SPOTLIGHT
Rage: My husband watches all those NCIS, CSI shows.
VL: Mama’s got a beef with NCIS…how many of those
shows are there on the air? Good lord! (laughter) All over a dead body for God’s sake.
Rage: One of the most enjoyable things about The Carol Burnett Show was the unscripted dialogue, which would put the cast in uncontrollable laughter and in front of a live audience.
VL: Carol grew up on live television so that’s the way
we shot that show. We literally did two shows and you could set your clock by the schedule. It would take us an hour and a half to tape an hour show. There’s no way that would happen nowadays. We stopped only for major costume changes or major set changes. You know, we used to tackle some pretty spectacular huge pieces. We’d get through those tapings and we rarely did pick- ups. For Carol, it was all about that audience. Keeping that audience happy, that 250-person audience that was in our studio. I think that’s why everybody still watches that show and loves it so much because it was like being there live. It was really incredibly well-done. You look back at the staff, the costumes and the writing…it was just an incredible team.
Rage: You have had the opportunity to meet so many amazing entertainers over the span of your career.
VL: It’s incredible when you think back. I think I was too
young and stupid even to appreciate where I was. But, oh my God, the people who came through there, like Jimmy Stewart. I remember the night that Joanne Woodward was on the show and everybody said, “Paul Newman’s in the booth and he’s having Coors.” The prop man was taking him Coors. I kept looking up at that booth and thinking, “Oh my God, if I could only see through it.” They use to joke that it was bullet-proof. It was only a one-way glass. You could not see back into the booth with the director. I was dying and I never did get to meet Paul Newman. Also, I was just blown away all week by how incredibly beautiful Joanne Woodward was and how amazing her eyes were. Everybody talked about Paul Newman’s eyes and that piercing blue. But…her eyes are this mint green. Oh my God…just drop dead gorgeous! Yes. Geez. John Wayne was in the building one time. I ran into him for God’s sake.
Rage: It’s amazing really.
VL: My husband was the make-up man on the show. At
the height of the Burnett Show, we were on Stage 33 and Sonny and Cher were on Stage 31. Literally, if you went through the toilet, you were on Sonny and Cher’s stage. That’s how we would run back and forth. So, if Cher was doing a number I wanted to see or if I wanted to see what she was wearing, I would just run through the lady’s room onto the stage and I could see what was going on. My husband used to run back and forth because he did Cher and he also did Carol’s make-up. He used to run through the men’s room all the time. One day, I was with the girl dancers and we’re standing backstage. We were waiting
56
RAGE monthly | JUNE 2010
“Life is much too serious to be taken seriously.”
photography by Kevin Scott Hees
to go out and do a number. Al goes bee-lining into the men’s room and he comes backing out of the door. We all look at him. He’s looking like he’s seen a ghost. He looks at all of us and says, “The Duke’s in there taking a pee.” (laughter) He couldn’t deal. He just couldn’t deal.
Rage: How would you describe the power of laughter?
VL: I think it’s the only thing that has gotten me through.
When my talk show was cancelled, I went through a hor- rible crisis. Not so much cancelled, as really fired by this company that I used to work for because we didn’t get along. They just didn’t agree with me that show business should be fun. They thought it should be very stressful. It was a very verbally and ultimately physical relationship. When I said, “I can’t go on unless you fix this.” I was fired. I went into a tailspin. I went into a depression that lasted
probably three years or more. I totally lost my sense of humor. It was a really difficult period for me. With Al, I ultimately worked my way through it. When I finally got my sense of humor back, which was really shortly before I put this show together…I realized that I wanted to make people laugh again. My motto on the talk show had always been “Life is
much too serious to be taken seriously.” I learned, really the hard way. Laughter is a gift and you have to laugh. If you don’t laugh, you’ll slit your wrists…you know? You have to keep laughing.
Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show
Dreamcatcher at Viejas Casino in Alpine July 10
viejasentertainment.com
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