Brooks the unstoppable laugh machine

10 April 2012

It would be understandable if at 80 Mel Brooks was taking it easy. Some hope. He plans to stage The Producers in Germany, he is developing a Broadway version of Young Frankenstein and last night, at an exclusive £150-a-throw Leukaemia Research benefit, proved he is still an unstoppable comedy show-off.

This was theoretically an interview with Alan Yentob, but the Beeb man hardly got a word in. Brooks's eyes twinkled as he explained that his immigrant grandfather was a Brooklyn herringbuyer: "He never learnt any English but he learnt a lot of Norwegian." From there it was a quick skip to his sojourn as a drummer before he became a performer/writer, trading paradiddles for punchlines.

The Brillo-haired humourist had barely reached his film career when time started running out. He revealed that one of the financiers behind The Producers wanted to change the subject to Mussolini, because Hitler was "too dark" and aired his Anglophilia during a Q&A. He loves The Office and thinks Borat is covering similar satirical ground to Blazing Saddles.

Winding up he recalled how Gene Wilder enjoyed making Young Frankenstein so much he asked Brooks to write more so that filming could continue. As this one-off closed after 90 minutes, the audience, including John Prescott and Jimmy Carr, concurred. The tickets were expensive, but the performance was priceless.

Mel Brooks
Criterion Theatre

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