV show James at 15 changed its name to James at 16...
Uh-huh, right.
That, that is the excitement, the feeling of excitement that I'm feeling.
That's good, because, Paul, tonight, we're going to kick off late night 87 with
a segment that is even better,
better than the old brush with greatness.
Better!
Better!
You're saying then, better than the old.
Better than brush with greatness.
That's right, Paul. Brush with greatness, 87.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We're going to visit with various members of our studio audience, and they're
going to tell us about encounters with famous people.
By the way, Paul, I thought our first little skit of the new year went pretty
well, didn't you?
Was that it, just there?
Yeah, yeah, I enjoyed that.
I, I, I liked your energy. I thought you did a very nice job.
Thank you. I'm trying. It's a new year and everything.
Yeah.
Is there a Jonathan Epstein with us, a Mr. Jonathan Epstein?
Hi, Jonathan. Nice to see you.
How are you?
Okay.
Where, where are you from, Jonathan?
I'm from New York.
Do you know all of these people?
Uh, not really.
Yeah, where are you from?
I'm from Yorktown Heights, New York, Westchester County.
And, uh, are you a student? Do you have a job, or both?
Uh, I'm a student at the University of Rochester.
Huh? What are you studying?
I'm a biology major right now.
Uh-huh. And, uh, when you graduate, what do you want to do with that degree?
Uh, hopefully something in the field of medicine.
Yeah.
You seem uncertain about that.
Uh, definitely something in the field of medicine.
Uh-huh. What, like research?
Uh, research, surgery, I'm not really sure yet.
Research or surgery, you're not really sure.
My gosh, Jonathan.
Okay, uh, tell us about your encounter with a famous person.
This is Brush With Greatness. You know how that works, don't you?
Uh-huh.
Well, about a month ago, um, I was on a plane flight to Rochester, and I sat
next to the professional bowler Nelson Burton, Jr.
Nelson Burton, Jr., yeah.
Who is, you know, who is an announcer on another network.
Yeah, on ABC.
He covers their bowling tour for ABC.
Uh-huh, and we talked about sports, and we talked about a little bit of bowling,
and a little bit about swimming.
He was familiar with the University of Rochester, and they have a very good-
Powerhouse swimming team.
Yes, yeah.
Powerhouse.
Good facilities.
Uh-huh.
And, uh, when he left, he said, uh, I'll see you in January.
Uh-huh.
And that was about it.
Did you see him in January?
Uh, not yet.
Uh-huh.
All right.
And as we frequently do, we have embellishments, and I believe tonight we're
using the writer's embellishments, 87.
Okay, uh, Jonathan, go ahead.
Tell us there what happened after that.
The next thing we heard was the anxious voice of a stewardess over the intercom,
asking if there were any professional bowlers on board.
Nelson and I headed for the cockpit, where our pilot had accidentally hyperventilated
himself into unconsciousness.
Uh-huh.
As calmly as making a 7-10 split, Nelson guided the plane down to a perfect
landing, ironically, on top of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, our
most famous bowling president.
All right, I believe that, is Larry here or not?
There's Larry.
Send him out here.
Do we have a little something for you, Jonathan, for me?
Come on, Larry.
Do you have something for Jonathan?
Home.
It's a pocket comb, isn't it?
Pocket comb.
Pocket comb.
Thank you very much, Jonathan.
Nice meeting you.
Have a good year.
Thank you, sir.
Take care.
By the way, Paul, later asked me about my flight yesterday from California.
Oh, I will.
It was horrible.
Was your flight all right?
My flight was uneventful.
I got to hear about yours, but I'll ask you later.
We just got beaten silly on this thing.
It was very unpleasant.
What could have happened?
And the plane, listen to this.
It was raining yesterday in Los Angeles, like the first time since 53, I
believe.
And so the plane is leaking.
Now, is that a good sign?
And then when we take off, it was just like we were just getting, you know,
shaken pretty
badly.
By the way, Dave.
Huh?
Do you still think we shouldn't play the music for the new 87 music during this
particular
segment?
No, no, no.
We don't want to disturb the purity of this segment.
All right.
Is there a Ted Donnelly with us tonight?
Ted Donnelly.
Hi, Ted.
Nice to see you.
Nice to meet you.
How are you?
All right.
Ted.
I'm from Massapequa, Long Island.
Massapequa.
You work in the city, do you?
No, I don't.
Do you have a birthday coming up or an anniversary or something?
Unfortunately, only three more months.
Three more months for a birthday?
Yeah.
And you know what would be a really good gift for this man if you're out there
looking in
and you think, what can we get him?
A glasses case.
Okay, Ted.
Tell me about your brush with greatness.
Well, I was currently.
I shouldn't say I was currently.
Well, say whatever you want.
Okay.
I was a pin chaser at a place called Piquo Bowl on the ground.
I'm sure you were a pin?
A pin chaser.
A pin chaser, meaning you retrieve errant pins.
Exactly.
Okay.
Okay.
And what we do is when the Pro Bowlers tour is in town, after the pros.
When does that happen exactly?
Well, you can't get a room in this city when it does, by the way.
When the Firestone passes through, they go throughout the country in major
bowling centers,
which I was not in one.
We were in a very small bowling center.
And what happens is after the bowlers bowl for their small money,
they come to a small proprietor like this, and they lock the doors,
and they bowl for, you know, funds between themselves.
Oh, I see.
A little gaming among the competitors.
A little gaming.
Yeah.
And I was down there keeping score for a gentleman named Norm Duke,
who's on the Pro Bowler store.
And they like to play a game.
They like to see how much they can drink and how much they can bowl and still
stay on the lanes.
And if they lose money there, they like to go down to the bowling center and to
the bar
and see if they can make more money back at pool.
Now, let me get this straight.
You're telling me that bowlers like to drink?
Oh, absolutely.
Okay.
Absolutely.
All right.
Now, is that the extent of this story, Ted?
I think so.
All right.
Do we have the embellishment there?
Oh, sure we do.
All right.
Oh, by the way, this is the embellishment 87.
There it is.
Stop it.
Stop it.
Okay.
Later, I was setting pins again, and the reset machine on lane 27 went haywire.
I was about to be turned into hamburger when quick-thinking Norm Duke hurled
his 16-pound
Brunswick bomber at the main power box.
He saved my life, and for that, I treated him to a plate of fries at the snack
bar.
Larry, come on up.
Ted, nice meeting you.
Thank you very much for your help.
Come on, Larry.
Do you have something?
Thank you, sir.
Pocket cup.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
We have time for one more of these?
Larry, don't go down there.
It takes too far, too long to get back up here.
Just stand up here with me.
Come on.
Come on up here and stand with me.
Is there a Kathy Morgan with us tonight?
Kathy?
Kathy?
Kathy?
Hi, Kathy.
How are you?
Nice to see you.
Kathy, where are you from?
Come on.
Larry, come up here.
Just stand right here.
Did you have a good New Year's Eve?
Very nice.
Yeah.
The holidays are all right?
Yes.
Okay, good.
Yes, Kathy, go ahead.
Where are you from?
Sacramento, California.
That's the state capital.
That's somewhere.
The golden state.
Absolutely.
And what do you do there?
I'm a teacher at Luther Burbank Senior High School, and we'll be celebrating
our 25th anniversary.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
And Luther Burbank Senior High School, and Luther Burbank is the father of horticulture,
I think.
The father of modern, modern something, cross-pollinization?
Yes.
We'll find out.
You know Luther Burbank.
Of course.
All right, Kathy, tell me about your brush with greatness.
Well, I was skiing in Vail in 82, and I stopped to take a break, and I went
into a concession
stand there, and I was reaching for some chewing gum, and at the same time,
another gentleman's
hand touched mine.
It was Robert Redford's.
Okay, Kathy, then what happened?
Well, do I read the embellishment now?
Well, yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
There we go.
There we go.
Then Mr. Redford bragged that he could chew the entire jumbo pack of gum at
once.
He recklessly stuffed a dozen sticks in his mouth, and we watched in horror as
he started to choke.
Luckily, professional bowler Earl Anthony appeared out of nowhere to perform
the Heimlich maneuver.
Thank God.
I kept the wad of gum as a memento of a wonderful day.
Mary, do you have a gift?
Thank you very much.
Nice meeting you.
Congratulations on you being a teacher up there.
Thank you.
Thanks, Mary.
We'll be right back for Marie Osmond after this.
Thank you.