Jerry Lewis was truly an inspiration - to me

When I was a kid, on Saturdays, during the summer months, Jamestown Community College would show movies in the theater for free or just a couple of bucks. Tim Johnson and I would walk over to J.C.C. each week to watch those movies. Sometimes, they would be the classic horror movies like; Dracula, The Mummy and one of our favorites, The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Other times they would feature classic silent movies like; The Keystone Cops, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin films.

My favorite Saturdays were when they would show back-to-back Jerry Lewis films. One of the first I ever saw was The Bellboy (1960). It impressed me so much as a young boy, that while everyone in the film had dialogue, Jerry's character, the bellboy, didn't have any lines. He made us laugh until our stomachs hurt, and he never spoke a word. That to me was the pinnacle of comedy.

Another example of Jerry's pantomime skills were evident in the movie Who's Minding the Store. In this film, he performed his famous "typewriter" bit. In this scene, Jerry was pretending to type on an invisible typewriter while the song Typewriter was playing. Jerry performed this bit several times over the years, on television shows and in live concerts.

Prior to watching Jerry Lewis in The Bellboy, I had watched Red Skelton do the same sort of thing on his television show, in a little segment he did each week called, The Silent Spot. Red would pantomime the whole sketch, never saying a word, and my parents and I would sit there on our plastic-covered furniture just roaring with laughter. It was amazing to me how great comedians like Jerry Lewis and Red Skelton, among others, could make me laugh without ever speaking.

I was so inspired, that when I was 18 years old, I created and performed as the first mascot the Jamestown Expos ever had, "Yippee!" Here I was, inside a costume, performing pantomime antics, and what I heard was people laughing hysterically. They loved how I would imitate the opposing team's manager while he paced in the coaches box, or how I would do the "instant replay" of a fielder dropping a ball, or an umpire calling one of their players out at the plate. All the while, I was drawing on the physical comedy skills I learned from watching Jerry Lewis in all those movies.

Over the years, I continued to appreciate the comedy genius of Jerry Lewis, and hoped that someday I would have the opportunity to meet him in person. Well, that never happened, as he died on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. Thank goodness I still have those movies to watch and to draw inspiration. A little over a year ago, I decided to devote some attention to developing my desire to do stand-up comedy. I attend the Christian Comedy Association conference each year, write jokes on a regular basis, and try to get as much stage time as possible, in hopes of honing my comedy skills. Although I'm now in my 50's, I still believe it's never too late to start! Not for me, and not for you!

There's more to my connection with Jerry Lewis, but I understand nobody will read your blog posts if they are too long, so be looking for Part 2 coming along in a few days.