Legendary Comedian Don Rickles to Perform at The Saban Theatre

The king of “insult comedy,” Don Rickles, will be performing at the beautiful Saban Theatre in Los Angeles on January 17.  Rickles is known as “The Merchant of Venom” due to his tendency to insult the audience, and is by far, one of 20th century’s most famous and hilarious comedians.

Years ago when Rickles started comedy, he concluded that the best way to respond to hecklers when performing, was to give them a taste of their own medicine.  He began slinging insults at deserving audience members, hence his nickname “The Merchant of Venom.”

For almost 40 years, Rickles has performed in the top comedy clubs in Atlantic City, Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Las Vegas.  He had also become a favorite of big name stars such as Frank Sinatra, who even gave him the pet-name “bullet-head.”  Rickles has also appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” more than 100 times.

Rickles was also in the popular “Beach Party” film series.  In addition, he made appearances on “The Dean Martin Show” and became a regular on the “Dean Martin Comedy Roast” specials that continued until 1984.

In the early 1980’s, Rickles began performing with musician Steve Lawrence in Las Vegas, and they co-hosted the ABC-TV series “Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders.”  However, Rickles considers the highlight of his career to be when Frank Sinatra asked him to perform at Ronald Reagan’s Second Inaugural Ball.  Although the only stipulation Sinatra had was that he would not perform unless Rickles was allowed to perform with him.

In 1990, Rickles appeared in the second season of “Tales From the Crypt,”, which then led to him being cast in the film “Innocent Blood” in 1992.  He then went on to star in the short-lived sitcom, “Daddy Dearest,” with comedian Richard Lewis.  In 1995, he made the return to film in two high profile projects, “Casino,” and all the “Toy Story” films, in which he was the voice of Mr. Potato head.

Rickles also wrote a memoir titled “Rickles’ Book,” which was released on May 8, 2007.  He also released his own documentary in 2007 titled “Mr. Warmth:  The Don Rickles Project,” which was directed by John Landis and premiered on HBO.  Since then, Rickles has appeared on “Kathy Griffin:  The Life on the D-List,” as well as “Hot in Cleveland” on TV Land.

Don Rickles will be appearing at the Saban Theatre on Jan.17. Tickets can be purchased here.