Gaylord Dingler
Encyclopedia
Gaylord Dingler is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 stand-up comic
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

, best known for his infamous sessions at The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...

 in West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...

.

Dingler was known by Comedy Store patrons as a "Potlucker," aka someone who performs during the club's open mike nights, which would routinely attract 40 comics vying for only 20 spots.
For the Potluck show, aspiring performers drew a number from a weathered frozen strawberry bucket - those chosen got three minutes on stage. No qualifications were necessary. The Potluck was a rite of passage for many aspiring comedians - comics who successfully performed routinely at the potluck often graduated to paying jobs.

Dingler, however, performed at the potluck for nearly 27 years, doing the same material, performance after performance. He eventually became bitter, and seemingly held grudges against many Comedy Store alumni (such as Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

, Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay is an American comedian and actor who played the lead role in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.Clay has been in several movies and has released a number of stand-up albums...

, Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

, David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

 and Eddie Griffin
Eddie Griffin
Edward James "Eddie" Griffin, Jr. is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his sitcom, Malcolm & Eddie along with co-star, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and his role in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother as the film’s title character.-Early life:Griffin was born in Kansas City,...

) who'd successfully risen through the ranks following the same path.

Long-time patrons of the Comedy Store eventually began to treat Dingler as a cult symbol, and would often do his routine along with him, often calling out his punchlines before he could. In later years, the hosts of the pot-luck shows would save Dingler's appearance for the end of the evening, when more inebriated and exuberant audiences would play along with his disturbingly hilarious act.

Dingler's personal history and appearance remained a mystery to many, leading to speculation that he was possibly a millionaire playboy, homeless or a Post-Traumatic Shock Syndrome riddled Vietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...

.

In 2004, Dingler suddenly disappeared from The Comedy Store and the comedy scene, leading to speculation that he had either died in a gutter or been murdered, but according to an article written by up and coming comedian Todd Munson, Gaylord Dingler was a stage name for Jeffrey Allen Kaufman, who now lives somewhere in the Mid-West.

An upcoming documentary titled 'The Machine Ripped His Leg Off : The Legend of Gaylord Dingler is currently being shot by English filmmaker Kjeld Gogosha-Clark
Kjeld Gogosha-Clark
Kjeld Gogosha-Clark born on June 24, 1967 is an English Filmmaker and Actor from Leeds, Yorkshire in the North of England....

 of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

based Working Class Films and Munson.

Jeffrey Kaufman or Gaylord Dingler indeed lives in a suburb outside of Detroit. Jeffrey lives as a recluse in his brother's law office. He has no phone no internet and little contact with the outside world. Jeffrey believes that his life is in danger. He believes that the government and individuals from California want him dead. He also speaks often of current "Nazi conspiricies" against Jews and Jewish enterprises. He does still speak of his days in stand up comedy and he relentlesly practices his routine for a possible comeback. Gaylords regular gig today is the late night crowd at 7-11 or the nearby 24 hour drugstore. The few people that do have contact with Gaylord still hear his now famous Mantra "A Machine Ripped His Leg Off" on a regular basis.

External links

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