This is what I remember Gallagher for. Not smashing food with a sledgehammer, but interesting observations and insights. Which was actually 85% of his show, if anyone had actually paid attention...most comedians make fun of him, even now, because of the fame he experienced in the 80's. They discredit him as being a cheap prop comic, which he kind of was, but not cheap. He also created every prop he had himself because he majored as a chemical engineering student in college, minored in English Lit, hence bits like this. He pretty much dominated Showtime with at least one special per year for 10 to 12 years. He made a lot of money, and fellow comedians were very jealous of it. In my opinion, he earned it.
I loved the bit when he talked about style, and showed that just where your hands are determines if what you wore is masculine or feminine was hilarious.
I watch a lot of comedy podcasts, alot, and have never heard any other comedians bash him. They almost always speak kindly and respectfully about him. Idk what you are watching.
I feel they were on the same merry-go-round on the playground as kids, so they saw how and why the world was so silly it had to be spinning, but they each had just enough difference in the angle that they covered what the other didn't.
Carlin was doing the English language stuff before Gallagher. Not saying Gallagher wasn’t awesome but he definitely took heavy inspiration from Carlin.
Great post! I saw him live in Toledo, Ohio in the 80’s. Sledge O magic was funny, but his observations were hilarious. Gallagher, Steve Martin, George Carlin and Richard Pryor, and the original SNL players. Priceless.
Just here to pay my respects as this is my favorite skit of his, especially as someone who knows English as a second language. He encapsulates the chaotic nature of the language so well and so precisely! He should be remembered for this much more than the watermelons!
Man was I sad when he retired... that dude was a genius. Gallagher and Carlin were my two favorite comedians when I was a teen, and a lot of that was how they both had a fascination with words and language. Gallagher went way farther out on a limb with a lot of crazy prop and physical comedy, but they were clearly both comedic geniuses. The world has diminished by their passing. RIP
I agree. Both looked at the world so different than the rest of us but could explain their view that any child could understand. World was better with them here
Carlin was an obscene, filthy-mouthed no-talent! If he had had any genuine wit, he would not have had to have been so dirty mouthed! K-Von is ten-times funnier than Gallagher and the obscene Carlin put together!
I had a brief encounter with Gallagher in 1987, Knots Berry Farm. He enjoyed talking with people he met. He was a knowledgeable supporter of the 2 Nd amendment. .😁
The thing I liked about learning German was the trust you could put in the word being phonetic. It may be 10 words jammed together, but you could say it.
I remember my parents watching his Showtime/HBO shows growing up. I loved when he brought out the "chalkboard" and wrote, this makes no ¢. I wish I could have seen his act in person, but I will cherish my Watermelon set.
Rest in peace comedian #Gallagher I met him in 2008 it was for my birthday. I got to get up on stage and squash a birthday cake. Syrup/cake all over me 😆
Damn. I just got into him recently, and didn't know he had passed. How sad. He seems like he was an absolute genius who could light up a room without the need for crude humor. I wish I had a chance to see him.
RIP Leo Gallagher or simply Gallagher 😢🍉 Gallagher was one of my absolute favorite comedians when I was growing up, he was hilarious and one of a kind. His comedy covered so many topics, he had bits on society, politics, relationships, the sexes, race, pop culture, the english language, growing up, and growing old. I always considered him one of the smart comedians, he was clever, witty, and sharp as a tack. Some of my favorite bits of his involved social commentary, politics and the education system. He took you off guard because here was this zany looking wacky character who all of a sudden was saying some really interesting and intelligent things all the while with that sly little gleem in his eye. Of course he was most famous for his Sledge 'O' Matic routine at the end of his shows where he'd demonstrate the finest little handy dandy kitchen helper money could buy, and in the process cover his audience in just about every and anything you could find at your local grocery store. It got to the point where people in the first four rows would wear rain ponchos and garbage bags because they already knew what they were instore for. Gallagher was truly one of a kind and will be sorely missed 😔 Rest easy my friend, none of us will ever forget our favorite fun loving, fruit smashing funny man. Thanks for the laughs 🍉 🕯️❤️
There have been many kinds of comedians but none as unique as Gallagher. Not just because of the watermelon-smashing part but because of things like this! You will be missed.
@@darcybrummett7004 .....You do know there are 2 Gallaghers right? When the first one (where a lot of the material came from) died (of stomach cancer IIRC) his brother took up the routine. The original has the high cheek bones and narrow jaw, his brother has the rounder face.
My fave comic as a teenager in the 70's; seen him live at least five times and he never disappointed. I agree with most of the other comments here in that his watermelon smashing antics were the icing on the cake of his observational humor.
RIP Gallagher. I've watched you all my life, and your genius was never lost on me. I credit you with some of the reason I look at the world the way I do. ❤
actually, they did…it’s a mix of Germanic, Norse, French, Gaelic, Italian, Spanish, Briton, Irish, Arabic, Indian, and other languages all put together over centuries of conquest and interaction
I went to one of his shows in Indiana a long time ago. While watching on TV you could tell which people had been to a show before or at least saw him on TV. The live show was so funny!
I know this has been around here for many years, but it's time I finally comment: As an English teacher in Europe, my favorite phrase to say to my students the first day is: "The English articles - a, an, the - are easy, but English pronunciation sucks." I love his observances in his works, as such things are what I use in my work as well. These truths remain constant.
Even worse: wind 1. The wind is blowing. 2. Wind it up. Same spelling. Two different pronouncioations... As a non native english speaker it´s frustrating since I pronounced both of them for two decades like the second one....
Homonyms are the worst: Foot is either the thing under your ankle or twelve inches, address is either where you live or speaking to someone, and beam can mean a structural support piece, a ray of light, or it can mean something figurative, like being really happy or hopeful. These are just some of em too, I’m a native English speaker and I still hate this language sometimes.
I met Gallagher in Knoxville, Tn, I couldn't think of nothing to say but "Are you working hard"? He replied " I'm getting to old for this shit". 😆 R.I.P.
We we had the pleasure of seeing Gallagher perform in concert years back. His show is absolutely hysterical. He did have a huge huge pumpkin. He said he's not going to break it. But right before he left the stage he broke it. He got everybody wet
I speak 4 languages and english I have to think about, the other languages are literally: rule 1 mostly, rule 2 occasionally > english, no rule 1, everything rule 2.
My parents had a VHS of his standup, right around the time I was learning to read. We watched that until the tape broke! Gallagher taught me to love the English language for all its absurdity. Now, two novels on the shelves, I still love this wacky language.
I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE HIM A LONG TIME AGO ! HE DID 2 SHOWS , I HAD TICKETS TO BOTH SHOWS ! I GOT MUCH CLOSER FOR THE SECOND SHOW , I THINK IT WAS THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL , IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN ! IN SAN FRANCISCO ! HE DID THE SLEDGE-A-MATIC IN THE FIRST SHOW BUT NOT IN THE SECOND ! HE HAD TO CLEAN HIS OWN MESS , FROM THE FIRST ! I WATCHED ! BUT HE DID PICK ON ME IN THE SECOND SHOW ! IT WAS AN HONOR ! R.I.P. GALLAGHER ! THANKS FOR ALL THE AMAZING LAUGHS !
RIP Sir! I remember this skit from like 35yrs ago and it shows why English is hard for some to learn! I never told my boys to 'sound it out when trying to learn to spell for this reason! I am also a Brit in America soo the boys really had a time with my spelling!
As a spaniard, when I was learning english it was quite frustrating. In spanish, you read the word exactly how it is written (with only a few simple rules, like "q always goes with u but it's never pronounced" and such), and even where you should put the stregth when saying it is specified (so Raúl and baúl are pronounced in a way that they rhyme and have the stregth in the u). Going from that to such a chaotic pronunciation like english made me just decide that english is better learnt when remembering exactly just how english speakers say stuff (and not try to figure it out yourself). No offense, but your spelling/pronunciation rules are a bit too loose for being rules 😅😅
And knowing it first makes it harder to learn OTHER languages because you get the English sentence structure stuck in your head! (Then again, that may be true of all languages, IDK)
@@Astrithorthat is literally true for any language, what. Americans/people who speak English as their first language try to act like English is so difficult but the rest of the world generally have to learn it on top of their first language and they seem to do it well
This is what I remember Gallagher for. Not smashing food with a sledgehammer, but interesting observations and insights. Which was actually 85% of his show, if anyone had actually paid attention...most comedians make fun of him, even now, because of the fame he experienced in the 80's. They discredit him as being a cheap prop comic, which he kind of was, but not cheap. He also created every prop he had himself because he majored as a chemical engineering student in college, minored in English Lit, hence bits like this. He pretty much dominated Showtime with at least one special per year for 10 to 12 years. He made a lot of money, and fellow comedians were very jealous of it. In my opinion, he earned it.
Me too! My sister and I used to do the "archibald Barisol" bit daily. Sad he's gone.
I loved the bit when he talked about style, and showed that just where your hands are determines if what you wore is masculine or feminine was hilarious.
I watch a lot of comedy podcasts, alot, and have never heard any other comedians bash him. They almost always speak kindly and respectfully about him. Idk what you are watching.
i was just saying this yesterday.
he had a bunch of great monologues over the years, this is but one of them and shows his way with words
Gallagher was razor sharp. If you listen to his comedy, he was levels above the rest.
RIP
In this kind of humor, he’s every bit as good as Carlin.
I feel they were on the same merry-go-round on the playground as kids, so they saw how and why the world was so silly it had to be spinning, but they each had just enough difference in the angle that they covered what the other didn't.
And didn't feel the need to drop F "bombs" every other word.
That’s quite the insult to Gallagher
I was just saying the same thing he’s a clean Carlin
Carlin was doing the English language stuff before Gallagher. Not saying Gallagher wasn’t awesome but he definitely took heavy inspiration from Carlin.
It's to bad all anyone remembers him for is smashing watermelons. Stuff like this is where he shined.
Great post! I saw him live in Toledo, Ohio in the 80’s. Sledge O magic was funny, but his observations were hilarious. Gallagher, Steve Martin, George Carlin and Richard Pryor, and the original SNL players. Priceless.
I loved his skits! Not so much the watermelon bit.
@@paulineleatherman7717 yes
Got to meet him in 97 and he was so cool in person just an all around cool dude. Will never have another comedian like him.
@@bladerunner752 damn that's an awesome experience to have! Lucky man!
The man was a genius. He doesn't get enough credit for being exceptional, especially with the English language.
Just here to pay my respects as this is my favorite skit of his, especially as someone who knows English as a second language. He encapsulates the chaotic nature of the language so well and so precisely! He should be remembered for this much more than the watermelons!
We're on the same page and English is my native language.
This is what I remember him for. I have never seen the watermelon skit.
Watching this particular thing on cable sticks out in my mind. About 1982.
I haven’t seen this in decades and it’s amazing how much of it I remember.
Man was I sad when he retired... that dude was a genius. Gallagher and Carlin were my two favorite comedians when I was a teen, and a lot of that was how they both had a fascination with words and language. Gallagher went way farther out on a limb with a lot of crazy prop and physical comedy, but they were clearly both comedic geniuses. The world has diminished by their passing.
RIP
I agree. Both looked at the world so different than the rest of us but could explain their view that any child could understand. World was better with them here
Carlin was an obscene, filthy-mouthed no-talent! If he had had any genuine wit, he would not have had to have been so dirty mouthed! K-Von is ten-times funnier than Gallagher and the obscene Carlin put together!
I used to watch Gallagher as a kid, some 25 years ago. This bit always stuck in my head more than the Sledge O Matic or any thing else.
Me too! One of my favorite standup bits ever. It was so clever.
Literally remember this bit from when I was. Around 8 in 89 or so
Mine too...to, two....🤣🤣
Ha ha, he's tapping right into the frustration to anyone who's ever learnt English. XD
But did you learn it?
LEARNED
@@Lor1Kay3 LURN
And people that learned it too
@@Lor1Kay3 "Learnt" is also an acceptable conjugation of "learn." It's more used in English outside of North America.
I had a brief encounter with Gallagher in 1987, Knots Berry Farm. He enjoyed talking with people he met. He was a knowledgeable supporter of the 2 Nd amendment. .😁
Funny and super smart. My dumb friends never got him. I just think of Gallagher and start chuckling. RIP brother. You are sorely missed.
RIP, absolutely love his standup
He’s so good, he can do it sitting down
Trees...first we chop them DOWN, then we chop them UP.
The thing I liked about learning German was the trust you could put in the word being phonetic. It may be 10 words jammed together, but you could say it.
Quite LITERALLY my favorite Gallagher moment EVER!
Still one of my favorite bits. Nome numb? No! N! U! M! B!!!
Man this is deep when you really think about it.
I remember my parents watching his Showtime/HBO shows growing up. I loved when he brought out the "chalkboard" and wrote, this makes no ¢. I wish I could have seen his act in person, but I will cherish my Watermelon set.
A genius comedian passed away. I saw him years ago and since then, I find words and always remember him. RIP and May his family know we all loved him.
In America we drive on parkways and park on driveways...I like Gallagher's humor...very interesting...
Observational humor is still the best!!
Stares as a walk into seating. What?
He got me at "Built"
d-a-u-g-h-t-e-r "daffter?"
and they wonder why people have a hard time learning the language
Try Cantonese then 🙄
One of my favorite bits of comedy of all time
Will always be my favorite skit he did.
His timing is great
One of the all time greatest comedians. Blows away 99% of comedians in the last 40 years.
It's tough to cough, though
I loved watching his specials as a kid.
Rest in peace comedian #Gallagher I met him in 2008 it was for my birthday. I got to get up on stage and squash a birthday cake. Syrup/cake all over me 😆
Damn. I just got into him recently, and didn't know he had passed. How sad. He seems like he was an absolute genius who could light up a room without the need for crude humor. I wish I had a chance to see him.
RIP Leo Gallagher or simply Gallagher 😢🍉 Gallagher was one of my absolute favorite comedians when I was growing up, he was hilarious and one of a kind. His comedy covered so many topics, he had bits on society, politics, relationships, the sexes, race, pop culture, the english language, growing up, and growing old. I always considered him one of the smart comedians, he was clever, witty, and sharp as a tack. Some of my favorite bits of his involved social commentary, politics and the education system. He took you off guard because here was this zany looking wacky character who all of a sudden was saying some really interesting and intelligent things all the while with that sly little gleem in his eye. Of course he was most famous for his Sledge 'O' Matic routine at the end of his shows where he'd demonstrate the finest little handy dandy kitchen helper money could buy, and in the process cover his audience in just about every and anything you could find at your local grocery store. It got to the point where people in the first four rows would wear rain ponchos and garbage bags because they already knew what they were instore for. Gallagher was truly one of a kind and will be sorely missed 😔 Rest easy my friend, none of us will ever forget our favorite fun loving, fruit smashing funny man. Thanks for the laughs 🍉 🕯️❤️
There have been many kinds of comedians but none as unique as Gallagher. Not just because of the watermelon-smashing part but because of things like this! You will be missed.
@@darcybrummett7004 .....You do know there are 2 Gallaghers right? When the first one (where a lot of the material came from) died (of stomach cancer IIRC) his brother took up the routine. The original has the high cheek bones and narrow jaw, his brother has the rounder face.
Ive never seen any of this. He's a legend I can tell
Rest in peace now Mr Gallagher, hope you're up there smashing God knows what in heaven. Thanks for the memories.
There's no way even God knows what's coming next.
English: One of the shortest alphabets on the planet and so we decided to make half of our words mean several things. What could go wrong?
My fave comic as a teenager in the 70's; seen him live at least five times and he never disappointed. I agree with most of the other comments here in that his watermelon smashing antics were the icing on the cake of his observational humor.
The man was a Genius. Please don’t ever refer to him as the melon smasher, he was much more.
RIP Gallagher. I've watched you all my life, and your genius was never lost on me. I credit you with some of the reason I look at the world the way I do. ❤
I resonate with this comment 💯
@@luvswoodheat5483 always good to know I'm not alone. 😉
My favorite routine by him.
feels like he needed to do words like 'read' and 'wind' which have two pronunciations.
Rest In Peace love his skits
This is great.
I loved this guy! He's genuinely funny
Remember seeing this over 20years ago as a kid & could never find this clip lol
This is a very ingenious sketch! This should be shown to kids in English class.
He was great.
R.I.P. Gallagher! 1946-2022!
2:47 "Only one word is going to make any sense at all here, and that's D-U-M-B."
Proof they just made up our language as they went along lol love this!
Clearly they did
@Anthony D You’re on to something.....
actually, they did…it’s a mix of Germanic, Norse, French, Gaelic, Italian, Spanish, Briton, Irish, Arabic, Indian, and other languages all put together over centuries of conquest and interaction
I was to young for this part of his routine. Love going back to see this again
I went to one of his shows in Indiana a long time ago. While watching on TV you could tell which people had been to a show before or at least saw him on TV. The live show was so funny!
I know this has been around here for many years, but it's time I finally comment: As an English teacher in Europe, my favorite phrase to say to my students the first day is: "The English articles - a, an, the - are easy, but English pronunciation sucks." I love his observances in his works, as such things are what I use in my work as well. These truths remain constant.
This routine is funny because it’s true.
When it came to comedy, he was a true icon, a comedic genius! R I P
I love his comedy so smart yet so funny
love this man. he brilliant
Thumbs up here. He had me in stitches.
When I was a teenager, my friend and I went to 3 different Gallagher shows, he was hilarious each time; great memories.
I love the audience members calling out the words he's spelling like you should be proud of them getting it. Ah different times.
Even worse: wind
1. The wind is blowing.
2. Wind it up.
Same spelling. Two different pronouncioations...
As a non native english speaker it´s frustrating since I pronounced both of them for two decades like the second one....
There are several of those unfortunately. Also waaaaay too many words that are pronounced the same, but spelled differently. It makes no sense at all.
Homonyms are the worst: Foot is either the thing under your ankle or twelve inches, address is either where you live or speaking to someone, and beam can mean a structural support piece, a ray of light, or it can mean something figurative, like being really happy or hopeful. These are just some of em too, I’m a native English speaker and I still hate this language sometimes.
You miss spelled pronunciation
@@alishawill4591
That's not how you spell "misspelled".
@@namk8714 he was talking about a person. Miss Spelled. She is pretty awrosme.
RIP Gallagher, may you text in power.
Gallagher and George Carlin are 2 of my favorites.
I remember watching his specials years ago with my grandfather, good memories.
and people say he is just a mindless prop comic
No.
That's carrot top you're thinking of.
I met Gallagher in Knoxville, Tn, I couldn't think of nothing to say but "Are you working hard"? He replied " I'm getting to old for this shit". 😆 R.I.P.
We we had the pleasure of seeing Gallagher perform in concert years back. His show is absolutely hysterical. He did have a huge huge pumpkin. He said he's not going to break it. But right before he left the stage he broke it. He got everybody wet
As an elementary school student at the time, this bit was amazing.
Was fortunate enough to have seen him live. To this day I still quote him from time to time. Especially when it concerns stupid drivers. IYKYK
He was a great one of a kind comedian..
that's just pure awesomeness 😁
RIP Legend you will be sadly missed and thanks for being a part of my childhood 🥺🥺
I speak 4 languages and english I have to think about, the other languages are literally: rule 1 mostly, rule 2 occasionally > english, no rule 1, everything rule 2.
He was my first comedy love. Drawing the USA in food is my favorite. "I like Florida cause it looks like we're pissin' on Cuba" RIP dude
He did that joke here in Florida, it was great
My parents had a VHS of his standup, right around the time I was learning to read. We watched that until the tape broke! Gallagher taught me to love the English language for all its absurdity. Now, two novels on the shelves, I still love this wacky language.
I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE HIM A LONG TIME AGO ! HE DID 2 SHOWS , I HAD TICKETS TO BOTH SHOWS ! I GOT MUCH CLOSER FOR THE SECOND SHOW , I THINK IT WAS THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL , IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN ! IN SAN FRANCISCO ! HE DID THE SLEDGE-A-MATIC IN THE FIRST SHOW BUT NOT IN THE SECOND ! HE HAD TO CLEAN HIS OWN MESS , FROM THE FIRST ! I WATCHED ! BUT HE DID PICK ON ME IN THE SECOND SHOW ! IT WAS AN HONOR ! R.I.P. GALLAGHER ! THANKS FOR ALL THE AMAZING LAUGHS !
Awesome.
Loved this then. Remember him now.
Thank you for your genius!
This was always one of my favorite clips
this is ABSOLUTELY GREAT!!! I LOVE IT!!!
LOVE THIS GUY!
I actually saw this the night he did it .
nice
That's awesome! Cool or cule! Lmbo
This ole boy raises some great points.
A Highly intelligent man, with a spectacular sense of the absurd.
He helps me teach English to my Chinese students
I have been looking for this forever!
RIP Sir! I remember this skit from like 35yrs ago and it shows why English is hard for some to learn! I never told my boys to 'sound it out when trying to learn to spell for this reason! I am also a Brit in America soo the boys really had a time with my spelling!
Those that know remember Gallagher as one the best comedians of the 70s and 80s
Yes I remember him smashing watermelon he was great we don't have shows like that anymore on TV
Genius!
Rest in peace you wonderful funny brilliant man.
As a spaniard, when I was learning english it was quite frustrating. In spanish, you read the word exactly how it is written (with only a few simple rules, like "q always goes with u but it's never pronounced" and such), and even where you should put the stregth when saying it is specified (so Raúl and baúl are pronounced in a way that they rhyme and have the stregth in the u).
Going from that to such a chaotic pronunciation like english made me just decide that english is better learnt when remembering exactly just how english speakers say stuff (and not try to figure it out yourself). No offense, but your spelling/pronunciation rules are a bit too loose for being rules 😅😅
Imagine trying it as a SECOND LANGUAGE!!
😂🤣😂🤣👍👍👍❤️
And knowing it first makes it harder to learn OTHER languages because you get the English sentence structure stuck in your head!
(Then again, that may be true of all languages, IDK)
@@Astrithorthat is literally true for any language, what. Americans/people who speak English as their first language try to act like English is so difficult but the rest of the world generally have to learn it on top of their first language and they seem to do it well
This man was brilliant.
This is what I remember him for. Very smart humor.
Thank you!
R.I.P Gallagher
I miss him
I could watch this set expanded to the whole show I think
This is his best material.
He was such a smart ass 😂