Robert Klein

He’s been doing stand-up for 50 years and he’s sometimes called the comedian’s comedian. For Jay Leno, Robert Klein is a comic hero. “He was a guy who I felt was like me.  Middle class, normal parents. Watched the same TV shows I watched and that was a big change in comedy.” Jerry Seinfeld points to Klein as one of the most “intelligent, coolest comedians around.” I caught up with Klein in upstate New York where he was appearing at the Woodstock Comedy Festival. Turns out we had a lot in common. We’re both from the Bronx, our mothers used to throw dimes out of the window so we could get ice cream and we both worked as substitute teachers.