The Devil Made Him Do It! Flip Wilson’s Hilarious “Tonight” Debut
On November 28, 2012
- TV History
The Devil Made Him Do It! Must See History…
A few months before this video, Johnny Carson asked Redd Fox who the funniest new comic around was. Redd’s answer was Flip Wilson. On September 30, 1965 Flip made his first of many Tonight Show appearances. At the end this 2:00 clip, it takes Johnny :40 seconds to stop laughing long enough to say, “that’s one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard in my life”.
Flip Wilson tells his famous ‘Ugly Baby’ joke.
Flip was a game-changer. From his obit in the New York Times: ”’Funny is not a color,’ Mr. Wilson responded. ‘Being black is only good from the time you get from the curtain to the microphone.’ He insisted that ‘my main point is to be funny; if I can slip a message in there, fine.”’
This is what I missed comedy without 4 letter words to bring up a point… This segment is still priceless almost 50 years later ..
“Take the FORK in the road!!!!!”
One of the all-time classic Carson bits!!!