My kids borrowed It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World on DVD from the library and we really enjoyed it.  It had Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Terry Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett, Jimmy Durante, Spencer Tracy, Dick Shawn , Jim Backus, Marvin Kaplan, Arnold Stang, Peter Falk, Andy Devine, Carl Riner, and cameos by Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis, Jack Benny, Norman Fell, Buster Keaton, Doodles Weaver and the Three Stooges!  It was a “Who’s Who” of comedy in 1963.

Well, it got me thinking. If that movie were remade today as the “Who’s Who” of comedy in 2016, who would be in it?  Just twenty-five years ago, in 1991, there were still many great comedians in their prime: Steve Martin, Whoopie Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Carol Burnett, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, Tim Allen, Leslie Nielson, John Candy, John Belushi, Billy Crystal, Rodney Dangerfield, Chris Rock, Rosanne, Bill Cosby, Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, Tim Conway, etc.  But most of these guys are now beyond their prime or dead.

In 1963 there was a surplus of extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime comedians. There were even some who deserved a role in Mad, Mad World but didn’t make the cut – Don Rickles, Dick Van Dyke, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ed Wynn, Joe Flynn, Bob Hope, George Burns, Phyllis Diller, Madeline Kahn, Carl Riner, Slim Pickins, Mel Brooks, Lucile Ball and so on.  Most of them had a “niche” and only played one type of character, but did it to perfection (like Phil Silvers and Don Rickles).  In short, they were bombastic clowns, and we loved them for it.

Here in 2016 I’m really at a loss to come up with ten truly great natural comedians. I don’t mean “who makes me laugh on TV” because that’s a whole different animal.  Charlie Sheen, for example, was funny on his show but I would never put him in the same league as Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal or Jack Lemmon.  Compared to Milton Berle, Dick Van Dyke or Robin Williams he’s not even in the top 1,000,000.  Only the great ones can give us those classic TV moments the way Lucile Ball, Tim Conway, Carol Burnett or Robin Williams did.  We need more clowns!

So here it is 2016. Who would you cast in a remake of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (directed by Steven Spielberg of course).

One day, in my last year of college, I was dressed in my finest and preparing to leave for a job interview when my father pulled me aside. He put his arm around my shoulder, squeezed me in a way that conveyed pride and said, “I want to share with you the secret of success, son.”

My mind raced with excitement.  “Wow!” I thought, “My dad, the VP of a large insurance company, is finally going to share with me those priceless words of insight and wisdom that every young man dreams of. Here, in this place at this moment, my father is going to pass on the family wisdom to the next generation of business executives.”  I listened with heart pounding.

Dad looked at me with his smoldering eyes and and said, “Always wear an undershirt beneath a dress shirt.”

Are you kidding me? That’s the McFall family’s secret?  Wear a flippin’ undershirt?

I was sure Dad would say something like, “The man who puts in that little bit extra each day is the one who gets the promotion.” Or perhaps, “Find the oldest, wisest man in the company and learn all you can from him.” Or maybe even, “Buy AT&T.”

But no…what is the McFall secret to success? “Don your Fruit-of-the-Looms, boy.”

Dad did not stop there, unfortunately. As I stood there devastated, he droned on about the benefits of wearing an undershirt with a dress shirt.  “It keeps you more comfortable in both cooler and warmer weather. It keeps your dress shirt tucked in better and makes it stay crisp longer. It absorbs perspiration so you won’t have embarrassing sweat stains.  Plus, some dress shirts are thin and you can see through them to an extent, so an undershirt makes it look better.”

Years later now, I look back and ponder the collective McFall family wisdom. Dad was right, you know.  T-shirts do offer near-magical benefits to your wardrobe.  So, as a loyal McFall I always wear an undershirt under my dress shirts to this day.

Still, I just hope that one day when I pull my son close, wrap my arm around him with a squeeze and say, “Son, I’m going to share my secret of success with you,” I will be able to summon something a tad bit more profound than, “Don’t neglect your undies.”  As I imagine that day now, a few options come to mind:

• Brush and floss after every meal.
• Never use an ink pen that activates with a clicking sound. You’ll end up nervously clicking it in a meeting and irritating others.
• You don’t have to be on time to every meeting, just never be the last one to arrive.
• Never complain out loud in front of the Administrative Assistant. They are fiercely protective of the boss and remember everything.

Someday, I may get an opportunity to share the McFall secret of success with my son. I only hope that when that day comes, I will have achieved some measurable level of success to make it worthwhile.