The Comic And The Champ

Alas, we're unlike the superlative guitarist Johnny Winter, still alive and well on March 14, 2026.

Yes, the ragtag gang here is indeed Still Alive And Well during the raging and continuing dumpster fire that is the year of our lord 2026.

Actually, it's more like the year of our Screaming Lord Sutch.

Indeed, laughs are getting harder and harder to find these days - and that brings us to Billy Crystal.

Billy, born on this day in 1948, was one of the last cuts from those scheduled to perform in the first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975 and would be on the short list, along with Michael McKean, of those who hosted SNL before becoming a cast member.



Not that surprisingly, present-day comments regarding Mr. Crystal's stand-up act way back in the 1970's and 1980's demonstrate that many young people have no idea who Sammy Davis Jr and Muhammad Ali were. The superstardom of both Mr. Davis, the seriously driven entertainer/Rat Pack cornerstone and the heavyweight champ back in those days is downright difficult to explain to those 25 and under in 2026.



Suffice to say that while Billy Crystal has done a gazillion things in showbiz over the past five decades, the favorite of this blog remains his eulogy at Muhammad Ali's memorial service.





Billy started his career, way back before he started appearing in the Susan Harris Productions show Soap, with a very funny impression of Muhammad Ali. The pugilist/social activist saw it and the two became lifelong friends.



Before Billy hosted SNL in 1983, there was his prime-time Billy Crystal Comedy Hour, co-starring SCTV stalwarts John Candy, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.





We like Saturday Night Live season 10 a great deal, even given its reliance on pre-taped segments and the downright astonishing fact that producers Dick Ebersol and Bob Tischler opted NOT to have Geena Davis or Andrea Martin in the cast.



Guaranteed to leave young'uns completely, utterly baffled: the following spoof of the hit 1980's TV series that teamed formidable comic character actress and former SNL cast member Jane Curtin with Susan St. James, co-star of McMillan & Wife (who was married to SNL's second producer, Dick Ebersol). Here's hopin' Kate Hepburn and Muhammad Ali got the joke and at least found it somewhat funny.



Fernando may be my singular favorite Billy Crystal persona.





Another standout from SNL season 10: the masochistic night watchmen played by Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest.



Still find it amazing to see Crystal, Guest, Eddie Murphy, Martin Short and Rich Hall - yes, all of them - together in the Broadway Gumby Rose sketch.



We respectfully tip the Jimmie Hatlo hat and wish a Happy Birthday to Billy, with additional hat tips, kudos, bravos and huzzahs going to Muhammad Ali, Johnny Winter - and the YouTube channel Saturday Night Network for terrific summaries of each season of the show, plus interviews with cast members.