Phyliss Diller

Recently some readers objected to my characterization of 1960's-era Phyllis Diller as "unfunny."

Decide for yourselves.

She doesn't appear in the Liberace clip until the 3-minute mark.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Who We Are
Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 02, 2008
Category: 1960s | Comedians

Comments

She had a couple of half-way decent fat jokes in that second bit but overall, just the way I remember her...not funny.

Posted by Madd Maxx on 11/02/08 at 11:15 AM

Comedy is very subjective. Phyllis was from an era of looonnnnggg ago but if you put "Yo' mama's so fat" in front of her stand-up they'd fit right in today.

Liberace could kill any gag so no fare judging from that clip.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 11/02/08 at 12:58 PM

I'm sure that for the era she probably was funnier than what she seems today. She had to have some talent to get as famous as she was/is. I still don't think (opinion) she was all that funny. You may have had alot of comedians doing schtick but you did have some real funny performers. Don Rickles is one that comes to mind. Uncle Miltie is another. Both of them may have been a little earlier than Phyllis, I'm not sure cause all of them are before my time. I can't think of any female performers to compare her with though (maybe her claim to fame was that she didn't have alot of competition).

Posted by Madd Maxx on 11/02/08 at 01:14 PM

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.