The new Max documentary "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life" is directed by Brooks's highschool chum Rob Reiner and features interviews with comics like Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman and Nikki Glaser talking about Brooks's breakthrough "alternative" comedy and his enduring influence. At one point, Tiffany Haddish appreciatively says Brooks was, "The first dude I'd ever seen at least make a marijuana joke and, like, light it up on TV—and he was sitting next to Johnny Carson."
A clip is then shown of Brooks from his 7/25/1979 Tonight Show appearance where he pulls out what looks like a joint from his pocket and says, "You know Johnny, this is my 10th year on the show, and I brought something to celebrate." Carson explodes with laughter as Brooks lights the "joint" and hands it to Ed McMahon, who takes a hit before passing it to Johnny.
Carson takes a whiff and pronounces it not to be marijuana (how he knew the smell is a good question). Brooks admits that the joint is "ersatz," saying, "I can prove it (takes a whiff). Look, I still got memory!" He then tells a story about being on the road in the late 60s or early 70s when, performing in Seattle, he was offered a hit of a joint by the road manager for the headliner. "I still remember it with some degree of fondness," Brooks recalled, pronouncing it "industrial marijuana," the strongest he'd ever smoked. He opined that it's good when either the comic or the audience is stoned because "if you're both straight there's a good chance for physical violence." Johnny added that 10 or 12 years earlier you couldn't even make a joke about marijuana on TV, because the networks wouldn't permit it. So this was another Moment in Marijuana Acceptance, courtesy of Mr. Brooks.
Named Albert Einstein at birth, Brooks certainly has shown great intelligence in his long career, appearing in films like "Taxi Driver" and "Broadcast News," writing and directing films like "Modern Romance" and "Defending Your Life" (opposite Meryl Streep), producing short films for "Saturday Night Live," and voicing characters in "Finding Nemo" and "The Simpsons."
According to Penny Marshall's 2012 memoir, while she was married to Reiner, "our house became a hangout for comedy's elite," naming Brooks, Jerry Belson, Billy Crystal, Richard Dreyfuss*, and Charles Grodin, among others.
"These were the pot-smoking years, and a lot of it was smoked at our house," she writes. "I cleaned the seeds and stems in a shoebox top. It was a skill, and I was good at it." Belson would interrupt Brooks's comedy routines to say, "Can we take a break and smoke a joint?" and Brooks would get the munchies so badly he would eat Marshall's daughter's brown bag lunch meant for school the next day.
Brooks did a guest turn on TV's "Weeds" as Lenny Botwin, the crotchety father-in-law of single mom and pot peddler Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker). He told South Coast Today that he was a fan of the show's writing and cast, saying he'd like to find such roles on the big screen as well, while lamenting that studios are too busy cultivating projects that pass the "14-year-old/Korea test."
Brooks, who dated Linda Ronstadt, is definitely in the "Men We'd Love to Toke With" category. One of the few fan letters I ever wrote was to Brooks, telling him how much his movie "Mother" meant to me after seeing it on the plane while returning from my mother's funeral. Mothers of our generation gave up their careers to raise their kids, and sometimes took their frustrations out on their sons and daughters. Brooks and Reiner talk about this in the film, making it a great Moment in Mother Acceptance too.
*Dreyfuss recently wondered if his marijuana use had affected his bipolar disorder, but his sister set the record straight. He is witty and charming (as always) in "The Last Laugh" (2019) where he plays a medical marijuana user.
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