Comic Gallagher collapses on stage in Minn.

[DjohnsonCB]

Comedian Gallagher, famous for his "Sledge-O-Matic" routine, collapsed on stage while performing in Rochester, Minnesota.  Video is here:

http://www.tmz.com/2011/03/11/gallagher-collapse-comedian-mallet-whiskey-bones-sledgehammer-saint-marys-video/

He was one of the regular comics on the Bobby Van-hosted version of "Make Me Laugh".  At least he could be taken to the Mayo Clinic where he'd be in great care.  Let's all wish him a speedy recovery.

[whewfan]

If you watch the video you can see Gallagher bend over moments before swinging his sledge o matic and collapsing. Let's hope for a fast recovery so that he can joke about it later.

[LA the DJ]

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that it was a "minor heart attack". I've always been a fan of his. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

The Chicago Tribune

[Neumms]

Let's hope for a fast recovery so that he can joke about it later.

Let's hope for a fast recovery so that we can all mock him again.

[Matt Ottinger]

Let's hope for a fast recovery so that he can joke about it later.

That would involve writing new material, something he hasn't done since 1986.

/Too soon?
//Hey, these things don't just -a-Matic themselves!

[DrBear]

Could we send the watermelons he isn't smashing to the relief effort in Japan?

[clemon79]

That would involve writing new material, something he hasn't done since 1986.

Oh, I assure you, he has. He played Bremerton (the location of our local Naval base) last year, and one of our alt-weeklys wrote a review.

[Johnissoevil]

Hopefully he recovers quickly.  My first memories of him go back to 1981, when I first got cable.  He was doing a show on Showtime, I think it aired back to back with Bizarre every week.

[whewfan]

Gallagher seems much more hateful and edgier than he was. I know one thing you DON'T do at his show is heckle him, because then he could spend the rest of the show railing on the hecklers and it isn't long until his fans start revolting. Sadly he was far funnier in the 80s.

[clemon79]

He was doing a show on Showtime, I think it aired back to back with Bizarre every week.

The Showtime specials were roughly one per year. They just replayed them so much that it *felt* like a weekly.

[Johnissoevil]

The Showtime specials were roughly one per year. They just replayed them so much that it *felt* like a weekly.

Good point.  Had I not been 5 years old at the time, I would've probably noticed it was the same thing year round. :-)

[clemon79]

Good point.  Had I not been 5 years old at the time, I would've probably noticed it was the same thing year round. :-)

They reran the old ones a lot, too, to create the illusion of variety. I think I have Melon Crazy and Over Your Head memorized.

[chris319]

Choose your legacy:

Gallagher ... is best known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer.

or

Gallagher is — how best to put this? — a paranoid, delusional, right-wing religious maniac.

There's your obit, already written.

"People like Cher's daughter — figure that out. She wants a penis, but she has a big belly. If you can't see your dick, you don't get one."

Funny in a naughty sort of way, but then there's:

Gallagher gets a tin pie plate. He opens a giant can of fruit cocktail and pours it in. He opens a can of some Asian vegetable — water chestnuts, maybe — and pours that in, too. "This is the China people and queers!!!" he screams and takes his sledgehammer to the thing with a fury that is no fun at all. Wet chunks of China people and queers fly everywhere. The hateful, bitter old man laughs.

Fruit cocktail -- get it?

Why pay money to see a nutjob work out his demons in the guise of a comedy act? Sounds like this would make better TMZ fodder: "Formerly funny Gallagher has gone loony-tunes, giving himself a heart attack on stage".

From me to Gallagher: Don't expect a booking on the revival of Make Me Laugh. No more cable specials for you.

You can't be an "edgy" comedian if you've gone over the edge.

[BrandonFG]

I remember seeing a repeat of a Showtime special on Comedy Central as a kid. I don't remember him being so bitter, but then again all I really remember of him was, of course, smashing watermelons.

Wasn't there a period where his brother was using his act as well?

[colonial]

I remember seeing a repeat of a Showtime special on Comedy Central as a kid. I don't remember him being so bitter, but then again all I really remember of him was, of course, smashing watermelons.

Wasn't there a period where his brother was using his act as well?

IIRC, he gave his brother permission to do a Gallagher-style show for smaller venues that couldn't afford the real thing, provided that advertising emphasizes that it was not the original Gallagher.  Brother allegedly chose not to do that (He would book himself as "Gallagher Two" or "Gallagher Too," for instance, with "Two/Too" in very small print), Gallagher sued him and got an injunction to essentially shut down the brother's act.

JD