The Comedy Couch: DON RICKLES

Guy MacPherson: Even though the insults seem to the untrained ear scattershot, there is a philosophy behind a successful insult, isn't there?

Don Rickles: Well, I believe so because it shows my heart and soul. It's really not an insult. They gave it the word insult. Milton Berle gave me that many, many years ago and it always stuck with me. But it's not insult. Let me put it to you this way: I'm the guy that makes fun of the boss at the Christmas party on Friday night and Monday still has his job. It's never mean-spirited. And it's a matter of exaggerating people and things around us. My father had that gift, but he was an insurance man and never became a comedian. But when you see me perform you'll understand that my heart's in the right place. I've never had, to my knowledge, anybody — in my beginnings, oh sure — but today anybody that comes to see me... When you're selling yourself, Guy, you can't always win. But today, the majority of people that see me know after my performance where I come from.

GM: Were any of your jabs ever taken the wrong way by a celebrity?

DR: I'm sure somebody has. As I said, when you stand on the stage and you sell yourself, not everybody's going to love you. When you're an insurance man and you sell insurance, not everybody's always going to buy your policy. Because a lot of it has to do with selling yourself. And so there's somebody, as soon as I walk on the stage, who'll say, "I don't like this guy." I'm sure somebody in the world didn't love Bob Hope, although I can't see how that could happen. But with the style I do, I'm sure there's somebody that says, "I'm not crazy about him." But thank God the majority is on my side.

The Comedy Couch: DON RICKLES / by Guy MacPherson / October 6, 2006