![]() ![]() ![]() He roasted the crowds while warming them up, quizzing them about where they were from and what they did, establishing rapport and dominance. Throughout the 1970s, he ran the show at the buzziest of the New York clubs: Catch a Rising Star, stand-up’s answer to Studio 54. He understood that one of the peculiar things about comedy is that the line between irritation and ingratiation could easily blur. He could charm with the best of them, but unlike many performers, he didn’t come off as desperate for your approval. Often in jackets and shirts buttoned low, he cut a stylish image, spiky and louche. The expectation was now on the people in the seats: Impress me.īelzer, who died Sunday, is best known for his performances as a detective on TV, but his acting career was built on a signature persona in comedy, as a master of seductive crowd work who set the template for the MC in the early days of the comedy club. With that opening pivot, he turned the relationship between comedian and crowd upside-down. More than once, he asked, “You in a good mood?” and waited for a cheer. Once he arrived at the microphone, he made a point of engaging with the studio audience in a way you rarely saw on television. ![]() ![]() When Richard Belzer did stand-up on “Late Night With David Letterman,” he always entered to the opening riffs of “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones, dancing his way onstage, looking like the life of the party in dark shades. ![]()
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