Staff Favorite Moments: Head Writer James Downey | Letterman
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- Опубликовано: 9 май 2022
- The "Late Night" head writer remembers camping with Barry White, the pirates skit that bombed, the world's largest vase and more.
#JamesDowney #Pirates #Letterman
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Welcome to the Letterman RUclips Channel, home to all your favorite clips from Late Night and Late Show - as well as conversations with the writers, producers and performers who helped make it all happen. These highlights have been artisanly-produced, carefully-curated, and chosen completely at random by an old computer that used to pick numbers for the New York Lotto back in the 90’s. 
Развлечения
Internet is extremely lacking in James Downy content.
Here here!
Y E S ! ! !
Or Jim Downey!
He is interviewed by Dana Carvey and David Spade on the Fly on the Wall podcast.
I know! I’ve googled my ass off and there’s nothing. I’m dying to see an interview of him from the 80s or something but I don’t think they exist. I guess he just wasn’t known then.
Barry White: I don't wanna die, Dave...
That never stops being funny.
David, my leg, I think it’s broken
@@229BlackHat 🤣
😂
The please after Dave advises to get Barry White to a doctor kills me every time
The world needs the World's Largest Vase and its message of unity now more than ever.
Can we avoid the hard linoleum of doom?
Jim Downey. Holy hell. Genius beyond genius in the world of comedy. The Harvard Lampoon alum who blazed the trail from Cambridge to Hollywood. FUN TRIVIA: He provided the voice for Hercules in the fantastic IL RETURNO DE HERCULES sketch on SNL and provided that very same voice for James Hong in WAYNE'S WORLD 2. He was also the news vendor telling White Guy Eddie Murphy to "Go on...take it!" with the newspaper because white people give things to each other. Oh, and he was Norm Macdonald's other brain in writing Weekend Update.
You left off a couple of his most notable contributions: the "everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it" speech from Billy Madison (ruclips.net/video/LQCU36pkH7c/видео.html), and playing Andy Samberg's dad, who was having an affair with Jonah Hill (ruclips.net/video/WvUHatIyKR4/видео.html).
And his bits as the wistful homeless guy in Dirty Work were great as well.
And yeah, his role in Billy Madison... "if there are any attempts to cheat.... especially with my wife..."
I had no idea he was the dubbed voice of Wayne's father-in-law, that's amazing
Glad you mentioned Norm Macdonald. I just finished his brilliantly absurdist autobiography, wherein he praises Jim Downey as an absolute comedy writing genius.
Barry adding "please" after "get Barry White to the hospital" is comedy gold.
The deep line from Barry "I don't want to die Dave" was amazing.
I laughed my face off. So good.
Can I go back to being a child staying up every night to watch Letterman? That’d be a dream come true
Yes, you can.
Mostly a writer but James had some great on screen moments in Dirty Work and Billy Madison. Just a straight up legend.
He's great in There Will Be Blood too.
‘The plank is NOT going to break.” I loved this line by Steve ODonnell. Tough crowd that night.
Downey is not only an all time comedy writer but also a great story teller.
On our show we refer to the first couple years of Late Night as the lower levels of the Letterman pyramid that would be built. It’s clear the foundation built during the point in time was not only solid, but unbreakable; the fact that 40 years later this content holds up is a remarkable testament.
That whole bit with Barry White is like something that would've been on SCTV 😄
"David. My leg. I think it's broken."
The Fishin' Musician!
I did a gut-busting laugh when he mentioned the late Calvert DeForest, then paused and asked if he was actually dead. And not wanting to be wrong about it said " I believe...I hope." LMFAO.
Makers of this channel need to get the word out.. Because snippets from James Downey and his ilk are priceless.. So amazing to see and enjoyable!
Jim has been at the forefront of comedy writing for 50 years. Legend.
Not only is he top dog, every single one of the lesser-thans got there by having had worked with Jim.
If you listen to Conan's podcast, he'll gush about Jim Downey at any chance he can get. It's clear he's a legend in the world of TV comedy writers.
He wrote some of the best SNL skits.
@@Rob_Kates Change Bank. Might be my favorite all-time SNL remote.
These are so funny !
@@leonardstilwell1894 "We can do that".
@@debschaefer7820 Always made me feel more empowered to ask the bank for a dollar in nickels.
Mr. Downey's delight, even at the bits that other staffers wrote, really made me happy.
For sure. The pride in being a part of this show is evident.
"Barry White has just been bitten by a Northern Copperhead." Another great segment on this brilliant channel.
This man is pure comic genius. Thanks for this!
He's absolutely one of the best. I don't use the word Legend lightly.. But he's up there, if not there already!
Lee Majors transition from 6 million dollar man to the fall guy as a metaphor for life 🤔
this pirates bit may be one of my favorite sketches of all time
“ the hard linoleum of doom”
Beware!
The best thing in these video is the classic bits and Jim Downey laughing as he remembers it 😊
That was great - the folks involved have been doing a good job with the channel.
Tell the folks at home how the folks involved have been doing a good job...
I hope that we as a civilization can all come together in the way that giant vase said. That's a smart vase. And his owner is a good wrestling coach.
The Great James Downey
All of this stuff has been stored in my brain for decades, forgotten until now!
“Here’s a chimp that lives in Washington. Hah. You know that will be a good one.” 😂😂
Good lord was Letterman driven early on to push comedy to a new level 🙂"Camping with Barry White" is phenomenal, surprised I've never heard of it until now, been a fan forever (but born in the middle of the first late night show).
By the time he got to CBS all the good years were behind him unfortunately many of the writers that made gold already left
Dave was the BEST. He took his obvious adoration for Carson and ran with it and eventually exceeded him by a mile Fortunately he had a talent for finding and hiring great writers, like Downey here, and taking the brilliant stuff they came up with and making it HILARIOUS, night after night. Man, I don't think I ever missed a Dave show.
I love subtle and unintended touches, and the scene in "They Took My Show Away" where the kid accidentally rips the TV Guide in a way that leaves the cover visible and flapping in the wind (1:45 mark) cracks me up.
Yes! Genius!
Here's one...Manimal!
Later when that show got cancelled they had a memoriam to Manimal which was hilarious.
It is pretty obvious that Barry White had a really good sense of humor.
Whenever he was on the show it was great and a lot of fun.
Loved Barry's top ten list. "Big Assss Ham."
I felt the same way as Little Jimmy about Voyagers. 😥
AT the time, 1983, F Lee Bailey was the host of a short-live, syndicated TV show called Lie Detector.
"lived" for God's sakes.
"We will give you the change equal to the money you needed change for"
With his philosophy on bombing, it makes a lot of sense why he vibes so well with Norm McDonald
If only we’d listened to the worlds largest vase
Dave admonishing the youngster’s threat to “Never watch TV again!”😂😂😂😂😂”Jimmy!!! Don’t ever say that!”
"Not even as a joke."
@@allendracabal0819 😂😂😂
The World's Largest Vase thing is absolutely fucking hilarious 😂
I remember these. Good times. I miss Dave.
"They Took My Show Away" and "Camping with Barry White" are of my (many) favorite pieces from this show. And "a nightmarish carnival of mayhem" in my everyday vocabulary.
"I don't wanna die, Dave" always takes me right out.
Good to see a young Conan in the first sketch
That vase would be about 120 years old now if it is still around. I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Downey is on the late night writer Mount Rushmore. What a legend
Just listened to your Fly On The Wall appearance with Carvey/Spade.. Really fantastic stories.. Nice to see this as well. You've done a lot!
Me too, just this morning!
The pirates are very matter of fact, what are you doing? Oh sorry we’re just going to take this ship to x marks and then send Charles to a watery grave. ,:-0
It is going to be an agonising death for him, once we take him to the spot after some sailing and he is sinking it will be unpleasant yet pleasant for us pirates to know thy mission is accomplished. ,:-0
just relistened to Jim's Conan podcast and I haven't laughed at a podcast that many times and that hard ever. Jim's a jem
the financer?
Dave will always be the King!
Jim Downey will always be my 2nd favorite world's largest vase.
Long time Late Nite fan. Never thought too much about who wrote his funny skits and bits of business. I love 💕 this former writer. I’d like to have coffee with him sometime.
Barry White attacked by a snake? That's like the opposite of what you should post on Whacking Day.
Great, thank you!
This was a good one! Also, I loved having the whole outro at the end.
Agree 100%!
I feel they need to just show all of these on late night t.v. So many people would quickly tune in. They could just play these made for you tube videos. Not Any extra work. The could call it THE GENUIS OF THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW. THE FIRST ONE.
WOW! These were all my favorites.
That pirate torture & death bit was hilarious. Ahead of its time, perhaps.
Sublime
MANIMAL!!!
I'd go camping with Barry White.
Imagine him reading you a bedtime story...
Alright, alright,alright , says someone!!❤️🇨🇦❤️
Well, I suppose it would be quiet.
Should have snatched his Late Night paycheck while I had a chance…
GREAT WRITER.
Hey do you fine people have any reruns of the original Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, being a Worldwide Pants production? I loved that show.
So funny that the writers were laughing about that book, letters to E.T. 😜🤓
Fun fact: the red head boy who plays Jimmy was Conan O’Brien
I always watch watch these to very end hoping to hear Hiram Bullock playing. What a monster.
DAVID MY LEGGG
Jim awards us no points, and may God have mercy on our souls.
His greatest performance
As echoed by others great to see a true legend here. Interesting to see the fate of the Paul Zimmerman episode repeated here, which also featured actor Klaus Kinski. Mr. Zimmerman wrote a number of the early "Sesame Street" shows before "The King of Comedy" was produced (about a decade after he had written it). Sadly he passed away quite young, about ten years after his appearance on the show.
I believe the Paul Zimmermam appearance is available on another YT channel.
The sillier the better😅
GOAT
I always get a kick out of people who have the first name “F.”😅
You guys should do one with Bill Scheft, too.
No doubt that will be forthcoming.
Dave avoided anything that verged on acting?! That's crazy because all of Dave's best bits back then seemed to be when he was killing it as an actor. I'm sure all the writers saw this, too, and it must have driven them insane apart from making their jobs easier.
I wonder if this is why Barry White is also in the snake-whacking episode of The Simpsons....
Manimal was a real show and my 9 year old self loved it! He could turn into all sorts of animals. And it was real dramatic when he would morph. They’d play this funky 80’s synth music and do all this make up. I wish I was watching it right now! That ape show was a joke tho.
Why is his video in black and white?
17:58 Go Cyclones! God Bless Coach Nichols.
I liked Voyagers, too.
Who didn’t?
conan was so young when he played jimmy...
Bermuda!
May God have mercy on your soul, Jim Downey.
That kid looks like Conan! 😂
For the gods sakes, please, Don’t blame Conan!
I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Touch your screen and go to settings, change speed to 1.75, hilarious.
Fantastic. Now, I need to break out my Alvin and the Chipmunks records!
as i recall, they stopped voyagers because the lead guy killed himself playing russian roulette. i was sad too kid, i liked that show
No, Hexum died on the set of a different show a year later. He was clowning with a prop gun that fired powerful blanks.
Are James & Jim Downey related??
This is the Principal of Knibb High School?
I never knew the World's Largest Vase married common street trash.
26:08 Daniel Stern?
Yeah, he was a guest that night and became involved in the skit.
It's weird, James Downey looked a lot younger forty years ago.
Voyagers was great. Surprised they haven’t tried a reboot. Actually the premise was ensuring history happened the way it was supposed to. Nowadays they just rewrite history.
BUT WHO WILL CLOSE THE DOORKNOB GAP?!
He worked at the late show/letterman longer than that... right?
No, he didn’t. He still had a decent influence on the early years of the show however
I remember that hilariously awful pirate bit.
When the hell did Jim Downey become an old guy?
Right? Makes me feel old
Why did he leave?
Fun fact: Jimmy was played by a young Conan Obrien.
Conan was 20 the year this aired.
It was Chris Elliott.
That was me. I am writing this from prison. Shortly after this afterschool special I turned to a life of crime, subsequently convicted of multiple homicides with 17 consecutive life sentences. That fame really went to my head. 😢
If I went camping with Barry White and he was bitten by a snake.... he's not gonna make it.
At the end, they shoulda had somebody accidentally knock over the vase.
I wonder what young Billy Heiser is doing today....
Jim is pretty low key.
Jim Downey is one of the funniest writers in the history of television, but it's kind of mind blowing that he isn't all that funny in real life. Like I'm sure the guy can crack a joke, but for someone who's such a genius at putting pen to paper, I'm just surprised that he doesn't really have the "comedian" kind of humor about him. That's fascinating to me.
Not a performer. Different skill set.
Jim seemed affable and friendly. That is enough to carry a conversation.
@@ownpetard8379 Very true! Not to mention one of the most insightful guys in the business.
I just found out Jim Downey passed away last month. RIP Legend.
Odd, he was just on Conan Needs a Friend.
He's not dead