brooklyn on a saturday night. >> the televises roasts that dean martin did were always so funny, and it was fun to see. but there's something about those private friars club behind closed doors, you know, stag roasts. the fact that they were these huge stars like jack benny and milton berle. the public had only heard on tv or the radio be squeakily clean. suddenly you got to see the other side of it. >> eight years and like most performers, asked thousands of acquaintances, thousands of people that he knows. but he's also one of the people who has close friends. i would like to say that i'm one. don't want to speak for don but i'm one of his close friends. that's important to don because queers need friends. >> the vaudeville style and burlesque tradition came together at the friars club.