Name: Juggler/Comic Michael Davis Collection on Letterman, 1983-86
Uploaded: 2018-05-25T03:17:14.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Juggler/Comic Michael Davis Collection on Letterman, 1983-86' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2018-05-25. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Juggler/Comic Michael Davis Collection on Letterman, 1983-86' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2018-05-25. Transcript available.

Juggler/Comic Michael Davis Collection on Letterman, 1983-86

Thank you very much, folks.
My next guest is a terrific juggler, a prolific songwriter,
and a talented actor and a very funny stand-up comedian.
He is currently touring the country with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller.
No show, they're just the three of them traveling.
No, they're appearing, you're going from Motel 6 to Motel 6.
They're appearing, of course, in Sugar Babies.
Please welcome Mr. Michael Davis.
Thank you. I'm Michael Davis.
Thank you.
The first thing I'd like to do is a very simple hat trick.
Find out if you like these kinds of tricks.
Okay, one more time since you liked it that much.
I didn't think it was that good, but you're the audience.
Maybe this is the last time because we're...
Maybe not.
Now I'll go on to something more difficult.
You see, the shorter an object is, the more difficult it becomes to balance.
I think you can see how much shorter this ball is than this hat.
It's going to be a long show.
I'd like you to imagine I could toss the ball into the air, catch it on my nose,
and balance it.
While you're imagining that...
If I could do this, you would remember me.
It's kind of windy in here.
I think you'll remember me now.
It's a gimmick.
Cheap trick.
I've been expanding my horizons.
I'd like to share this with you now.
Thank you.
When I was a single man,
every night I had a strange girl.
When I was a single man,
every night I had a strange girl.
She told me that she liked my eyes, and then one night she took them home.
She told me that she liked my eyes, and then one night she took them home.
I know that I will never find another girl with eyes like mine.
"I know that I will never find another girl with eyes like mine."
"The moral of the story's clear."
"The moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"The moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"The girl is gone without a trace. I'm lonely, but I'm saving face."
"The moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"It's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"It's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"It's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"It's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"It's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"And it's the moral of the story's clear, think twice before you lend an ear."
"Oh, help, I'm flying away."
"I think that whether you like songs like that depends on your attitude and
your point of view."
"And when you think about it, your whole life is an attitude."
"Conversely, death must be an attitude, a bad attitude."
I'd like to end with a song about attitude and point of view.
"Well, the man said to God, 'What's a million years to you?'"
"And God said, 'A second'
"So the man said to God, 'What's a million dollars to you?'"
"And God said to God, 'What's a million dollars to you?'"
"And God said, 'A penny'
"So the man said to God, 'Would you give me a penny?'"
"And God stopped and said, 'Yes, I will.'
"So the man said to God, 'What's a million dollars to you?'"
"And God said to God, 'That's a million dollars to you.'
"And God said to God, 'That's a million dollars to you?'"
"And God said to God, 'That's a million dollars to you."
"Yes, I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will."
Very nice. Michael Davis. Tell me about, now, are you dating a lot? Is this
song that, in any way, does that reflect anything that's actually happening in
your life?
"Yes, I am dating. Since I moved to New York, I decided to date women that live
in New York."
"Uh-huh."
"It's easier that way, but the problem with women here in New York is they're
very career oriented."
"I was dating one woman who was a writer for Cosmopolitan magazine. She was
writing an article on how to use and degrade a man
and not feel bad about it."
"I was just helping with the research, really."
"Let me ask you about, I mentioned that you're traveling the country with Ann
Miller and Mickey Rooney."
"That's right. I'm not in New York right now. I'm in Pittsburgh."
"You're somewhere else, in Pittsburgh."
"I'm in Pittsburgh."
"How are things going there?"
"Better than here."
"No, things are going fine here."
"Things are going good."
"Now, what is it like, what, you got a big van or a station wagon, the three of
you?"
"Ann and Mickey and her."
"Yeah, yeah."
"We stick them in the trunk and Ann drives."
"What is she like?"
"Ann is a great lady."
"I love Ann Miller."
"She's a modern day, what Burns, Gracie Allen."
"She's just like Gracie Allen."
"Someone asked Ann Miller, 'What are you doing for Passover?'"
"She said, 'I don't do those game shows anymore."
"Yeah."
"She's a great lady. I like Mickey."
"I like Mickey too."
"Now, what about Mickey Rooney? What kind of man is he?"
"I'm just glad he's not taller."
"He's a living legend. He's an amazing man. He's an amazing man to watch every
night, do his act."
"Nice guy?"
"Yeah, yeah, he's a nice guy."
"Do you mind doing some juggling?"
"I want to keep in Sugar Babies."
"Do you mind doing some juggling for us, Michael?"
"No."
"Did I ever explain to you my philosophy about the art of juggling?"
"No, sir."
"No, I never did."
"No, you never did."
"So, I have an unusual philosophy. I don't think it's important how many."
"Of course, the problem is how to get an audience to agree with that philosophy."
"I've found that you have to do a trick with style."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Two balls are many more possibilities."
"Take away one hand to make it simpler."
"Now, the truly masterful juggler can even look away."
"One who practiced can even glance around the theater."
"Save it up."
"Now, you may wonder, why did I throw that ball down?"
"I'm wondering that, too."
"Go ahead, you can throw it back."
"There are people in the studio right now."
"That's why, so I can show you that trick."
"How can we add even more excitement to this?"
"What I'll try to do is look away."
"Grab another ball."
"Now watch as I place the ball into the pattern."
End of the pattern.
No, no.
I'm teasing.
I wouldn't take these two balls out and show them without using them.
Get rid of those, please.
Seriously.
One, two, three, four.
Five balls up in the air at one time.
More than five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
The eyeball.
Makes eight altogether.
But why bore you with my problems?
Here we go.
Eyeball juggling.
Ending my catching a ball on the back of my neck.
The neck catch.
Ready, man?
Thank you.
All right, we're going to go our way and we'll be right back.
Great.
And once again, sad news to George Meyer fans.
It looks like George Meyer, staff writer and crime fighter, will not be on
tonight.
Please, please.
We'll reschedule Mr. Meyer.
You have a very impressive act.
You not only can juggle well, perhaps the best I've seen.
Not that I've seen jugglers.
Not that I've seen jugglers.
And you play the guitar, you sing, and you're a very funny comedian.
Not that I've seen jugglers.
Thank you, Dave.
Thank you, Dave.
Thank you, Dave.
I'm very impressed.
Thank you.
Thank you, Dave.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You don't want to encourage me.
Sad news to George Meyer fans.
It looks like George Meyer, staff writer and crime fighter, will not be on
tonight.
Please, please.
We'll reschedule Mr. Meyer.
You have a very impressive act.
You not only can juggle well, perhaps the best I've seen, not that I've seen jugglers,
and you play the guitar, you sing, and you're a very funny comedian.
Thank you, Dave.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
You don't want to encourage me.
And, go ahead.
Well, I've had a very varied career, you might say.
I started out as a writing poetry in high school.
There's good money in that.
Actually, there was a lot of laughs in it, because that's what people did when
I read it.
That's what first got me interested in being a comedian and laughter.
I tried to be an actor after that.
I was an actor in high school, out of high school, into an improv troupe.
I did that for a while, and backstage I was learning how to juggle.
So then when I went into the circus...
You were actually in the circus?
I was actually in the circus.
I was a geek in a former...
But not a geek in the traditional sense of the word.
No, I was a circus clown.
I was a white-faced clown.
Did you travel by train and bad hotels and so forth?
Just lived on the train for a year.
I had a room that was the size of this desk, right here.
In fact, a friend of mine who was...
The rooms were exactly six feet long, and a friend of mine who was 6'2".
There was a midget on the other side of him, so they just cut a hole in his
wall, and he stuck his feet through into the midget's room.
The midget's rooms were shorter.
Oh, nice.
Do circus performers earn a good living?
$150 a week.
That's what I made.
Now, what about...
Better than people in Pittsburgh.
Well, I'm just...
It's a depressed economy, folks.
What are you talking about?
You have a job.
You're lucky.
What about the other end of the scale?
The star performer, the circus, whoever that might be, whomever that might be.
Well, it's...
Circus is a very old world.
They don't go into the circus world to make a lot of money.
No, I would probably...
That makes sense.
You go in because you were raised around lions and tigers, or you don't know
how to do anything else.
Are a lot of people raised around lions and tigers, as it turns out?
Just circus people.
That's the way it is.
I'm happy you could be here tonight.
I know you...
Are you going now to Pittsburgh?
I'm going tomorrow to do the National Association of Colleges Conventions, to
perform for colleges.
And then back into Sugar Babies.
Back into Sugar Babies.
Nice to see you, Michael.
Thank you very much for being here.
Continued success to you, sir.
We'll be right back, folks.
Okay.
We're out of time.
I want to thank everybody in the studio audience.
You folks are terrific again.
My thanks to Viva and her daughter, Alexander.
Mr. Michael Davis.
Michael, thank you for being here.
George Meyer, staff writer and crime cutter, will be rescheduled.
Check your local listings for that.
My thanks to Paul Schaefer and the band, Hiram Bullock, Will Lee, and Steve
Jordan.
And Monday, Sly Stone and Sandra Bernhardt from King of Comedy.
Good night.
Have a good weekend.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My next guest is an actor, a comedian, a magician, a juggler, and he also rides
to work with Clive Barnes.
He is a very talented human being.
He'll be appearing through Sunday night at Caroline's here in New York City.
Please welcome Michael Davis.
Oh, property?
Well, you know, I didn't notice that.
That's right.
Property of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
Yes.
Because I have a degree from this institution.
I know that.
I was performing there.
For homecoming?
For homecoming?
Yeah.
It's a gig that you did a few years before I did it.
It's a beautiful auditorium, isn't it?
Yes.
As a matter of fact, the guy who manages the auditorium remembered you and told
me that when you came there to perform, he wrote your first joke for you.
Yeah, he gave me a line as I was going on stage. I can't remember it exactly,
but it was something about...
The only thing he told me was, it's not often, Dave, when a student can come
back and earn his entire tuition in one night.
Yeah, that's right.
That was the one.
It was pretty well received, as a matter of fact.
Speaking of gigs, is it true now you're going to be appearing at the White
House?
This will be twice for you, isn't it?
This, I performed 