Billy Crystal recounted two funny, but enlightening, encounters with the late comedy legend Milton Berle. During the live television taping, Pearl, after improvising a funny set when the cameras went down, playfully slapped Crystal. Weeks later, at Spago, Pearl surprised Crystal again with a similar slap after an unforgettable Jerry Lewis impression, leaving Crystal with unforgettable stories.
Billy Crystal, the popular comedian best known for “When Harry Met Sally” and hosting the Academy Awards, has no shortage of Hollywood stories. But few are as memorable as his encounters with the late comedy legend Milton Berle. Crystal recently shared two separate occasions in which Pearl slapped him in the face, and in one way or another, both stories are quite instructive.Crystal, 78, appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on April 15, joking that he “may be the last person alive who knows the stories of Milton Berle” before launching into his recollections.
The first meeting between Billy Crystal and Milton Berle – V Live TV
Crystal recalls finding himself on a panel discussion with Pearl and Carl Reiner on what would be the final episode of “Tonight Starring Steve Allen.” “I sat between them, these two extremes, the giants of television,” he told Colbert.
“This was the guy who sold more television sets. Milton was Mr. Television for a reason. He helped kill off the movie industry initially because people stayed home to watch this amazing new thing called television.”
“After about 20 minutes of recording, the crew informed the trio that the cameras “didn’t record” anything, meaning they had no choice but to start over. Pearl seized the moment. “Milton Berle turns to me and says, ‘I seem to be there,’” Crystal recounted.
“Then he asks for a microphone and goes out in front of the audience and just spends a long time, which is funny but weird.”“He does it, he walks on his ankles, he does everything. And he finishes, and he comes back, and we give him a standing ovation, and he looks at me, and he slaps me in the face,” Crystal continued. Crystal explained that the unexpected slap was just for laughs, adding that Pearl then invited him over to his house to “smoke some dope” and see his impression of Jerry Lewis directing a movie.
The second meeting between Billy Crystal and Milton Berle – at Spago in Los Angeles
The couple ran into each other again a few weeks later while Crystal was having dinner with comedian Alan King at Spago restaurant in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to King, who was facing Crystal, Crystal explained, Burley kept raising his head behind him to make silly noises. “Then there was the cigar under the upper lip. This went on forever and ever, and I just died,” he said.Finally, Burley walked over to Crystal’s table and began his impression of Jerry Lewis.
“Now, listen, your wife left you, you’re lonely, you drank too much. Life’s meaningless,” Crystal recalls Pearl saying, slipping into an exaggerated impression of the late comedian. “You’re in a hotel alone, aren’t you? You’ve got to get inside yourself, Bill. Just think of what loss you’ve ever had, what pain.
You have to call him out and say, “This really sucks.” And then, just like before, Pearl slapped him across the face again. “He slammed me to the ground,” Crystal recalls.For Crystal, both encounters with Pearly ended the same way, with a slap in the face and a story he clearly never forgot.
