View source for 2000 Year Old Man

{{Short description|Carl Reiner/Mel Brooks comedy sketch}}

[[File:2000yo.jpg|thumb|Rhino Records' ''2000 Year Old Man'' boxed set of albums one through four]]
'''''The 2000 Year Old Man''''' is a comedy sketch created by [[Carl Reiner]] and [[Mel Brooks]] in the 1950s and first publicly performed in the 1960s. Brooks plays a 2000-year-old man, interviewed by Reiner in a series of comedy routines that were turned into a collection of records and also performed on television.<ref name="karpel">{{cite web |last1=Karpel |first1=Ari |title=A Shtick With a Thousand Lives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/arts/television/15karp.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=14 July 2019|date=November 12, 2009}}</ref><ref name="holmes">{{cite web |last1=Holmes |first1=Bill |title=The 2000 Year Old Man: The Complete History |url=https://www.popmatters.com/119312-the-2000-year-old-man-the-complete-history-2496153798.html |website=popmatters.com |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=13 July 2019 |date=February 3, 2010}}</ref><ref name="lee">{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Tom |title=The Musical Fruit |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/1/18/the-musical-fruit-pbkbept-alive-by/ |access-date=13 July 2019 |publisher=The Harvard Crimson |date=January 18, 1974}}</ref>

==History==
The foundation for the routine was laid during production of ''[[Your Show of Shows]]'', where Reiner was an actor and Brooks was a writer. Reiner describes the first instance:

{{blockquote|I remember the first question I asked him. It was because I had seen a program called ''[[We the People (American TV series)|We the People Speak]]'', early television. [He puts on an announcer voice] "We the People Speak. Here’s a man who was in [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s toilet, heard Stalin say, 'I’m going to blow up the world.' I came in, I said this is good for a sketch. No one else thought so, but I turned to Mel and I said, "Here's a man who was actually seen at the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]] 2,000 years ago," and his first words were, "Oh, boy." We all fell over laughing. I said, "You knew [[Jesus]]?" "Yeah," he said, "Thin lad, wore sandals, long hair, walked around with 11 other guys. Always came into the store, never bought anything. Always asked for [[Marriage at Cana|water]]." Those were the first words, and then for the next hour or two I kept asking him questions, and he never stopped killing us.<ref name="karpel"/>}}

It began as a joke between the two that was then shared at parties. Reiner started bringing a [[tape recorder]] to the parties as Brooks never said the same thing twice. Numerous people such as [[George Burns]] suggested to the two that they put their material on an [[Comedy album|album]], but only [[Steve Allen]] managed to coax the two to come record it in his studio.<ref name="holmes"/><ref name="lee"/><ref name="pri">{{cite web |last1=Manilla |first1=Ben |last2=Strolovitch |first2=Devon |title=Mel Brooks and 'The 2000 Year Old Man' |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-09-06/mel-brooks-and-2000-year-old-man |website=pri.org |publisher=Public Radio International |access-date=13 July 2019 |date=September 6, 2018}}</ref><ref name="npr">{{cite web |title=Brooks And Reiner's 2,000-Year-Old Man Turns 50 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120909130&t=1563090177542 |website=npr.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=14 July 2019|date=November 28, 2009}}</ref> Reiner recalls the moment he and Brooks realized the first album was going to be a hit:

{{blockquote|When we made the album, the album came out, we weren't sure yet whether everybody was going to like it. And it was [[Cary Grant]], who was my neighbor at [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]], he came over and I gave him a record and I said the new record came out, you may like this. And he came back a week later, said, Can I have two dozen? I said, What are you going to do with them? He said, I'm going to take them to [[England]]. I said, You'll take these to England? He said, Yeah, they speak English there. Anyway, he came back and said, She loved it. I said who? [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|The Queen Mother]]. I said, You played this in [[Buckingham Palace]]? He said yes. And then Mel says, Well, if the biggest [[shiksa]] in the world loves it, we're home free.<ref name="npr"/>}}

==Sketch==
Reiner was the [[straight man]], asking interview questions of Brooks, who would improvise answers in a [[American Jews|Jewish-American]] accent.<ref name="playboy"/> The free-wheeling semi-improvised sketches covered a wide variety of topics from marriage ("I have been married several hundred times") and children ("I have over 42,000 children and not one comes to visit me!") to transportation ("What was the means of transportation then? Mostly fear.").<ref name="loc">{{cite web|date=June 10, 2009|title=2008|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/recording-registry/registry-by-induction-years/2008/|access-date=13 July 2019|website=loc.gov|publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

The quality of the sketch was elevated by the quick improvisational wit of Brooks, who would usually use a question as a springboard to unplanned exposition and tangents that would be as much of a surprise to his partner as it was to the audience. Reiner continued to act as the voice of the audience, providing questions and challenging Brooks' answers. "He was like a [[district attorney]]" claims Brooks. Reiner's knowledge of history and momentous events raised the bar on the exchanges. "I knew the questions" quipped Reiner, "but I didn't know the answers." While Reiner deferred the great lines to Brooks, he knew his friend well enough to follow along and cross paths enough to prop him up for more opportunities.<ref name="holmes"/>

==Recordings and performances==
Their first television appearances performing the sketch were on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in February 1961 and then on ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' eight months later.<ref name="holmes" />

Reiner and Brooks released five comedy albums. The 2000 Year Old Man character appeared on one track for each of the first three albums and the entirety of the final two.

# ''2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'' (1960)<ref>This album was originally released in 1960 as World-Pacific #1401. It was reissued as Capitol #1529 in 1961.  See, ''Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks The Complete 2000 Year Old Man'' (Los Angeles, CA: Rhino Records), 1994, p. 32.</ref><ref>{{AllMusic |id=mw0002640965 |tab= |title=2000 Years with Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks }}</ref>
# ''2000 and One Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'' (1961)<ref name=grammy/><ref>{{AllMusic |id=mw0002640964 |tab= |title=2000 and One Years with Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks }}</ref>
# ''[[Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks at the Cannes Film Festival]]'' (1962)<ref name=grammy>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/carl-reiner|title= Carl Reiner |website= [[Grammys]].com|access-date= May 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{AllMusic |id=mw0002640966 |tab= |title=Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks at the Cannes Film Festival |access-date= }}</ref>
# ''2000 and Thirteen with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'' (Warner Bros. Records, 1973)<ref>{{cite web|title=Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks - 2000 And Thirteen|url=https://www.discogs.com/Carl-Reiner-Mel-Brooks-2000-And-Thirteen/master/414256|access-date=2020-07-02|website=[[Discogs.com]]|year=1973 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{AllMusic |id=mw0000691072 |tab= |title=2000 and Thirteen |access-date= }}</ref>
# ''The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000'' (1997)<ref name=grammy/><ref>{{AllMusic |id=mw0000028687 |tab= |title=The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 |access-date= }}</ref>

''The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000'' was released concurrently with a companion book of the same name.<ref>{{cite book|last=Parish|first=James Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WM8ZEm2KRZoC&dq=Mel+Brooks+Carl+Reiner+1997+Year+2000+companion&pg=PA122|title=It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks|date=2008-02-26|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-22526-4|language=en}}</ref> It also won the 1998 [[Grammy Award]] for Best Spoken Comedy Album.<ref>{{cite web|title=41st Annual Grammy Awards {{!}} 1998 Grammys |website=grammy.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/41st-annual-grammy-awards-1998 |publisher=[[National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=February 26, 2021}}</ref>

There have also been numerous compilation albums such as ''Best of the 2000 Year Old Man'' (1968)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cvinyl.com/item.php?s=98817|title=CVINYL.COM Vinyl Price Guide: Reiner, Carl & Mel Brooks - Best Of The Two Thousand Year Old Man (Capitol ST 2981)|website=www.cvinyl.com}}</ref> and ''Excerpts from The Complete 2000 Year Old Man'' (Rhino Records, 1994).<ref>{{cite web|title=Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks - Excerpts From The Complete 2000 Year Old Man|url=https://www.discogs.com/Carl-Reiner-Mel-Brooks-Excerpts-From-The-Complete-2000-Year-Old-Man/release/6024562|access-date=2020-07-02|website=[[Discogs.com]]|year=1994 |language=en}}</ref>

===Animated special===
{{Infobox television
| image                =
| caption              = 
| genre                = Animated [[television special]]
| creator              = 
| based_on             = 
| writer               = {{plainlist|
* [[Mel Brooks]]
* [[Carl Reiner]]}}
| screenplay           = 
| story                = 
| director             = Leo Salkin
| voices               = {{plainlist|
* Mel Brooks
* Carl Reiner}}
| narrated             = 
| theme_music_composer = [[Mort Garson]]
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| producer             = Leo Salkin
| editor               = 
| cinematography       = 
| runtime              = 30 min
| company              = {{plainlist|
* Crossbow Productions
* Acre Enterprises
* Leo Salkin Films}}
| budget               = 
| network              = [[CBS]]
| released             = {{Start date|1975|1|11}} 
}}
A half-hour animated television special, ''The 2000 Year Old Man'', premiered January 11, 1975.<ref name=AMG>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v168 |title=2000 Year Old Man (1975) - Leo Salkin |first=Hal |last=Erickson |website=AllMovie |access-date=February 26, 2021}}</ref> The dialogue for the special was taken from the live recordings of Reiner and Brooks.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=June 6, 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/339/mode/2up |pages=339–340}}</ref> This special has since been released on home video. The musical introduction was Bach's ''Sinfonia to Cantata #29'' performed on a [[Moog synthesizer]] by [[Mort Garson]].{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005348/?ref_=tt_rv_t0| title=IMDb entry for program}}</ref>

Most of the jokes were previously heard routines and/or eventually brought to the screen in Brooks' film ''[[History of the World, Part I]]'' (especially the caveman jokes).

==Legacy==
===Home media===
All five comedy albums were compiled and newly remastered on a 3-CD / 1-DVD box set by [[Shout! Factory]] for the 50th anniversary. ''The 2000 Year Old Man: The Complete History'' DVD was released November 24, 2009, and features an interview with Reiner and Brooks; the 1975 animated ''2000 Year Old Man'' television special, and clips of the two appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and The New Steve Allen Show.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

The album ''2000 Years With Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'' was added to the Library of Congress' [[National Recording Registry]] as part of its 2008 selections.<ref name="loc" /><ref name="pri" />

===Appearances in other media===
Mel Brooks appeared as the 2000 Year Old Man to help celebrate the 2000th episode of the original ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' hosted by Art Fleming (February 21, 1972), in which the three highest-scoring undefeated champions at that point returned to play an abbreviated game for charities. During his pre-game appearance he recounted how the show was done 2,000 years earlier—"It wasn't this hippy-happy-dappy game you've got here … the moment you walked out of your cave—Jeopardy!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=3901|title=J! Archive - Burns Cameron|website=www.j-archive.com}}</ref> On the March 17, 2014 (S30E131) airing of the current ''Jeopardy!'' hosted by Alex Trebek, Reiner and Brooks read an entire category of clues as their characters.

Brooks adapted the character to create the 2500 Year Old Brewmaster for Ballantine Beer in the 1960s. Interviewed by [[Dick Cavett]] in a series of ads, the [[Brewmaster]] (in a German accent, as opposed to the 2000 Year Old Man's Jewish voice) said he was inside the original Trojan horse and "could've used a six-pack of fresh air."<ref name="playboy">{{Cite interview |last=Brooks |first=Mel |author-link=Mel Brooks |interviewer=[[Larry Siegel]] |url=http://ysos.sammigirl.com/interviews/playboy1966.html |title=Playboy 1966 |date=October 1966 |work=[[Playboy]] |via=ysos.sammigirl.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512095922/http://ysos.sammigirl.com/interviews/playboy1966.html |archive-date=May 12, 2013}}</ref>

In the episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' entitled "[[Homer vs. Patty and Selma]]", Brooks appears as himself, riding in a limo being driven by Homer. After Homer incorrectly identifies the act as "The 2000-pound man thing," he and Brooks engage in a brief sketch, with Homer playing the part of Carl Reiner. When Homer is pulled over by the police, Chief Wiggum offers to give Brooks a ride and says they can do "the $2000-Man thing." Brooks agrees, but asks that he not play Reiner's part—"I ''hate'' Carl Reiner!", he says.

In an episode of ''[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]'' entitled "The Option Period", comedy writer Rick Tahoe uses The 2000 Year Old Man as an example of an ideal comedy sketch.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|channel=UCfdKgwfPhoMKU5yLpsdKCLg|title=Topic: ''Mel Brooks''}} (''2000 Year Old Man'')<!--  Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group, Believe SAS, Unidisc Music Inc.  -->
* {{Discogs artist|artist=3118795-Carl-Reiner-Mel-Brooks|name=Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks}}
* {{imdb title|0388667}}
* {{AllMusic |class= |id=mn0000342833 |tab=discography |title=Mel Brooks }}
* {{AllMusic |class= |id=mn0000817640 |tab=discography |title=Carl Reiner }}
<!-- 
* {{AllMusic |id=mw0002640964 |tab= |title=2000 and One Years with Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks (2014)|access-date= }}
* {{AllMusic |id=mw0002640965 |tab= |title=2000 Years with Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks (1960)|access-date= }}
* {{AllMusic |id=mw0002640966 |tab= |title=Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks at the Cannes Film Festival |access-date= }}
* {{AllMusic |id=mw0000691072 |tab= |title=2000 and Thirteen |access-date= }}
* {{AllMusic |id=mw0000028687 |tab= |title=The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 |access-date= }}
 -->

{{Mel Brooks}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1960]]
[[Category:1961 in radio]]
[[Category:1961 in American television]]
[[Category:Comedy radio characters]]
[[Category:Comedy theatre characters]]
[[Category:Male characters in theatre]]
[[Category:Male characters in radio]]
[[Category:Theatre characters introduced in 1961]]
[[Category:Radio characters introduced in 1961]]
[[Category:Comedy sketches]]
[[Category:Works by Mel Brooks]]
[[Category:Works by Carl Reiner]]
[[Category:Works about old age]]
[[Category:1960s in comedy]]