Sid Caesar demonstrates his famous foreign language double-talk routine. Outtake from "Let Me In, I Hear Laughter - A Salute To The Friars Club" by Dean Ward.
As a testament to Sid's genius in his mastery of double-talk, when people in the audience whose first language was French, Italian, German, or Japanese heard it, they burst out laughing.
@@rusalkin A hybrid of German and Hebrew, with idioms thrown in. What is the German equivalent of CHUTZPAH? I'm sure you have heard of Pidgin English. Is thee a point behind your comment? Nazis are STILL bad.
Every language has its own song. That's true. I remember when I was stationed on a little island with a bunch of Japanese sailors i could listen to them for about an hour and begin to feel like I was beginning to understand the language.
I've been married to a Japanese woman for 21 years, and I don't know much of the language at all. Naughty, as she's learnt all the Kiwi slang and idioms.
Sid is the Caesar of Comedy. I've watched a lot of his work as well as others of the genius of the Golden Age of Comedy. I wish there were channels on cable devoted exclusively to this talent. Each new discovery is a delight with hope for the present.
We were so glad we were able to catch Sid and Imogene when they performed their last tour to San Francisco. Back in the late 1970's. They did some of their old sketches and she did a couple of her vaudeville numbers that were really astounding. She must have been in her late 80's. We were both raised on Your Show of Shows and loved it dearly.
I recall meeting Sid Caesar in the early '90s. We talked a bit about comedy. I'll not forget what he said: "Comedy isn't something you say. It's something you do."
I remember when I was a little kid in the '70's I would often struggle to stay up super late, hoping to catch a Black and White comedy skit show of Sid Caesar's. He was awesome. Then I remember when he got in shape and it was very inspiring. He was awesome!
I met him one time at the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant in West Hollywood, on Sunset Boulevard, about 20 years ago. My neighbor I was eating with knew him, but I didn't really know who he was. Sid was very friendly and didn't rush at all. The "This is Your Story" clip is beyond hysterical.
I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. It convinces most who don’t speak the actual language. This is basically what animals do with human language. Birds, especially.
I thought double-talk/doublespeak was what politicians do when they speak? Where it sounds like they're answering a question but they're not actually answering it at all?
it's a friggin gift, and he graciously plays it down. it's infinitely harder than he makes it out. somehow you believe he's speaking the languages. unless of course you speak the language, then you're dying from laughter.
If you want to know what it’s like to hear someone double talk in American English, listen to the song “Prisencolinensinainciusol,” by the Italian singer Adriano Celentano. It’s absolute gibberish but sounds like American English.
Came up in the day. Grew up hearing languages, and nearly-so broken English, all around. He was brilliant . Today, George Carlin is the master other comics revere. He and Richard Pryor. Neither could do languages and sketch like Sid Caesar. Live forever, all of three of them.
FASCINATING ANECDOTE ABOUT CAESAR: something witnessed by Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. The three of them went to lunch in Caesar's Cadillac, and they found the space in front of the restaurant was occupied by a Volkswagen. Caesar parks across the street, gets out, and goes and LIFTS the Volkswagen onto the sidewalk. He then parks his Cadillac in that spot.
My wife gets furious with me when I do my "Sid Caesar Chinese" because she thinks I'm ridiculing the Chinese. I grew up watching that generation and she grew up with The Brady Bunch, so it's impossible to explain. I would love to hear a comic from a different language do English as it would be just as much fun. It's not meant to hurt, but celebrate our beautiful differences in a close way.
Barney: Frank Delima, a comic in Hawaii, makes fun out of all the languages he grew up with in Honolulu. No one gets offended, everyone laughs because he makes fun of everybody. His take on Imelda Marcos and her closet full of shoes is wonderful. I'll bet he cut his teeth on Sid Caesar.
It's often said, and it's a shame that it needs to be said, that they had to work hard back then to be both funny and original. Just imagine trying to write jokes and comedy sketches without profanity, or sexual situations. The people we call comedians today wouldn't have survived. One of my most memorable Sid Caesar recollections was a spoof of the program, "This Is Your Life." In reality, Nat King Cole had been seated, thinking he was to be part of the audience. When the host of the show approached him, the world famous singer who had performed for thousands suddenly became shy and tried to escape. Caesar and his crew took that real life event and put their own spin on it. th-cam.com/video/BQBlEnsylI0/w-d-xo.html
The thing is though... this only works if you have no good concept of that language. The french sounded really good and realistic to me, but since I know a bit of german and japanese; those immitations sounded pretty bad.
The best kind of comedy, which takes a lot of creativity. Maybe I'm old, but today's "comics" just aren't funny. I'll take guys like Sid and the old Borscht Belt comedians any day.
Isn’t it the same thing as double talk, but in foreign languages? It’s all meaningless nonsense masquerading as real speech, whether it’s in English or French or German, etc.
@@humanbeing2420 Yes, perhaps so, but I think the idea of "double-talk" is that the person is purportedly speaking a language you're familiar with (i.e., English, for English speakers) but using nonsense words so it _sounds_ like English (which you would normally understand) but you can't understand it, leaving you confused and amused.
@@Milesco I see the distinction - So Caesar isn’t actually saying any real words at all here, whereas with double talk it’s real words with some fake words thrown in there to confuse.
I thought double-talk/doublespeak was what politicians do when they speak? Where it sounds like they're answering a question but they're not actually answering it at all?
This is how, in D&D, you can pantomime a language you don't speak. I had a guy once role play as a grizzly bear with really high persuasion, pantomimed his way into a fancy dinner party. There's a bunch of high ranking nobles sitting down to dinner with a 10 foot grizzly bear, and one guy manages to find him out. Nobody believes him, and the one guy who can see what's going on is escorted from the room in a fit of fury. Absolute classic.
This is supposed to be a "double-talk" routine. But I don't think he did any double-talk. Double-talk is defined as deliberately unintelligible speech combining nonsense syllables and actual words. His speech is funny, though.
![SID CAESAR: This Is Your Story [This Is Your Life Spoof] (YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS, Apr 3, 1954)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQBlEnsylI0/mqdefault.jpg)
He's absolutely right, you listen to the language and find the cadence and tonality. He was a master mimic.
Probably even easier on a tonal language. Man was absolutely brilliant.
Quit lying
As a testament to Sid's genius in his mastery of double-talk, when people in the audience whose first language was French, Italian, German, or Japanese heard it, they burst out laughing.
I’m pretty sure he threw a little Yiddish in on that last one. 😁 Sid was one of a kind. Absolutely brilliant.
yiddish is essentially german :)
@@rusalkin A hybrid of German and Hebrew, with idioms thrown in. What is the German equivalent of CHUTZPAH? I'm sure you have heard of Pidgin English. Is thee a point behind your comment? Nazis are STILL bad.
@@rusalkin (: and so you consider yourself a reader!
he kinda slipped into his german during his italian, but that almost makes it even more impressive that you can tell midsentence when it changes
@@MikesOrganicVideos
What about the Jewish Bolsheviks?
Every language has its own song. That's true. I remember when I was stationed on a little island with a bunch of Japanese sailors i could listen to them for about an hour and begin to feel like I was beginning to understand the language.
I've been married to a Japanese woman for 21 years, and I don't know much of the language at all. Naughty, as she's learnt all the Kiwi slang and idioms.
Sid is the Caesar of Comedy. I've watched a lot of his work as well as others of the genius of the Golden Age of Comedy. I wish there were channels on cable devoted exclusively to this talent. Each new discovery is a delight with hope for the present.
So many of today's 'comics' could learn a lot from this man.
Every language has its own song. Brilliant man.
We were so glad we were able to catch Sid and Imogene when they performed their last tour to San Francisco. Back in the late 1970's. They did some of their old sketches and she
did a couple of her vaudeville numbers that were really astounding. She must have been in her late 80's. We were both raised on Your Show of Shows and loved it dearly.
One of my heroes. Comedic genius. He is so so missed.
I recall meeting Sid Caesar in the early '90s. We talked a bit about comedy. I'll not forget what he said: "Comedy isn't something you say. It's something you do."
Sid Caesar was an absolute original. No one was ever like him, nor ever will be.
I remember when I was a little kid in the '70's I would often struggle to stay up super late, hoping to catch a Black and White comedy skit show of Sid Caesar's. He was awesome. Then I remember when he got in shape and it was very inspiring. He was awesome!
An uncommon art, but I'd bet no one has ever done it better than this!
The MASTER of double talk in any language. RIP SID! ^^
I met him one time at the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant in West Hollywood, on Sunset Boulevard, about 20 years ago. My neighbor I was eating with knew him, but I didn't really know who he was. Sid was very friendly and didn't rush at all. The "This is Your Story" clip is beyond hysterical.
The melody each language has is called prosodic features-intonation, speed, lilt that is the language without the meaning of the words.
Comedic genius, and a very talented verbal contortionist too.
The Fabulous Sid Caesar, ladies and gentlemen. Gone but not forgotten by any means!!
as someone who is pretending to be feench italian and german on the internet, this man is amazing
Incredible talent. In every aspect of his life.
Sid was a genius and he was good at getting anger or exasperated...the Business Lunch with his missing sandwich is a good example.
That guy is brilliant.
Absolute brillance.
I miss this gent way already!
An absolute genius
He was so convincing. One of the funniest thing I ever seen him in was its a Mad mad mad mad mad world.
I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. It convinces most who don’t speak the actual language. This is basically what animals do with human language. Birds, especially.
I thought double-talk/doublespeak was what politicians do when they speak? Where it sounds like they're answering a question but they're not actually answering it at all?
That part of his brain is like: stop, please...I can't take it anymore!
When entertainers were famous for amazing unique talent.
it's a friggin gift, and he graciously plays it down. it's infinitely harder than he makes it out. somehow you believe he's speaking the languages. unless of course you speak the language, then you're dying from laughter.
Ingenious
"Laughter on the 23rd Floor". A real tribute!
He was a master at this.
Genius hands down RIP
Periodically, I can hear him say, "Bob Hope."
HA!!!!! That’s awesome!!!!
he was an absolute hoot
Genius, pure cadence
talent+knowledge+skill=expert; Sid Ceasar? Expert!
Musicians understand this.
Genius.
"Every language has its own song."
omg he is amazing. i saw him on whose line is it anyway and he destroyed it. incredible talent. may he rest in peace.
indeed it was very funny!escargo!I loved the "Honda!" part
If you want to know what it’s like to hear someone double talk in American English, listen to the song “Prisencolinensinainciusol,” by the Italian singer Adriano Celentano. It’s absolute gibberish but sounds like American English.
Genius
Came up in the day. Grew up hearing languages, and nearly-so broken English, all around.
He was brilliant . Today, George Carlin is the master other comics revere. He and Richard Pryor. Neither could do languages and sketch like Sid Caesar.
Live forever, all of three of them.
This is a great example of double talk. A man that says a lot of words but is making absolutely no point at all.
Him, Howie (Howard) Morris, Imogene Coca, Mel Brooks..... never again, nor the likes of it, on tv.
Don't forget Joe Ross.
In reading Mel Brooks biography at the moment so I wanted to get a flavour of it so I tuned in to Cid who Brooks wrote for, Cid a very funny man
I once met a Japanese Yiddish professor. They would have gotten along well.
Class acts, and no one able to fill their empty shoes…
And there's a little bit of Yiddish in all of them 😅
The maestro!
This is the definition of, "funny" taking us not serious, like the beings on other planets have been doing, and it's about time.
i like how his Japanese started with the classic "OOOOOOO"
Grammelot, from la commedia dell'arte. Great use by Sid Cesar
Great indeed. And, astrologically speaking, Caesar and Peter Sellers share the same birthday (not year). I wonder if it's just a happy coincidence.
I'd love to hear hear him as gealga
He actually pulled it off
Brillant
FASCINATING ANECDOTE ABOUT CAESAR: something witnessed by Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. The three of them went to lunch in Caesar's Cadillac, and they found the space in front of the restaurant was occupied by a Volkswagen. Caesar parks across the street, gets out, and goes and LIFTS the Volkswagen onto the sidewalk. He then parks his Cadillac in that spot.
Funny Sid is better looking older than when he was young! .
He reminds me of how the rachni queen talking about language being songs.
mmm ha ha datsun more better fryer. so true, so true
Par excellence!
Man I wish I could do this
"I have a Dachshund, more better Fryer..."
Wow
I for one thought he had a sort of rattle in his throat as if had fluid in his lungs.
My wife gets furious with me when I do my "Sid Caesar Chinese" because she thinks I'm ridiculing the Chinese. I grew up watching that generation and she grew up with The Brady Bunch, so it's impossible to explain. I would love to hear a comic from a different language do English as it would be just as much fun. It's not meant to hurt, but celebrate our beautiful differences in a close way.
Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano, Italian gibberish to sound like English/American.
Barney: Frank Delima, a comic in Hawaii, makes fun out of all the languages he grew up with in Honolulu. No one gets offended, everyone laughs because he makes fun of everybody. His take on Imelda Marcos and her closet full of shoes is wonderful. I'll bet he cut his teeth on Sid Caesar.
I'm fluent in French and conversant in Italian, and this guy absolutely nails them.
Turn on CC.
A master
Wow!
No one’s talking about the massive amount of eye blinking going on, this is the real story.
The Man can Pray in all Tongues, Peace3ed
It's often said, and it's a shame that it needs to be said, that they had to work hard back then to be both funny and original. Just imagine trying to write jokes and comedy sketches without profanity, or sexual situations. The people we call comedians today wouldn't have survived.
One of my most memorable Sid Caesar recollections was a spoof of the program, "This Is Your Life." In reality, Nat King Cole had been seated, thinking he was to be part of the audience. When the host of the show approached him, the world famous singer who had performed for thousands suddenly became shy and tried to escape. Caesar and his crew took that real life event and put their own spin on it.
th-cam.com/video/BQBlEnsylI0/w-d-xo.html
Your show of shows with I mogene coca
That laugh sounded like a lifetime of Marlboro’s. The grim reaper was afraid of getting phlegm on his robe.
The thing is though... this only works if you have no good concept of that language. The french sounded really good and realistic to me, but since I know a bit of german and japanese; those immitations sounded pretty bad.
Mazel tov
Imagine that, comedy without profanity, vulgarity, and insults.
The best kind of comedy, which takes a lot of creativity. Maybe I'm old, but today's "comics" just aren't funny. I'll take guys like Sid and the old Borscht Belt comedians any day.
I did that as a kid and got punished for not being racially sensitve. PC culture sucks. Sid will be missed.
In French, his result is close but not perfect. A few sounds tells you he is an English speaker.
I won da money!!
i love his hotel in vegas
✡️Aggressive Mimicry✡️
this isn’t double talk, these are comic dialects, although he could perform double talk.
Isn’t it the same thing as double talk, but in foreign languages? It’s all meaningless nonsense masquerading as real speech, whether it’s in English or French or German, etc.
@@humanbeing2420 Yes, perhaps so, but I think the idea of "double-talk" is that the person is purportedly speaking a language you're familiar with (i.e., English, for English speakers) but using nonsense words so it _sounds_ like English (which you would normally understand) but you can't understand it, leaving you confused and amused.
@@Milesco I see the distinction - So Caesar isn’t actually saying any real words at all here, whereas with double talk it’s real words with some fake words thrown in there to confuse.
@@humanbeing2420 Exactly. Like this guy Durwood Fincher, aka "Mr. Doubletalk" :
th-cam.com/video/0va4piKl4Lg/w-d-xo.html
I thought double-talk/doublespeak was what politicians do when they speak? Where it sounds like they're answering a question but they're not actually answering it at all?
So if i mimic someones accent is racist, but if this guy does it its comedy...
he would get cancelled today
Someone not being able to speak a language got me like 💀
I wanted to hear English!
Datsun a more betta fry
This is how, in D&D, you can pantomime a language you don't speak.
I had a guy once role play as a grizzly bear with really high persuasion, pantomimed his way into a fancy dinner party. There's a bunch of high ranking nobles sitting down to dinner with a 10 foot grizzly bear, and one guy manages to find him out. Nobody believes him, and the one guy who can see what's going on is escorted from the room in a fit of fury. Absolute classic.
You mean you once read a 15 year old internet meme about Sir Bearington, and tried to pass it off as your own story?
This is supposed to be a "double-talk" routine. But I don't think he did any double-talk. Double-talk is defined as deliberately unintelligible speech combining nonsense syllables and actual words. His speech is funny, though.
Seems staged. Still impressive and respect to anyone that learns another/multiple languages!
It's obviously easier in non Germanic languages.
ok
Brilliant man.
Do we know if he was saying a real thought in English with different accents or just jibberish? The transcript doesn't help 😂
A fine man must have been a fan. Tuvula or bust. Throat song.
Surely you're joking! 😀