Irving Benson

Who is Irving Benson?

Irving Benson is an American actor and comedian. He is one of the last survivors of the vaudeville era.

Having enjoyed a long and successful run on the east coast American Burlesque circuit, Irv Benson travelled west to play Las Vegas for the first time in 1957, with the Minsky Follies show. Benson gained significant national exposure during the 1960s, when fellow vaudevillian Milton Berle hired him to play a faux heckler named Sidney Spritzer. The character would turn up in the balcony overlooking the stage of Berle's variety show and banter with Berle about the host's alleged lack of talent and originality. Benson became Johnny Carson's favorite comic and appeared frequently on the Johnny Carson-hosted Tonight Show. Most recently he was honored for Best Documentary at the 2011 Backlot Film Festival for "The Last First Comic" uncovering the roots of American comedy also going inside the colorful world of the Burlesque show.