I will miss Louie Anderson

I first met Louie Anderson at the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard in 1986. I had just come offstage after an audition set and he was sitting with club owner Mitzi Shore.

I was invited to join them and it was one of those moments you dream of as a comedian. Louie told me how much he enjoyed my work and Mitzi told me, that despite the fact that I lived in NYC, that she welcomed me as a regular at the club.

Less than a year later, I had decided to live half of the time in LA and half in NYC. The Comedy Store had a comedy room at the Dunes in Las Vegas. I was booked there with John Mendoza, Larry Amoros, the comedy team of Licassi and Siegel and Glenn “Mr Bullhorn” Super. As a result of that week, John, Larry and I became very close. We actually started to tour together.

While in Vegas, we went to meet up with Louie who was headlining one of the casinos and the four of us had a great night, just sharing stories and laughing our asses off. It was nice spending that much time with someone who I looked up to. Yet feeling like I was one of the gang.

Back at The Comedy Store, I spent a lot of time onstage and learning from the greats. One Monday night, Louie came up to me and introduced me to Roseanne Barr who was hotter than a pistol. She was hilarious and wildly popular. Louie asked me for her if I didn’t mind letting her go onstage in front of me to work on a quick ten minute set. “Did I mind? Of course not!!!” Usually the famous comedians just go on and tell the youngins that they are on gonna go on next. I thought it was so flattering that Louie came and asked me, on her behalf. She ended up doing 45 minutes and crushing it, closing with the statement that all male comics talk about their penis and put a period on it with a literal mic drop. Hard to follow. Yet I did by coming out and picking the mic off the floor and telling the audience that now it was time to talk about my cock!

Big laugh. Louie apologized to me for her. I told him it was all part of the growth of being a comedian. It just showed how much he cared.

Louie was always such a great performer and comedian. His comedy at the beginning of his career was mostly about his weight. He was still hilarious, yet he was kind of making fun of himself before others could do so.

I am not sure when, but in subsequent performances, Louie started talking about deeper and darker stuff onstage. He was so incredibly vulnerable and powerful. The combination of smart and silly. And it was compelling.

I got to do Louie’s HBO Comedy Showcase TV show in 1996. Although I had done some television, his show was by far my best up until that point. He made sure that everyone was taken good care of, and that we were treated with respect. And that ‘lack of a diva’ production made for our best performances.

One day, I got a piece of mail from Louie. I opened it up and there was a round-trip air ticket from Northwest Airlines. It was valid for a year and was good for wherever they flew. I called Louie and asked him what it was about. He said he had just done a corporate show for the airline and in addition to his pay and perks, they gave him ten tickets. He said, since he never has to pay for airplane tickets because all of his gigs had to pay for him to fly, he had sent the tickets to ten of his friends. WOO HOO!!!

My nephew was a huge fan of his animated show, “Life With Louie.” When I shared this with Louie, less than a week later, he sent a huge carton of swag from the show to my nephew. T-shirts, watches, posters and enough goodies to share with all of his friends.

Every time I had a project or a gig, I would offer it to him. He was always money in the bank and a huge crowd pleaser. Yet with bite and authenticity.

I was one of the architects of the Great American Comedy Festival in Nebraska that honors the legendary Johnny Carson. One of my main goals for the festival, like Johnny, was to book the brightest and hardest working group of comics. The smart, edgy ones like Johnny had on his Tonight Show. There were always young comics who I could tell were going to have a big career, that I booked with pros who had been doing it for years. Showing these young comics that they belonged in this same group. That they all had that somethin’ somethin’ no matter how many years of experience they had under their belt. Giving them a confidence that they were in that one percentile. And belonged. You can see how that lifted them up and made them take their game to the next level.

I also booked pros who were household names and loved giving advice to young comics and were keen on doing so. Louie, Robert Klein, Cloris Leachman, Dick Cavett, David Brenner, Paula Poundstone, Caroline Rhea, Fred Willard, Wendy Liebman, Jake Johannsen, Steven Wright, Larry Miller, Martin Short, Tony V, David Steinberg, and so many others.

Louie was so popular, he was the rare comic I brought back twice.

Louie was always funny and kind. Wildly generous and someone to root for.

His Emmy for his role on the phenomenal show “Baskets” was huge for Louie and the comedy community. Because of his generosity of spirit, we all felt like we won with him.

Louie and I both have had weight issues in life. I ended up learning a lot about the mental side of being a compulsive eater and I turned him onto Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida. Louie took to that lifestyle and it helped him to get healthier. He went to HHI and learned a lot about how the body works. That’s when he went to intermittent fasting and started to lose weight and feel stronger.

But it is a constant battle and a war where the negative side is doing “push-ups” and trying to beat you down.

I loved and adored Louie and I knew he loved me back. He made me and everyone around him a better person. He always gave advice and love. He also was hilarious and slayed audiences everywhere he went. He never stopped working at his craft and he was an inspiration to thousands of comedians.

I will miss him.