Show PPP '1 73 I Be: : GC) 0 1111 APT LI U i ulverc Dy EDDIE CANTOR M3M1 EC RIG TIP? Cantor loves cabdrivers but this one has such a posoliar "if you knew cabltliess like I "A famous comedian know cabbies cab As a matter of fact in the early 150's on television every now and then I played the role of "Maxie the Taxi" in a comedy scene The taxi men around the country evidently liked it When I suffered a coronary two taxi driven drove in a cab from Boston to Los Angeles to present me with a plaque from the Taxi Drivers' Association of Boston It hangs in my den I'm very proud of it salutes America's army of unsung gag men BEVERLY HILL3 CALM In Los Angeles I drive my own car but in all other cities I either use shoe leather or taxis Now I don't look any more like Ed Murrow or Mike Wallace than Ray Bolger looks like Zsa Zsa Gabor but let me ask a taxi driver one question and I get 15 minutes of ride I hardly ever talk amwers even on a back to barbers or taxi drivers With a guy's hands on a razor or steering wheel you're smarter to act like Ilarpo Marx la this way rye picked up a lot of philosophy psychology and hundreds of good gags Some drivers have all kinds of gimmicks to build up the fares Like taking you to your destination the "long way" In one Canadian city which I had not visited in years the taxi took me and I mean really "took" me from the railroad station to the hotel by way of Sydney Australia When I protested the driver explained that he had great civic pride and vamted me to see the city I told him I didn't mind seeing the city but I didn't have time to tour all of Canada The meter registered $380 When I handed him four dollars saying "Keep the change" he with- - ered me with "Thank you Mr Benny" were a much younger man" "I was" I told him "when I first entered your cab" I learned a long time ago that 95 per cent of all taxi drivers are scrupulously honest Police report that drivers return bags packages and wallets every day Once I tried to get rid of six suits of long underwear I'd worn in a show called "Banjo Eyes" No one would have 'cm I finally decided to wrap them neatly and leave the package in a cab late that night my doorbell rang there stood the taxi driver with my package I gave him a dollar for his honesty This thing happened three days in a row I finally shipped it to a rich friend in Paris who has everything including six suits of long underwear I have always had a fondness for the man driving a iik !I N no ed I V I r 114 Younger? Yes Indeed! Mother scheme some taxi drivers have is to take you where the traffic is terrific You might spend 15 minutes just on one block You're jumping out of your skin the driver is jumping with joy and the meter is just jumping Once when I got out of one of these cabs the driver recognized me "1 thought you '1 I ar c111 1111 I 0 IIC eal TO t : 2 i e ' THE CAZDRIVERS woe too darned honosti taco ( - Dollars And Sense Of Humor l'H never forget the day I got out of the hospital The nurse took me home in a cab The driver was "A happy to see me He was most encouraging month home Cantor and you'll forget you ever was in a hospital I know I've been in the hospital so often I could drive there blindfolded In 1947 I bad my tonsils out in '48 it was my appendix in 151 they took out my gall bladder Last year it was a kidney Know something Cantor you're talking toss empty cabdriver" I have yet to meet one of these fellows who lacked a sense of humor Some of them have given me my best material Thirty years ago I came out of the stage door of the Palace Theater in New York hopped into a cab I'd no sooner entered this cab when the driver was giving out with some of his jokes I liked one of them and told him I'd use it that night If it got a laugh I'd pay him $20 After the performance the same taxi was at the door I hailed him "Say I used your gag—very funny" He said "I know I was Inside the theater checking up on you" Two weeks later he was on my payroll He'd given up his cab and was writing for me on a regular basis After a few years I was paying him S100 a day When I left radio to make pictures for Samuel Goldwyn he worked for some of the biggest names in show business -- - including Milton Continued on page 19 — 17 |