‘Let’s Talk About Dave’
In the late 1970s, Jim Becker had the opportunity to see David Letterman’s first performance at The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard in California and became a forever fan.
“He was so-phisticated,” recalled Becker, the owner, engineer and producer of Sound Check Studios. “He had this humor. It was sarcastic. I just knew Letterman was going to be the guy.”
He said that performance was when Letterman was still a nobody.
“He was this guy from Indiana and I knew he was a star,” Becker said.
The North Fort Myers resident opened his studio, Sound Check Studio, in Fort Myers in 1977 and traveled to Los Angeles often. He said he was working at Universal Studios and freelanced at various audio studios when he began visiting The Comedy Store.
“I was in there every night,” Becker said, which awarded him the opportunity to see such celebrities as Robin Williams and Jay Leno perform as well.
He said he remembers Letterman saying if you want to get to the next level, you have to bang it out at The Comedy Store for $15 in pay. Becker said those initial performances led to one of Johnny Carson’s agents noticing him, landing a slot on the show.
He also created 200 audio productions for NBC years ago, which led to a personal invitation from Carson to the last Friday night show with guests. Becker said the last show featured such stars as Bob Hope, Clint Eastwood and Letterman.
“Letterman was the real attraction,” he said. “Letterman was the headliner.”
Over the years, Becker followed Letterman’s career and created a YouTube video in honor of his last show Wednesday night. He said his hope is for people to visit “Let’s Talk About Dave” on YouTube and watch to complimentary and funny tribute to Letterman.
“I really have a lot of respect for him,” Becker said. “He will be missed.”
He said he knows his best friend, Rick Posson, is going to a get together this Saturday and will show his video.
In the video, Becker talks about the last Friday night show, joking that Letterman was the real attraction, putting Eastwood and Hope in the background. During his video, he also jokes about three stars that made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show – the Beatles, Elvis Presley and the superstar of all superstars the Great Letterman.
The final Late Show with David Letterman will air today, May 20, at 11:35 p.m., on CBS.