Never Gets Old: Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks, 'The 2,000 Year Old Man: The Complete History'

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"THE 2,000 YEAR OLD MAN" was never intended to last one year, let alone 60.

In the early 1950s, friends and fellow comedy writers Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks started doing the routine at parties: Reiner would play the interviewer and straight man, asking Brooks a series of questions that he would answer as the world's oldest man. For example:

» REINER: What was the means of transportation then?
» BROOKS: Mostly fear.
» REINER: Fear transported you?
» BROOKS: Fear, yes. An animal would growl — you would go two miles in a minute. Fear would be the main propulsion.

Neither had experience in stand-up comedy, and neither nursed ambitions in that direction, yet the private routine became such a hit among friends and party-goers that Steve Allen and Sid Caesar pushed them to introduce the 2,000-year-old man to a wider audience. Allen even offered to pay for the studio if they would make a record. It took them ten years to go through with it.

The rest is, ahem, history.

The duo's first record was released in 1960 and was a smash, earning the duo a Grammy nomination and a lifetime gig reviving the characters. Reiner and Brooks made several albums together — the most recent in 2000 — and even created an animated television special in 1975.

He may have been 2,000, but he had a lot of life in him, as Shout! Factory's new box set proves. "The 2,000 Year Old Man: The Complete History" collects half a century of material onto three CDs and one DVD, including the albums in full as well as two early television appearances, the cartoon and an interview from 2009.

"The Complete History" presents the duo's comedy albums in full, which means it includes many sketches that have nothing to do with the 2,000-year-old man, although they ape the interview premise. Reiner plays the same intrepid reporter, and Brooks alternately plays a hipster singer, an incompetent astronaut, an accountant and a psychiatrist who won't treat patients because they have filthy minds. All are amusing, but none give them the comic opportunities as the oldest man in the world.

As the liner notes explain, "The 2,000 Year Old Man" represents a moment when Jewish humor entered the popular culture, mostly via Brooks. Born Melvin Kaminsky, he grew up in a Jewish household in Brooklyn and developed his improvisational chops as a defense against neighborhood bullies. In these sketches, he launches an ad lib volley of puns and non sequiturs, showing a quick wit and an imaginative mind, modifying the tummler tradition of improv emceeing into a mainstream comedy routine.

» REINER: In the 2,000 years you've lived, you've seen a lot of changes.
» BROOKS: Certainly.
» REINER: What is the biggest change you've seen?
» BROOKS: In 2,000 years, the greatest thing mankind ever devised, I think, in my humble opinion, is Saran Wrap. You can put a sandwich in it. You can look through it. You can touch it. You can put it over your face and you can fool around and everything. It's so good and cute. You can wrap it up. I love it. You can put three olives in it and make a little one. You can put 10 sandwiches in it and make a big Saran Wrap. Whatever you want. It clings and sticks. It's great. You can look right through it."
» REINER: You equate this with man's discovery of space?
» BROOKS: Dat was good.

Despite the deepening weirdness, Brooks maintains his composure through it all, although in the early live appearances on the DVD he maintains a cool Cheshire Cat smirk. Reiner may be the straight man, but he struggles to maintain a straight face.

At times the bit comes across as more historically significant than outright hilarious, peppered with stale jokes or corny wordplay. While some of these routines sound dated either in reference or in style, the secret of the 2,000 year old man's longevity isn't the material but the performers. Reiner and Brooks have such a genial chemistry that they can sell even the most obvious set-ups and the most threadbare punchlines.

That kind of rapport never gets old.

Written by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner
Photos courtesy Shout Factory, Demont Photo Management