Jack E. Leonard

When you think about insult comedy (and, in this profile, we are thinking of insult comedy), one name comes to mind: Don Rickles. He truly was the king, the original insult comic...

Not so fast. While Rickles might be credited with perfecting insult comedy, he wasn't the first. Jack E. Leonard, real name Leonard Lebitsky, preceded him by a good decade. In fact, Leonard hosted Rickles' Friars Club roast, where he called him "a man who's been doing my act".

Of course, if you really want to get technical, Leonard wasn't the original either. Centuries before modern stand-up, court jesters...

You know what, let's just call Leonard the original Jewish insult comedian, and leave it at that.

Is that alright, you putzes?