7th Annual Young Comedians special on HBO

If you get HBO Comedy, check your listings for this 1982 curio. Home Box Office seems to rerun the 1990s installments of the Young Comedians, but I don't recall seeing these older ones on there a lot.

The special isn't all that hilarious, in my opinion, but it's worth a look-see if only to see host Alan King trying to lend his old-school gravitas to the lineup of raw comedians. The atmosphere is also compelling, as this was taped in an actual dingy comedy club, unlike later versions that took the franchise to larger venues.

Some of the comedians hold up better than others--I don't care for Arleen Sorkin and the High-heeled Women or the Fun Boys*, but the whole thing is interesting. Comedy-wise, that would sort of the problem if you were paying for HBO in 1982 and seeing this as a NEW SPECIAL: it's more interesting than funny. Then again, maybe in '82, it was a lot funnier.

Among the "youngsters," the highlight is Steven Wright, who goes on last and entertains and is even then clearly the Steven Wright we knew and loved in the eighties, despite some material that's just a tad less sharp than what he'd deliver later on.

Overall, though, the highlight is King, who conducts the whole affair seeming simultaneously above the whole thing and just one of the comics. He works to get some laughs himself between acts, at one point even turning behind him and grabbing a prop off of which to riff. On camera, at least, he couldn't be more gracious to the comedians, offering enthusiastic intros and generous praise for some acts that, quite frankly, don't necessarily deserve it--that is, to this viewer of 2009.

On the other hand, there's something about his persona that suggests he relishes not just being the elder statesman, but also the kind of guy who could make or break them with his support. I get a kick out of seeing him make pronouncements like--I'm paraphrasing here--"Judging from these folks, the future of American comedy...is in good hands." He looks almost sentimental about it at times. Still, he acts like someone who is kind enough to pass the torch but egotistical enough to think it's his to pass.

Purely as a comedy special, the Seventh Annual Young Comedians Special isn't the best hour you'll see on HBO, but it's an entertaining trip back to a time when Alan King really was King, Steven Wright had hair--well, more of it--and King could reduce one of the stand-ups to hysterical giggles by saying, "I'm David Begelman--Screw me!" (You got to see this to get it; there's a great bit at the beginning where King supposedly meets the comedians, all lined up in a row, for the first time before the show).

*A duo consisting of Jonathan Schmock and Jim Vallely, later on that 80s sitcom with the twins, "Double Trouble," and Vallely, amazingly, went on to become one of the major forces behind "Arrested Development."