ENGLISH LIT 344 / COMEDY & SATIRE Who's Who in American Comedy
Though ostensibly a musician, Oscar Levant was popular for the comedy arising from his penchant for talking openly about his neurosis; it paved the way for the personal style of comedy exemplified by comics like Richard Lewis. The clip below shows him during an appearance on the Jack Paar Show (the precursor of Jay Leno and Johny Carson.)
[For more details on these people, check their listing in Wikipedia, but note--this is one of the rare times I can accept the use of Wikipedia as a source. I have found that most of the information there about these people is reliable.]
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