One thing that I didn't know: His brother in real life is comedian, writer and director Albert Brooks.
Yeah, Albert Brooks is really Albert Einstein. He appeared with his brother in a great scene in
Modern Romance.
One story Bob Einstein told in a couple of interviews: When Tom Smothers phoned to talk to him about working on
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Einstein thought it was a friend playing a joke on him. So when Tommy asked if he could come to his office for a meeting, Einstein said "Yeah, sorry, I can't make it, I've got a previous commitment. My uncle's a hunchback and he's straightening out that day." Who comes up with something like that?
When he did hire on with the show, he partnered with another young writer, Steve Martin.
I didn't have cable in the '80s so I picked up Super Dave from appearances on Carson and Letterman. They were always fully written segments, with video clips, some fairly silly gags or goofy jokes with long, long setups. What sold the material was the stone-faced, straighter-than-straight way he delivered everything. When the audience would laugh during the setup, Super Dave would pause and look out with a completely blank expression, as if what he was saying was the most serious thing in the world, and of course the audience would laugh even harder. How he kept from cracking all these years I'll never know.
Later on "Curb," Marty Funkhouser became one of Larry's greatest frenemies, his disagreements usually ending in a hilarious and profane tirade in that raised raspy voice.
I can think of very few people in my whole life who have made me laugh as much as Bob Einstein. Really sorry he's gone.
