“I don’t have a drinking problem. I have a stopping problem.” Far back in the mists of time, which entertainer was the first to utter that line? Many sober people are quite impressive, but sober professional comedians are a bit of a special case. Not surprisingly, comedians and others who are comedy-world adjacent are willing to discuss their alcohol use, to varying degrees and for numerous reasons.

On the other hand, surely there are others who don’t talk about their alcoholic histories, and there is no way to know who they were, or are. But while numerous show business personalities who have traveled the tough road do not consider it a suitable topic, others can’t shut up about the miracle of sobriety that changed their lives.

Comedians are prone to believe that if they get sober, they won’t be funny anymore. That is something we can all relate to. Many of us probably hang onto habits, even vices, from fear that by abandoning them we would lose some vital capability.

AA means Alcoholics Anonymous for a reason. If a person tells the world they go to meetings, and then “falls off the wagon” in some spectacularly public way, it discredits the organization. Others in desperate need might lose hope that AA could help them, and more lives would be wasted. So, one of the organizations’ original tenets was to keep quiet about it.

But not everyone feels this way. Comedian and prolific interviewer Marc Maron believes that awareness about the possibility of achieving sobriety is better for everybody. If he knows or suspects that a podcast guest belongs to what he teasingly calls the “secret society,” he persists in encouraging conversation.

Russell Brand has discussed his addiction and sobriety extensively, but that’s not enough for some people. A fear that results from public disclosure is that forever afterward, journalists will tag every story with a subhead like, “Russell Brand interview: Have fatherhood, abstinence and God really made him a changed man?” It seems as if the celebrity will have to put up with this sort of nonsense for all eternity

The whole enormous podcast landscape includes thousands of hours of comedians and other showbiz types interviewing each other about their addictions. With some, you can tell that the best part is telling their horror stories; the more appalling, the better. For others — or maybe even the same ones — the reward is the opportunity to encourage the audience to clean up their acts and quit being addicts.

Many comedians have gone pro after discovering that they were funny in AA. One made the joke that he joined AA because he needed the stage time. This resonates with Doug Stanhope, who as a child was taken along to meetings by his mother, and he still drinks enthusiastically to this day. He reminisces,

Listening to people celebrate substance abuse and alcoholism, they would glorify the addiction, tell fantastic stories, then end with an uplifting tale of how they never have that kind of fun anymore.

Some public figures have written entire books about being, and then not being, alcoholic. Others sum it up in a few words. A comedian might make inebriation the foundation of an entire career. Bert Kreischer’s fans feel like they are not getting their money’s worth unless he drinks his way through every second of stage time.

Dean Martin was the poster boy for the concept of a “drunk comedian,” and his license plate said DRUNKY, but people close to him have dedicated a lot of energy and breath to convincing the public that the liquor was only a stage prop, like another comedian’s smashed watermelons. Now, allegedly, the truth is that…

The drink in his hand on stage was apple juice more often than not, and he was usually the first to call it quits at parties, preferring to spend time at home with his family. He played an alcoholic so convincingly in movies like Some Came Running and Rio Bravo that the tabloids started writing about his not-so-secret “addiction.”

Some comedians drink only when preparing to step onto the stage; some never drink when performing. Some have never imbibed at all — even if they came from alcohol-soaked families. Some began drinking late — in their twenties — while others, like Moshe Kasher, started so young, they were rehab graduates and teetotalers before their contemporaries had even tasted communion wine. Greg Fitzsimmons says, “Some people quit alcohol and then they kind of wear that as a badge and the growth stops because they hold onto it as an identity.”

Many quit with the help of the “secret society” or by some other means. Others keep on drinking as long as they can hold a glass. Some never stop, including the multi-faceted Barry Crimmins, who advocated “the inalienable right to self-medicate.” Some, like Ron Funches, are allergic to alcohol. On the other hand, Mike Green says, “I’m allergic to alcohol. Every time I drink I break out in handcuffs.”

Tony Vera Echevarria was a longtime street performer on the Venice Beach boardwalk. Recently, a young woman wrote about him via Facebook:

I remember you used to hold up a coin during the show and state the amount of time you had clean… I never knew what you were talking about till later in my life after my own battles with addiction. I’ve been 4 years clean and sober now… I want you to know you have a very special place in my childhood memories!

Echevarria replied, “This made me cry and happy at the same time.”

Written by Pat Hartman. First published September 23, 2024.

Source:

“Intoxicating Facts About Dean Martin, The King Of Cool,” Factinate.com, May 5, 28,2029.

Image Copyright: Anonymous Internet meme.