somebody binds you to them. comedians don t have a great mortality rate. we lose a lot of people comedian. i m feeling more personal because i know the farc. mm hmm. i don t drink anymore. i had to quit because i really drank man. i get pulled over by the cops. i d be so drunk i d be out dancing to their lights thinking i ve made it to another club. in a way laughter is a bizarrely intimate thing. there s such an uncontrolled physical response. it s very similar biologically to orgasm. stage someone made you laugh even once you have an affection for that person. comedian is like your friend. that s what the job of a comedian is to come on stage and in 60 seconds make friends with a room full of people. actors they re geniuses never quite telling us who they are. but comedians getting inside our heads. it s very personal. there s an intimacy to comedy, so that when they re gone, you miss it. you have your girlfriend or your wife called you from another room, and she s like swe
to. they re both here. they re both here. we walked to work in the morning, and when we climb the fountain, we re a little out of breath, and so were they. one day i said to them, i feel a little pressure in my chest. do you? and they said no. and when i went to the doctor, he said, you know, that s a sign. and just to make this story short, i wanted i was thinking of doing it in the summer. they tell you not to go in the hospital in july because that s when the residents change. grey s anatomy it isn t. i was going to go in in august. then i had such a big may. i was either giving an award or presenting something, and i said to my cardiologist, well, you know, could i wait until the end of may for this because, you know, it didn t seem to look good. and he said, you can wait, but there s a small risk that you could drop dead. i said, how soon tomorrow. i told no one until i announced it on the air. your first show back to work, you wanted david letterman to b
we are watching several stories developing at this hour. it s a moment of sadness for millions of catholics around the world. pope emeritus benedict xvi has died at the age of 95. the former pontiff passing away after what the church calls a period of ill health. benedict was the first pope to resign as the leader of the church this nearly 600 years, stepping down in 2013. also this morning, mourning the loss of a tv legend. good evening, i m hugh downs. i m barbara walters and this is 20/20. trailblazing tv news anchor barbara walters has died, known for her insightful, tough interviews. she became the first female anchor of a network evening news program and paved the way for women in broadcasting. a spokesperson says she passed away surrounded by family at the age of 93. but there are also celebrations this hour. the world welcomes in a new year. several nations already celebrating as the clock strikes midnight ushering the start of 2023. right now live pics you ar
to earth cam, thousands of revellers are expecting a soggy countdown. we ll go live to the big apple later in the show. gillian: first to our top story this hour, the world is now mourning of loss of a historical religious figure. the vatican is announcing death of pope emeritus benedict xvi. and charles has more on his long lasting legacy. what a story he had. pope benedict xvi had an impact on catholics across the world in a position he never imagined himself in. for decades cardinal joseph ratsinger had been a key advisor to pope john paul ii, as a staunch conservative. and took the cardinals just two days to give the job to a german, scholarly man who didn t appear to want it. as pope benedict xvi, he rattled relativism, what might be true for someone, might not be true for someone else. and he will be remembered not only for his birthday celebration in the white house, a stop at ground zero and a mass in yankee stadium, but also, by the way in which he addressed the ca
the tables have turned. the idea that jokes aren t funny, it s still very much a thing. there are some people who can t get their heads around what they don t know. i said i wanted to be a comedian, she said, maybe it s better if you just died. i think they thought of women as a different species. for view ladies are capable of being a comedian, so everybody sticks by them. here s somebody that thinks they do it. this is a great argument that women are doing much better work than men. you re welcome. when was the hardest what s the hardest part about being a female comedian? what would you guess? well, it s the rape. [ laughter ] i have a deep camaraderie with tough, hard core, funny ass female comedian apps because it s been a long road for all of us. what would make a woman turn from a decent think like housewiving or cashiering in a five and dime store or dental hygiene? and turn her to comedy as a korea? it s definitely easier now. but back the