From that moment on, he wanted to be a performer. But even as a kid he thought it was funny that show folk called each other a genius every minute. Shaffer had a bar mitzvah, took piano lessons all the way through high school and ended up at his father's alma mater, the University of Toronto, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
In , he became the musical director of the Toronto production of Godspell. My best friends from Toronto turned out to be the funniest people in the business. In late , Shaffer was called in for a meeting in a barren office at NBC with Barry Sand, a TV producer, and David Letterman, a weatherman-turned-comedian from Indianapolis who had been hosting an irreverent therefore unsuccessful morning show on NBC.
Now the plan was to redirect his talents to late night television, and he needed someone to play with on the air. The meeting lasted all of 30 minutes and was followed by another meeting some weeks later at which "they asked the exact same questions," Shaffer says.
Often referred to as "greatest sidekick in television," Shaffer takes that praise humbly, and its title seriously. I am so proud of learning how to be the straight man for Dave. He encouraged me to jump in, 'whenever you have something.
Our show was reality television. We never knew what would happen. Dave made us a team. I was not just a funny character. And I got to do everything I do all at once. David said, 'Do more of that. That's hilarious. Even Jerry Lewis wants to be Dean Martin. The template for the late night show—host, band, sidekick, monologue, guests—was, of course, created on The Tonight Show , and both Letterman and Shaffer were enormously influenced by the original host, Steve Allen, and Johnny Carson, who made it an American pop cultural touchstone in the '60s and '70s.
I couldn't be off [just waiting to play in the breaks]. It took me a while to learn how to focus for the whole hour. In six-month increments, Shaffer was renewed and grew more comfortable in his hybrid role.
At a certain point, while still at NBC, Shaffer says he, "ran out of [Rat Pack] material, so then Dave said it would be great if we had a conversation. That's when it became super interesting for me. It became spontaneous. So, I learned Judaism there, and had my bar mitzvah there. When I was growing up, I went to cheder three times a week after school, and I went to shul for High Holidays, a practice that I continue today.
Meanwhile, his year-old daughter Victoria will be representing the Shaffer clan in the Jewish State next month aboard Birthright Israel. And, come to think of it, I think Roger should play in Israel some day, too. Sinai Hospital to lend his talents to United Jewish Appeal.
In Streetwise Hebrew for the Times of Israel Community, each month we learn several colloquial Hebrew phrases around a common theme. These are bite-size audio Hebrew classes that we think you'll really enjoy. That band had a competitive spirit. Everyone was playing for their lives. Did you find that you could only do so much partying on the road and still perform? Well, I have to admit, we all thought, This is our chance!
Well, we certainly stayed up all night in them and stuff. We were tame by most standards, really. Oh, yeah! Well, I understand the beard has its own agent now. Lastly, I understand Artie Fufkin has returned to help promote your new album. Artie Fufkin would find a different business if he came back as a promo man today. Unsurprisingly, the former Late Show host explained his reasoning with a baseball analogy. By Laura Bradley. By Jenna Marotta. By Julie Miller. Yeah, what would you like to know?
I did not know that. Did you destroy any hotel rooms in the process? Courtesy of The Groundlings.
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