On the Phone with 'Mr. Warmth'

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Comic Don Rickles talks about new best-selling book, coming back to Atlantic City

By Joe Szczechowski

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Aug. 9, 2007

You don't prepare for an interview with Don Rickles. You brace for it.

After all, this is the comedian who once greeted the affable Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show with, "Hello, dummy." The one who, upon noticing Frank Sinatra in his audience one night, quipped, "Make yourself comfortable, Frank, hit somebody." The one who sent the cast and crew of Casino into hysterics by complaining that leading man Robert De Niro was "mumbling" his lines.

But this is my second formal interview with the man who has been called "The King of Insults," and "The Merchant of Venom," so I know better. Off-stage, the nickname that fits the soft-spoken, gentlemanly Don Rickles best is the one given to him by Johnny Carson -- "Mr. Warmth."

"I'm the guy who goes to the office Christmas party on Friday and makes fun of the boss and everybody else, and Monday morning still has his job," Rickles explains. "I tell the truth and exaggerate things about people. That's what makes it funny."

Having been a successful comedian for more than 50 years, Rickles should know what is, and what isn't funny.

On the phone from his Los Angeles home, Rickles can't resist starting our conversation with a few chuckles. The 81-year-old comic legend is in top form.

"When I talk to you, Joe, I get excited. This is one of the big treats of my career," he deadpans.

"So what's new in Atlantic City?" Rickles asks. But before I can answer, he fires back, "Like I don't know ... If I work one more hotel in Atlantic City, I'm going to work the airport."

The energy in his voice is palpable. He's anxious to talk about his upcoming weekend of shows at the Atlantic City Hilton, Aug. 10 - 12, and especially about his recent bestselling memoir, Rickles' Book, which he co-authored with David Ritz.

More a series of short, chronological anecdotes than a detailed autobiography, Rickles' Book is a light, enjoyable read that captures the comedian's voice as he recalls highlights from his life and career.

Rickles says the writing process with Ritz took almost a year.

"He sat at the computer, put a microphone on me, and we'd just talk," he says. "I'd tell him different episodes, different stories, and he would type it out. He would sometimes put it in a more readable way, because he has more of a vocabulary than I ever will. Then he would print it out triple-spaced, and I would look at it and re-write by hand certain portions and stories the way I like to say them."

Rickles is proud of the book's success.

"Five weeks on the New York Times best seller list was quite a treat for me," he says. "I call myself the Jewish Mark Twain. I never wrote anything in my life."

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