Nichols and May Take Two

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[@jimkreider9997]

They were the best. I had one of their albums and the entire thing was hysterical.

[@govbop]

Oh sweet Jesus - Elaine May is effing Brilliant in that last sketch - Wow !!!

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

They were so inventive-love the snoring bit

[@beagle8boy]

Brilliant! THeir work still lives. He directed so many great movies and alas she directed Ishtar. But she did give us A New Leaf and that really in more than enough . Too bad a lot was on records and before the age of ubiquitous cameras.

[@zorkwork3841]

That was a wonderful documentary. I loved them so much..They were way ahead of their time..I could almost watch this again for the skits.

[@AndrewRudin]

That "call from mother" sketch is utterly brilliant. What amazing actors they both are. And how spot on to have Mike and Elaine follow Nixon with their sketch about awarding mediocrity.

[@uslines]

They were brilliant. Unmatched before and after. I remember their skits on the old NBC Monitor weekend radio program.

[@suzyflorida1193]

You absolutely cannot find more perfect comedy writing than what they did in their skits. Elaine, as the mother talking to her son, had the most brilliant dialogue that one could ever dream up. I would say that that routine is the most perfect routine ever created. Elaine's voice is also the most perfect voice for sketch comedy. She and he are both comedy geniuses.

[@susangange1692]

They were wonderful. I miss them

[@deanronson6331]

A lot of their stuff was improvised, not written down. That's even harder to do.

[@embunchofnumbers]

Goon Show >>>

[@tomripsin730]

44:45 I never realized when Nichols used the gag with the sudden kiss and the cigarette smoke in The Graduate, that it was a reference back to this earlier sketch.

[@legend9948]

It has been said that NEW HOLLYWOOD started with "The Graduate" and "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf", thank you Mike Nichols

[@santamonicadave223]

We make such a big deal about our comedians cracking up. These two understood the power of keeping a straight face.

[@ladyleesutter]

"It's from these kinds of artists that real social change takes place" (Arthur Penn). Hear! Hear! Totally agree. Comedy is POWER, in the hands of those who clearly see what's going on and hold up the mirror in the funhouse; a twisted and tweaked refection.

[@greta6458]

Wonderful job, I like these two persons, both very humoresque, intelligent and great players

[@uptoolate2793]

Right. Because it's not enough to be funny. The agenda must be pushed.

[@williamwoody7607]

Today it’s Jimmy Dore.

[@favmovieclassics2156]

I see Elaine May and immediately think of Anne Bancroft.

[@wclark3196]

Everyone says they were brilliant and they miss them. That shows they went out on top. They both went on to great things individually but I'm glad they stopped when they did.

[@vingotaq777]

Their Von Braun rocket scientist sketch at 4:50 was brilliant 🤩

[@subversivelysurreal3645]

I adore them for that irreverence! They are totally hilarious, in 2018! I thank you from the core of my overly-informed and under-medicated mind. They Rock🌹Thanks for Posting!

[@annettekronstadt5028]

My mind is overly-medicated and under-informed.

[@anniefannycharles9951]

@@annettekronstadt5028 I'm relating lol

[@gailbolton4891]

Thank you for all those lovely memories!

[@ladyleesutter]

How lovely to see/hear Jules Feiffer speak, if only briefly.

[@ackerrj]

Wonderful work. I wish for more.

[@gerardtesoro7686]

They were too brilliant in their inventiveness for me to come even close to grading their work!

[@steffybabes]

Not the usual comedy style . Completely new and innovative.

[@eleidal]

amazing. it's the first time I've laughed with the laugh track or audience at home. simply unbelievable. Can't believe my parents never taught me about them. Had no idea until now that this existed. Thanks so much for uploading.

[@lisannebaumholz5028]

I'm sure your parents did not intentionally deprive you of exposure to Nichols & May. But in the interest of redress, here are Elaine May's tributes to Mike Nichols on the occasions of his receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute and becoming an honoree of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5jNc6ufedJ9r7csi=XMHVSImJK9kv2P2w kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIC9nWCpoNmtpZosi=Hfg98YEz-F2MocM-

[@margaretruttenberg9197]

Doctors, undertakers, hypocrites and mediocrities aren’t going away anytime soon, so an appreciation for the ability of Nichols and May to skewer them probably isn’t either.

[@ziggersz4899]

You are right.

[@louiso.4325]

Man Elaine May was quite a looker.

[@martinsorenson1055]

I never realized until many many years later that my mother was doing the Guilt-Tripping Mother almost verbatim. I heard it as a monologue - I couldn't get a word in - I became used to it. Imagine my surprise when I finally heard the Nichols and May routine, and recognized it immediately.

[@Shermanbay]

That same sketch reminded me of the Jewish Mother in The Mad Show! Dunno which came first.

[@martinsorenson1055]

@@Shermanbay I didn't know about this, but just looked the piece up! Thanks for introducing me to it! Linda Lavin , Richard Libertini! How did I not know about this!?

[@erikmooberry914]

The solid base of early 60's comedy in your face only to be rivaled by Bob Newhart 😂

[@ladyleesutter]

Their manager, Jack Rollins, reminds me of the talent agent in Elaine's film "Ishtar."

[@ariellejade25]

Mike stole that abrubpt kiss and puff of smoke for Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin!

[@tarnopol]

That dentist-love affair skit is fucking brilliant. But not as brilliant as the mother sketch--that rises to the level of pure psychological insight by the end. Damn. And still funny as hell, of course. And the skit at the end with the two teenagers in the car is often just beautifully moving, among all the humor. I guess it's no shock that these two are impressive!

[@waimbuthia820]

Had no idea who Anna May Wong was until I googled the name. Doing so & reading about the discrimination she faced reminded me of the ultra beautiful & talented Dorothy Dandridge who endured the same disgusting racism that all non-white peoples continue to endure in this "land of the free." The fact that this ignorance is as rife today as it was in the early 1900s sickens me beyond description. There's a special place in hell reserved for racists!!!

[@elldre3]

Key and Poole. Those two also knew when it was time to go their own separate ways too.

[@darrylwiggins4799]

They were doing at that time,the unspeakable.And they did it as intelligently as comically as possible.Don't forget that their making up the skit as they go along.Genius.

[@marklennox2151]

...after passing beer through my nose I'm wondering who are the latest and greatest comedy duos...anyone?

[@christopherwheeler3409]

Mark Lennox hmmmm, give me an eon to come back

[@fromthesidelines]

4:57- Werner Von Braun wasn't happy with "The Von Brauns at Home". He threatened to sue Nichols and May- and their recording company- for damages. They settled out of court, with the provision that the routine would NEVER be released again in LP (and future tape and CD) reissues.

[@sooke54]

Pretty tame compared to Tom Lehrer's salute: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipundqZ9j7GVn9E "I aim for the stars...but I keep hitting London".

[@CliveNDerek]

Honestly, Werner, get a life! 😉

[@nikkitaroo4854]

....i doubt most people today, 3-2-21, could even understand what is being said! Most adults can barely speak a sentence, and if they do, two syllable words are all you'll get. With repeated F@#& for emphasis. Thank you for this....Delightful...

[@ellenmarch3095]

Waah.

[@ladyleesutter]

The guilt-tripping mother (16 minutes) is the template for similar act on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion,' the best skit that radio program has been doing the past few years, 50 years AFTER Nichols and May's. Well, at least Garrison and show writers stole it, umm, "appropriated" it, from the best! If you're going to steal, go for the gold.

[@cynthiaaiken2424]

everything today is so cro magnon

[@jazzmanchgo]

Their "Queen For A Day" sketch was one of the most devastatingly on-target satires I've ever seen in my life. I saw it once (on a mislabeled "blooper" reel), and I never found it again. Anyone know where it might be found?

[@helenlauer9545]

8:45 Nichols sounds like Donald Trump. Grew up on Nichols and May records. I was socialized on N&M.

[@ladyleesutter]

"On being unustly accused of not being a homosexual." Arthur Penn, that darling man, especially loves that line. I need to find this Truman Capote/Tennessee Williams author talk. What's it from keywslt ? answer anyone?

[@nottelling4408]

Thank you for posting this. Do you have -or anyone else reading this -and can you post Mysterioso from Improvisations to Music? Maybe the whole album. The Mike Nichols-Topic channel has pulled the album.

[@JiveDadson]

How about a Folger's Coffee can from Ralph's?

[@darrylwiggins4799]

Why isn't a pair doing this today?

[@subversivelysurreal3645]

Is that skit called, “A Mother’s Prayer”?? I have to text that to my own Mother...tomorrow.

[@jsteed44]

Every person should do it

[@magmasunburst9331]

Adultery was discussed in Hollywood since the silent films. I like these comedians, but I don't like revisionism to prove a point.

[@philipb2134]

A film could be restricted from general release if a man and a woman were in a bedroom together, and each did not have at least one foot on the floor. There was a lot of Hayesing going on. Adultery loomed too large to be wiped out of all discussion; but it was a topic typically alluded to, or more addressed in the interstices than as a load carrier for a work of drama.

[@celtglen]

Who gives this thumbs down? WTF?

[@ziggersz4899]

Stupid people who don't get it, that's who. Let's raise the bar, world.

[@mariehassett247]

24:47 24:47

[@mariehassett247]

25:46 25:46

[@mariehassett247]

26:17 26:17 { HEADSHOT!! }

[@mariehassett247]

24:59 24:59

[@mariehassett247]

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[@mariehassett247]

25:38 25:38

[@jinsookim6]

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[@liagugushvili3017]

They were brilliant