Comics Salute Slain Phil Hartman
Canadian Funnymen Gather During Comedy Festival
Comedians gathered Thursday to pay tribute to fallen funnyman Phil Hartman, killed two years ago in his California home.
Actors Dan Aykroyd, Dave Foley, Luba Goy, Al Waxman, comedy club entrepreneur Mark Breslin and "Saturday Night Live" founder Lorne Michaels were among those in attendance at the gala event.
The audience of 1,100 roared at three hours of comedy sketches and stand-up that ranged from parodies of James Bond themes as performed by Neil Young and Bob Dylan, to Superman's embittered inferior brother ("You got X-ray vision, I got a lazy eye").
Foley, who served as host for the sold-out affair, said it would be lighthearted and not overly emotional.
"Knowing Phil as I did, he's not a man who was overly sentimental in his life, and when bad things happened around him he always kept his sense of humor," Foley said. "So I don't think he wants people to be sad thinking about him."
Aykroyd agreed.
"The idea tonight is to celebrate comedy and to celebrate a great man's gift to it. I don't think we're going to get into how he passed through the veil," he said.
The comedy event was designed partly to help bring some closure for Hartman's family members (who still spell their last name with two Ns), who publicly acknowledged both grief and pride as they celebrated the life of one of the city's most successful citizens.
Hartman rose to fame as a longtime cast member of "Saturday Night Live." He worked on the sitcom "NewsRadio" with Foley until Hartman's wife, Brynn, shot him in his sleep. She then killed herself. The couple's two children, now ages 8 and 11, live with relatives in Wisconsin.
A technical glitch prevented the screening of a planned film montage of Hartman's work during the memorial, but the emotional climax was delivered by John Hartmann, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his late brother, and by their 80-year-old mother, Doris.
"Whether Phil was your soul brother, your native son or your father figure, I know that tonight you loved and missed your friend as much as I," John Hartmann said.
Doris Hartmann added that her whole family basked in the limelight of Phil's life.
"As you can imagine, it was a wonderful glow. Now that light is extinguished," she said.
The evening ended with a standing ovation as singer Michael Burgess led the entire cast in "Auld Lang Syne," Phil Hartman's favorite song.
The event also initiated the annual Phil Hartman Comedy Festival to focus on the development of Canadian comedy talent. An annual award of $2,500 will be created from the proceeds to go to Toronto's Humber College School of Comedy -- the only one of its kind in North America -- to help budding comic artists develop their talent without having to leave the country.
Comic Sam Easton was named the first winner of the scholarship.
The shooting death of Hartman at the hands of his wife shocked the entertainment world.
"The ability to talk about it without focusing on the sadness is very sweet," John Hartmann said.
The gala is an ideal way to create a perfect memorial to Phil, he added.
"Based on how his career was going, I think Phil would have ended up somewhere between Jack Benny and Bob Hope. He wanted to be an inspiration to others, so the fact that his name can precipitate the opportunity for kids to express themselves in front of a comedy genius like Lorne Michaels -- well, that's what we did it for," he said.
As part of the evening, six graduating students from Humber performed in competition, with Aykroyd, Breslin, Foley and others serving as judges.
Most of Hartman's seven siblings were in attendance, along with their mother. The late comic's two children were not expected.
