Comedian helped redefine stand-up

SHELLEY BERMAN

Shelley Berman, whose anxiety-ridden observations helped redefine stand-up comedy in the late 1950s and early ’60s, died early Friday at his home in Bell Canyon, California. He was 92.

His publicist, Glenn Schwartz, said the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Berman, one of the first comedians to have as much success on records as in person or on television, was in the vanguard of a movement that transformed the comedy monologue from a rapid-fire string of gags to something more subtle, more thoughtful and more personal.

Comedians like Berman, Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce had a different approach. In 1959, Time magazine referred to this new breed as “sick” comics, and the term (which Berman hated) caught on.

Perched on a stool — unlike most stand-up comedians, he did his entire act sitting down — Berman focused on the little things. And like his fellow Chicago comedian Bob Newhart, he specialized in telephone monologues, in which the humor came from his reactions to the unheard voice.

Berman was theatrically trained, and thought of himself more as an actor than a comedian. He continued acting well into his 80s, earning an Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Larry David’s father on the HBO comedy series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

In the early days of his comedy career, he appeared on Broadway in “The Girls Against the Boys” (1959) and “A Family Affair” (1962), and on television shows, including “Peter Gunn,” “Rawhide” and “The Twilight Zone.”

The first of his several albums, “Inside Shelley Berman” (1959), put both Berman and the phenomenon of comedy records on the map. “Inside Shelley Berman” won a Grammy Award and reached No. 2 on the Billboard album chart.

Berman is survived by his wife, Sarah — the couple married in 1947 — and a daughter, Rachel.