Showing posts with label Mel Brooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mel Brooks. Show all posts

Monday, September 8, 2014

Mel Brooks Hand Print Ceremony at TCL Grauman's Chinese Theatre @Chinesetheatres #YF40

Mel Brooks hand print ceremony

Today the great Mel Brooks got his hand prints immortalized at the TCL (Grauman's) Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Just one day before the 40th anniversary released on Young Frankenstein on Blu-Ray! Who can figure out what is different about Mel's prints. Scroll to the end for the answer.

Max Brooks at Mel Brooks hand print ceremony

Here is Mel's son Max (who you may know as the writer of World War Z) introducing Carl Reiner.

Carl Reiner at Mel Brooks hand print ceremony
 Up next was Carl Reiner to introduce his best friend. He also gave us the definition of the word fart and said that based on Mel's famous flatulence scene in Blazing Saddles, no one need ever be embarrassed about passing gas again, and that we should all be eternally grateful to Mel for that.

Mel Brooks hand print ceremony
 And then the man himself. He opened with "Hello ladies and germs" which got a laugh (Only for Mel). He  kept it short and sweet. But did take time to remind Carl that this event was about Young Frankenstein's 40th anniversary Blu Ray release, so he shouldn't be talking about Blazing Saddles. Further, he said that they could do something for Blazing Saddles next year. So we all have that to look forward to.

Mel Brooks hand print ceremony
Then at long last the main event!

Mel Brooks hand print ceremony

Mel Brooks hand print ceremony
 Is it me or is there something unusual about Mel's hands???

Mel Brooks hand print ceremony
Mel told us his shoes were given to him by George Raft, long ago. They looked like patent leather tuxedo shoes. I'm not sure if it's true or not yet. But I've got feelers out and when I know for sure I'll report back.

UPDATE: with sources up to and including Mel's assistant, everyone is saying the Raft thing was a joke. I've yet to hear it from the man himself but I'm willing to believe the interpretation of those close to him. Even if the George Raft story is fun to believe.

He wrapped the whole thing up with a fond farewell and said I will see some of you across the street and I will see some of you in the motel later. More laughs and off he went!

Family and Mel Brooks hand print ceremony

Carl and Mel Brooks hand print ceremony

Norman Lear, Carl Reiner, and Mel Brooks hand print ceremony


 If you haven't figured it out yet...Mel had an extra finger on his left hand for his hand print. I love all the fun things people find to do to make their print unique. I loved Jane Fonda's peace sign fingers when she did her prints, because it was so symbolic of who she is. I think the silliness of Mel's extra finger is exactly that for him too.

Until the cement dries if you need a little Mel Brooks silliness, run out an get the 40th Anniversary Blu Ray release of Young Frankenstein. I'm sure Mel would appreciate it.


Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Dick Cavett and Mel Brooks on HBO



Dick Cavett and Mel Brooks' interview from last year will be aired on Sept 9th on HBO. You may remember I attended this interview at the Saban Theatre ,follow the link and read all about it. It really was great, so don't miss it!
Also, if you've never seen the old Dick Cavett show interviews I highly reccommend them. They are sometimes run on TCM, and you can rent them on Netflix.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett


Dick Cavett interviewed Mel Brooks last night at the Saban Theatre. It was the funniest night of my life. By the time I got home I had a headache, from laughing so much. Even the audience questions were funny. Not to mention Carl Reiner who was also there, and spoke hysterically about the birth of the 2000 year old man.
I found this event through Writer's Bloc. If you're in LA, I highly recommend you join their mailing list. They have so many fascinating events and quite reasonably price ($25 last night) for what are often once in a life time opportunities.
Here is some video I took last night, of their first moments of the interview. Which was really more of a conversation.

Sorry this video has been removed. You can now see the entire interview on HBO Sept 9th. I highly recommend it!


I have most of the night on my youtube channel.