Jerry Seinfeld
1987. We have an arrangement with a local Boston comedy club to bring in their featured act each week. I meet Paula Poundstone, Ellen Degenerous, Garry Shandling - and one Friday morning - Jerry Seinfeld. Remember, at the time - Jerry was simply a working comic. He was on the Tonight show frequently, so I knew his work - I simply didn’t realize what he was about to become. Jerry was a good guy and easy to work with. He asked what I wanted to do. We both agreed to try something different. We pulled out our wallets to see how many one dollar bills we could produce. Between my co-host, Jerry & I - we came up with about 15. At the time, I kept walkie talkies in my office. Every now & then they came in handy for bits. I’d simply hold them up to the microphone and talk to whomever. This day, Seinfeld took a walkie talkie & the dollar bills and hit the street just one story below my studio window. I could see him clearly. Jerry wanted to approach strangers and see if they recognized him from the Tonight Show. If they did - he was going to give them a dollar. So, walkie talkie in hand and live on WZOU - Jerry asked strangers, "Do you know who I am?" The commuters walked on - head down. "Brian, they won’t make eye contact! They’re doing that look down when you walk thing! God Forbid these people look up!!!" He asks another, "Do I look familiar?" "Why yes you do! You’re David Brenner right?" Jerry says, "Right you are - here’s a dollar!" We played songs and commercials for an hour cutting frequently to Jerry on the street outside. Eventually people walked that way because they’d heard what we were doing. It wasn’t alot of people - just enough to make it fun. The comedy that day was people not wanting to talk to a stranger - let alone take a dollar from one. Can you imagine how many people today would show up if I repeated this bit?
