Word: flips
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...angry bite of a Dick Gregory, the satirical punch of a Godfrey Cambridge, or the intellectual edge of a Bill Cosby. His approach is at once older and newer than that of the others. The message about racial injustice is the same as Gregory's, for example, but Flip sneaks it in and shakes loose a laugh before the audience can object. After telling a story about Indians, he asks: "How would you like it if you bought a $50,000 house and somebody came along and put up a wigwam next to it?" Or: "This is my riot...
Spontaneous as some of Flip's lines seem, they are all the result of dedicated study. No comedian has calculated his career more carefully or worked harder for his laughs. While a neophyte in his 20s, he laid down a 15-year plan for success. Today, at 38, he has not only met his timetable but has bettered it. As in his early years, his absolute concentration on his business gives him a preoccupied, almost aloof air. Even when relaxing, he is studying people for situations or thinking up funny lines. His whole effort is bent toward making each...
Unusual Format. That effort begins each Monday with a reading of the script in Rehearsal Room 4 at NBC's Burbank, Calif., studios. Flip writes about a third of his material himself and sometimes arouses the ire of his writers by heavily editing the rest. While the reading is going on, an assistant sticks tape on the floor to map out the movements. Rehearsals begin on Tuesday. A general runthrough follows on Wednesday, and Thursday is camera-blocking day, when the performers work with camera crews. On Friday at 5 p.m. there is a dress rehearsal, with final taping...
Throughout all this, Flip constantly takes time out to attend to details ordinarily left to stagehands-testing the door chimes on a set or making sure that a champagne-bucket prop is positioned correctly. Because of his painstaking approach, the show is known as something of a sweat for guests. Outside performers on the Carol Burnett or Glen Campbell shows can get away with a three-day commitment; Dean Martin's guests have been known not to see him until the day of the show. But Flip insists on a five-day schedule for his guests as well...
With all that, performers are eager to appear-and not just for the exposure. Despite Flip's demands, the set is remarkably free from tension, and Flip hand-tailors the material for his guests. "The show is my home," he says, "and I want my guests to be comfortable in my home. I want them to relax and have fun. Occasionally it takes some time to hit off because we have to find the right approach. But once that happens, we're smoking." The stars that he has "smoked" with range from Lucille Ball, with whom...