Count me among those who mourn the death last night of the comic actor Harvey Korman. Not only was he brilliant in some of Mel Brooks' best movies--as everyone reporting on his death has noted with a clip or two from Blazing Saddles--he was delightful to watch on TV in The Carol Burnett Show. So far, most reporters mentioning Korman's work there have used bits of the infamous "Went With the Breeze" sketch . . . wherein Carol famously made a dress out of curtains with the curtain rods still attached at her shoulders.
My own favorite Korman moments include every time Tim Conway's ad libs cracked Korman up. The harder he tried to fight losing it, the funnier he and Conway got. There's something delightfully infectious yet healing about such uncontainable guffaws.
My very favorite Korman moment, however, will always be one from a series of Burnett Show blackout sketches featuring twisted interpretations of songs from great American musicals. Korman, in plaid logging gear, entered the stage (decorated like a forest) belting out that Paint Your Wagon tune, "I Talk To The Trees." And several men in white coats with butterfly nets and a straightjacket come to take him away.
Heaven is a happier place today. Earth may not be, but at least we have the DVDs to console us.
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