Billy Crystal

 

 

It’s clear from the minute host and interviewer Andrew Denton introduces a video package of some of Billy Crystal’s most memorable moments that there are very few people in the house who aren’t familiar with his work.

 

Crystal has done it all. He’s hosted the Oscars nine times and he’s worked with the best - Robert De Niro, Jack Palance, the list goes on. But what is truly remarkable about Crystal is how down to earth he is. So many of the stories he shares are about his own starstruck experiences – playing backgammon with Sammy Davis Jr, being greeted by Jack Nicholson backstage at the Oscars, being turned away by one of his heroes in Orson Welles, meeting teenage crush Sophia Loren for the first time, getting the call of approval from talk show king Johnny Carson. At 68 years old, Crystal is undoubtedly a legend of the business, but beneath it all, he is simply a fan like anyone else and the enthusiasm he exudes when retelling these stories proves it.

 

The night is filled with many laughs, though perhaps the sweetest moments come when he talks in length about long time friends Muhammad Ali and Robin Williams and the deeply personal relationships he shared with both.

 

The night ends on a high when Crystal performs a skit he wrote that was cut from the very first episode of Saturday Night Live way back in 1975. Somehow he makes a joke written over 40 years ago work to perfection. That is simply the magic of Billy Crystal.