Whoever coined the phrase “The show must go on” probably didn’t think it up after learning of a horrible tragedy. Technical difficulties would make sense. Maybe even a minor injury. After all, people paid to see you perform; why let something like a sprained ankle ruin everybody’s evening?
But a death in the family? That’s a tough thing to power through. You can’t really blame someone for not wanting to entertain under the circumstances, especially if their job involves making people laugh. And that’s more than likely why it’s so rarely attempted. Let’s take a look back at a few comedians who somehow managed to put on a show while processing the worst news imaginable.
3. DON RICKLES
On August 24, 1953, a young Don Rickles was getting ready to perform at the Wayne Room nightclub in Washington, D.C., when his cousin, Jerry, showed up unexpectedly. Just as Rickles was about to take the stage, Jerry hit him with some devastating news: His father, Max, had just died from a heart attack. For whatever reason, Rickles decided to perform as scheduled that night rather than process what he’d just been told, and from his recollection, he put on one of the best shows of his career. When asked years later how he was able to deal with a tragedy like that in such a way, Rickles responded by saying, “You gotta ask a psychiatrist, which I don’t go to. But maybe they can figure it out.”
2. “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC
Carbon monoxide poisoning sadly took the lives of both of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s parents in April 2004. Yankovic was on tour at the time and found out just a few hours before he was expected to perform in Appleton, Wisconsin. In the face of the horrible news, Yankovic not only performed that night but also continued touring as planned, hitting nearly 70 cities. In 2008, Yankovic told Wired that it ended up being a good thing for him to work through the pain because without the shows to distract him, he probably would’ve fallen into a much deeper depression. “For a couple of hours each night, I could go onstage and put on a big fake smile and pretend like everything was just OK,” he explained.
1. LOU COSTELLO
On the afternoon of November 4, 1944, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were rehearsing for their radio show when word came in that Costello’s infant son, Lou Jr. (nicknamed Butch), had drowned in the family swimming pool. Somehow, the baby had gotten out of his playpen and fallen in without anyone noticing. After consoling his wife, Costello surprisingly returned to the studio for that evening’s broadcast, telling his co-stars, “Wherever Butch is tonight, I want him to hear me.” At the conclusion of the show, Abbott broke the news to the audience, saying, “Tonight, the old expression, ‘The show must go on,’ was brought home to all of us on this program more clearly than ever before.”
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