My stand-up and acting reel from England, including performance at The London Palladium.
Evolution from Stand-Up Comedy to Spoken Word Comedy
Sag started making people laugh between playing original songs at LA coffee house and music venue gigs. A chance audition at The Comedy Store in 1981 led to him being hired as a “Paid Regular” comedian. He was given paid weekly spots of his own and was one of the Monday night emcee’s at the legendary comedy club. In addition to performing, Sag also wrote and sold jokes to Arsenio Hall, Jay Leno, and Jimmy “JJ” Walker for their live appearances and television shows. Although he got laughs, often big ones, Sag just never had “an act” as one famed uber-power Hollywood agent told him.
Quitting Showbiz Was the Best Thing to Happen to His Comedy Career
Then, in October of 1986, after 5 years of bouncing back ‘n forth from floundering and killing, Sag went up on stage in The Original Room at The Comedy Store and to a packed house, announced he was leaving showbiz forever, that it was his “last show”. He was dead serious at the time, but life and comedy are funny. Because he had accidentally given himself a free creative get-out-of-jail card of it being his farewell performance, there was no longer invisible pressure, and so he was funnier than he’d been in years. It worked so well, Sag told the audience that they were so great, he had such a great time, that he’d be coming back “tomorrow night and do one more farewell performance”. The crowd cheered and a new and very famous act was formed.
Sag focused exclusively on “farewell performances only”, whereby every show was his last. He soon connected getting “high on the laughter” and becoming “addicted to the laughter”. He’d close his act with a speech about how hard it was to quit and put a stage pistol to his head. (Always threatening to kill the heckler first.) Sag would close each farewell show by saying: “You know. You’ve been such a great crowd, that even though I’m addicted to showbiz - and addictions control you, no matter what they are - alcohol, cocaine, stand-up comedy — I’ll be back tomorrow night for another farewell performance. Thank you and goodnight.” Soon, 2 national headlining Canadian tours, interest from Late Night With David Letterman and a book deal loomed, out of virtual nowhere; all because Sag did the opposite of what you’re supposed to do in showbiz. He quit. Then turned quitting into what the Hollywood agent once said he lacked: an act.
John Dowie (right) with comedy mate, the very funny Arthur Smith.
The Second Best Thing Was England
Nearly 5,000 “farewell performances” across the US and Canada, Sag moved to London, England, where he hit the ground running. Taken seriously for the first time, Sag appeared on British television a half a dozen times, headlined nearly all the UK comedy clubs, toured Europe, was represented by the top UK comedy management companies, hosted Paramount Comedy/Comedy Central’s South Park Weekend,and wrote and performed 4 highly acclaimed one-man shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. However; Sag’s biggest live comedy venture was creating something called “High On Laughter”, a big comedy gala for a drug and alcohol charity launched by Princess Diana. Three were produced, including one at The London Palladium, a show which featured American and British comedy acts, including Zach Galifiniakis, Jim Gaffigan and Emo Philips. On the bill that very fateful night was comedy legend Jerry Lewis, who never made it to the stage, but created such a fuss backstage and leading up to production, his actions created international news, which led to Sag’s first highly acclaimed one-man show and serious interest and involvement from Hollywood to turn his life story into a feature film.
Sag credits comic/poet John Dowie with not just directing “I Eat People Like YOU For Breakfast!”, which premiered at The Gilded Balloon in 2003 to high acclaim:
“John Dowie showed me, taught me, how to tell a story for the first time in my stage career. Before John it was joke, gag, laugh, gag, etc. After John, it was deep and real and therefore really funny and meaningful. I remain grateful for the man who worked with Neil Innes (Innes collaborated with Monty Python and played in The Rutles and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) and who on his own, redefined what stand-up and spoken word can really be.”
Enjoy Sag’s performance videos below:
Upcoming Shows & Events
“Legend”: My Life in Episodes
I Eat People Like YOU for Breakfast!
(the infamous story of my adventure when I brought Jerry Lewis to The London Palladium)