Larry King's Living the Dream, Save for this Chat with Imus
Larry King (the real one!) was thrilled to be back with Imus today to talk about his new book Truth Be Told; his ongoing comedy tour; and, unfortunately, his prostate cancer. “I write all about it in the book,” he promised. Goody.
Unlike Imus, who is battling his prostate cancer holistically (haven’t you heard?), King, formerly the host of CNN’s Larry King Live, underwent radiation. “If I had to do it over again, I don’t think I’d do it,” King said. Though the radiation knocked his PSA back down to zero, it also depleted him of testosterone. Thus, he revealed, “I like to shop.”
Following a few more minutes of cancer talk, the 77-year old King shared that he had recently been in South Korea and Portugal, and plans to travel to Oslo, Copenhagen, Reykjavik, Munich and London in the fall. This weekend he’ll appear in Las Vegas, where his wife Shawn King will open for him.
“I love doing this,” King said, but confessed he has moments of doubt about whether he ended his long-running show too soon.
“There are days I feel that,” he said. “The days I feel that are like when Osama Bin Laden got shot—you want to go in and work. And Mubarak falls. And the tragedy in Japan. I’m a broadcaster, I’ve been doing it 54 years. You want to go into work.”
Other days, however, he’s glad to not have to sit through a tedious chat with, say, the Kardashian sisters. “It’s mixed emotions, Don,” he said. “It’s like watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new car.”
King’s feelings were less uncertain about Rob Bartlett’s performance in Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, in which he impressively tackles two roles. “He’s sensational in it,” King said.
To his detriment, however, King noted of Rob’s performance today, “He has no concept of suspenders matching with ties.”
Some of King’s favorite guest’s on his show were, he told Imus, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Prompted to be less politically correct, King said he also enjoyed Mel Brooks, Don Rickles, and F. Lee Bailey.
At which point the other Larry King chimed in with the name “Morty Gunty,” leading the real Larry King to tell his doppelganger, “You’re living in another world.”
Another story King would have covered on his show is that of disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner. Unlike the Democratic Congressman, King has never tweeted a photo of his “shmeckle” to Ruth Buzzi (as the other Larry King suggested) or to anybody else.
But anything is possible; after all, as King told Imus today, he has somebody else typing his tweets and sending them out into the world.
“You dictate your tweets?” Imus said in disbelief. “You’re living the dream, Larry.”
-Julie Kanfer
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