“Danny Kaye Has Unique Presentation Technique”

Meriden Journal – Aug. 10, 1960

By: Bob Thomas

Associated Press Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Aug. 10 (AP) — You really have to see Danny Kaye working before a live, breathing audience to see what makes him unique.

Unlike most of his fellow stars, he uses no hard-sell, no jokes about himself. He comes out in sport coat and slacks, instead of the traditional tailored tuxedo. He uses no props except his agile, expressive hands. There isn’t the slightest tinge of blue in any of his material.

He comes out with the “git-gat-gittle” song he has been doing for 20 years. He follows with other standards: "Dena," "Ballin’ the Jack," "Minnie the Moocher." He does an imitation of a Democratic orator that harks back hilariously to Los Angeles in July. He abuses and confuses his listeners with a wild community sing and has them howling for more.

Kaye also differs from other stars in the way he has handled his career. His date at the Desert Inn is his first work in a year, his first night club date in 15 years.

This fall, Kaye will make his debut as a live entertainer in television, a field the other comics have mined for a decade. He makes a movie only every year or two.

Despite such little exposure, he remains among the show-biz elite. Between performances, he explained how he has managed his career.

“It’s not that I don’t like to work,” he said. “I knew from the start of my career that I wouldn’t do more than one picture a year. I would do more if I were an actor. But I’m not. I’m a very specialized kind of guy and it’s hard to find material for me.

“I haven’t had anything against TV. I’ve just waited until TV was ready for me, until I could be given the time I needed for preparation. Once I got it, I was ready to take the plunge.”

Another reason for the trend of Danny’s career is the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t need the constant gratification of an audience, as do Red Skeleton and Jerry Lewis. He has been in all phases of show business, from the borscht circuit through night clubs, Broadway shows, movies, radio, vaudeville and now TV. But that is not his sole life.

He can get on time-consuming passions, such as his world tour for the United Nations Children's program which resulted in a celebrated filmed TV documentary.

His latest love is the wild blue yonder.

"That's what I've been doing for the past year," he explained. "That's why I haven't been working.

"Michael Kidd is the guy who got me stared. When he was directing 'Merry Andrew,' I wouldn't ride home with him unless I could drive -- that's how lousy a driver he was. Then I found out he was a flier.

"It amazed me. I called him in New York and he said he would be back Tuesday; I said I would go up with him Wednesday. I figured if a lousy driver like him could do it, why couldn't I?"

Danny was hooked, and he spent months in flight school where at first he felt a foreign language was being spoken. Now he's a full-fledge flier and comes down to earth only when necessary.

But that's the way it has always been with Danny.

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