We're Out to Find the World's Funniest Joke: The Don Rickles Slam

Have you ever had a friend who said aloud what everyone else was quietly thinking? And that friend made everyone laugh by verbalizing the shared thought? This is the way Bob Newhart described his best friend, comedian Don Rickles.

“Whatever he sees, he says,” Newhart told The Washington Post in 2007.

Rickles had audiences LOL-ing long before the term existed. Facetiously nicknamed "Mr. Warmth" by his good friend Johnny Carson, the king of insult comedy didn’t tell pre-scripted jokes with punchlines. Rather, he delivered comedic shock-and-awe. His off-the-cusp, in-your-face insults and mockery were directed at everyone from Frank Sinatra to Ronald Reagan. Every verbal assault was received with pure, full-belly, unoffended laughter.  Rickles, who died in 2017, said the secret to his success was that it was all in good fun.

"If I were to insult people and mean it, that wouldn’t be funny. There is a difference between an actual insult and just having fun."

His audiences seemed to agree. And they had fun right along with him. While his jokes are indeed funny, the true treat is witnessing the pure joy and full-belly laughter of his audience.

Here are our picks for Rickles’ funniest roasts of all time:

#3 David Letterman

Rickles appeared on Letterman’s show in 1996 to present his top 10 Letterman insults. No. 7 brought down the crowd: “Personally, I liked you better when you are on the cover of Mad magazine.”

#2  Julia Roberts

Rickles nods to Roberts at the AFI Tribute to Shirley MacClaine in 2012 and says, "You live next to me at the beach, you know that?"

He sarcastically adds, "Thanks for all the visits" and tells the audience "I’m living two blocks from her and the broad never shows up.”

Roberts happily responds, "We’re closer than two blocks." Rickles quickly responds, "You have no lines, Julia. Just nod." The quip is bold and shocking and it is met with the most beautiful, loud laugh that Roberts is known to deliver.

#1  Larry King

It wasn't just one scathing crack, but a rapid fire barrage of sarcasm and insults that brought Larry King literally to tears during his interview of Rickles on The Larry King Show in 1985. Rickles starts by teasing King about his cough (which you can hardly hear through King's laughter) and he quickly starts poking fun at his show.

It sounds mean here, but Rickles tells King to “shut up, Larry, get on with it” and then calls him “an idiot host” as King pounds the desk with his fist and almost falls off his chair. King is literally wiping the tears from his eyes at the end of the exchange.

While the jokes are funny, the uncontrollable laughter of the otherwise serious and controlled King is perhaps the funniest of all. The sincere, childlike and hilarious exchange between these two grown men reminds us just how extraordinary it is to laugh out loud.

Perhaps this is what best sums up Rickles comedic talent. The power of his talent can’t be measured by a few good one-liners, but by the connections he makes and the tears of joy, escape from reality and childlike giddiness that he delivered for decades. ​

Share your experience: Who is your favorite comedian and what's the best joke he or she ever made?