How sad. I just saw him in the "Weird Al" movie, apparently played by someone else. A lot of 80s celebrities were at a party where Dr. Demento showed off his new discovery. Like nearly everything else in the movie, it was made up. Gallagher was one of the skeptics who didn't think much of Al.
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Gallagher, who smashed watermelons
- Thread starter vchimpanzee
- Start date
How sad. I just saw him in the "Weird Al" movie, apparently played by someone else. A lot of 80s celebrities were at a party where Dr. Demento showed off his new discovery. Like nearly everything else in the movie, it was made up. Gallagher was one of the skeptics who didn't think much of Al.
RIP, Gallagher. I remember well watching his "taped for TV performances" in the late 80s/early 90s. His comedy and use of stage props was creative, and it was always fun watching the first several rows of patrons covering themselves in plastic sheets and garbage bags when he began the "Sledge-o-matic" part of his routine. I'm sure the clean up crews in the theaters where he performed hated the guy for that, LOL. For better or worse, he became embroiled in accusations of racism and homophobia in recent years, which resulted in some of his shows being cancelled. He'd been in ill health for some time, primarily due to a series of heart attacks.
Outside of Carrot Top, I can't think of a comic who got more snark from the hipsters than Gallagher. I never got his act, and can't imagine going to see him more than once, but he had a unique gimmick and deserves credit for that. RIP.
His brother Ron also did the Gallafher act and called himself Gallagher Too with Leo's (the real Gallagher) permission, but was eventually sued by Leo because of not making it clear who he was. One or the other appeared in Jackson, TN and was sued by someone for getting hit by debris. I'm thinking it was Ron because it wasn't mentioned in the articles on Leo's passing like other lawsuits were.
Not a bad act, back in the day, his commentary was somewhat Carlin-esque in some ways, but it was really a one hit wonder type of thing, the watermelon thing.... how many times are you going to pay to go see that at a major venue.... not that he was major venue material anymore and no "comedy store" type set up is going to put up with the mess. He did not evolve.
Ron White keeps his act fresh, I had the pleasure of seeing him a while back in a VERY small club in FL where he was brought on unannounced to practice his new material.... 30 minutes of funny stuff plus 2 other acts for a $15 dollar cover.... that was a deal
Ron White keeps his act fresh, I had the pleasure of seeing him a while back in a VERY small club in FL where he was brought on unannounced to practice his new material.... 30 minutes of funny stuff plus 2 other acts for a $15 dollar cover.... that was a deal
I remember his first showtime special that he did, an uncensored evening, at Lake Tahoe. It was the first major recording I did on my brand new portable VCR that I bought. I had the thing totally memorized and had the tape until the mid-90s when a friend of mine accidentally recorded over it. Luckily I found it on YouTube..
He made a couple of stops in Beaumont Texas because of his popularity on the local cable system. I was fortunate to catch his first one. I remember he walked out looked at the audience, held his arms out and said "so this is Beaumont!" One of his later concerts there at the Julie Rogers theater was made into a special on HBO. At the end he takes Sledgomatic and beats the hell out of one of the newspaper stands which had the old name Beaumont Enterprise-Journal, Now just called the Enterprise ..He was always a great entertainer but got a bit more political in his later years... A lot of people don't know that he built most of his own props. He held degrees in mechanical engineering and language...
He made a couple of stops in Beaumont Texas because of his popularity on the local cable system. I was fortunate to catch his first one. I remember he walked out looked at the audience, held his arms out and said "so this is Beaumont!" One of his later concerts there at the Julie Rogers theater was made into a special on HBO. At the end he takes Sledgomatic and beats the hell out of one of the newspaper stands which had the old name Beaumont Enterprise-Journal, Now just called the Enterprise ..He was always a great entertainer but got a bit more political in his later years... A lot of people don't know that he built most of his own props. He held degrees in mechanical engineering and language...
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