I don’t remember the exact date when I first saw Gilbert live, but it was at Carolines on Broadway. I just remember thinking, “Wow, this guy is a total & complete original”, I had never seen anyone like him, there was truly nobody else like him.
He spent ten minutes just ripping up a napkin and holding the audience in the palm of his hands! He did impersonations of Gavin Mcleod talking to Tony Curtis! He did impersonations without even saying a word, but rather just humming a sound/tune that was defined by the person he was impersonating. And it was very clear he was doing Jerry Seinfeld or David Brenner in way no one else did.
People who only knew him from the roasts didn’t really know what a true comedy genius he truly was. He wasn’t just doing amazingly brilliant lines & bits, he was also doing performance art. If you were forced to compare him to anyone it would be Andy Kaufmann.
Totally unpredictable, a great ear, and a total original comedy mind. He pushed the “envelope” as much as any comic. When I met him once on the street he was the sweetest, nicest guy and actually shy. It has only been a week, but I already miss him a lot.
