Dennis Miller tells about dinner with Frank Sinatra

I like Las Vegas because it always makes me feel like I'm in show business there's a few things that have happened to me in show business that I never imagined when I was a young kid ones meet Johnny Carson backstage it's a Tonight Show then seeing your name on the marquee in Las Vegas that's a big thrill I remember Dana Carvey and I his kids the amount thinking my god and and then probably the coolest thing I've ever had happened to me in show business happened in Las Vegas and it was my my dinner with Frank Sinatra oh and by the way before I start I don't want anybody think I'm thinking to piss this isn't it says the podium of the United States of America so I didn't want anybody you know I respect the office sometimes the individuals it's a little different but the office hey I didn't want anybody to think I was taking the piss out of that so anyway my dinner with Frank Sinatra I'm in Las Vegas I'm working at the MGM Grand I go into town with my mother who's 69 at this point she dies within four months on her 70th birthday my wife is with me she's pregnant with our second son our older son is with us and our Filipino nanny Khoikhoi who ended up being with us for 17 years is with us so we go to the MGM Grand and I get a call in the afternoon from my friend Tom dreesen the great comedian out of Chicago who opens for Sinatra and they're down at the Desert Inn and Tom says listen our shows are staggered tonight why don't you come down and see Frank and I go geez I've never seen him I'll be there with bells on why don't you leave a ticket for one for me one for my mom one for my wife so I do my show on I'm really anticipating hardly focus on what I'm doing on stage I run up to the room right after the show to gather everybody and like I said my wife's pregnant she says honey I don't quite feel well so why don't you take Khoikhoi with you I'm sure she'd like to see him great off we go we go down to see Frank Sinatra and it's a great show it's not vintage Sinatra at this point it's towards the end indeed he's in his de new mall he actually actually repeated a song but I wasn't gonna say anything they'd ask me I would have said yeah better second time through Frank much better I remember at this point in time I was at a party with Don Rickles and Rickles is good friends with Sinatra and he had been down to the desert to to meet you know to spend some time at the compound as I always loved that concept and I said how is a frank Don and he's always good but he has Sicilian Alzheimer's disease and I said really Don what's that he said he only remembers the grudges nobody funnier in the world and Don Rickles Don if you perchance catch this year you're the greatest comedian I've ever seen I remember when I first met Rickles it was the thrill of my life he'd always been my idol he was on my old show on HBO Dennis Miller alive and I didn't want to talk to him backstage because I was really nerve-racking him I didn't want to blow it all back there I thought since it was live I'd meet him out there and you know pay homage to him so Rickles comes on he sits down we're on the air and I go hey Don nice to meet you how's the career and he says I'm on this piece of aren't I perfect just what I wanted so anyway after the show we go backstage to thank Tom dreesen and unbelievably Driessen says me hey listen Frank Doug you on Saturday Night Live why don't you come to dinner with us I can't believe he knows me I'm a pig in slop let's go so we go to this restaurant that Desert Inn and there's like the main room and then the VIP room and then the VI VIP room and then the Warren Beatty Jack Nicholson room and then way in the back there's the chairman of the boardroom they opened the door there it is one table for ten right across to me sits the great man Frank Sinatra on this side of him sits his wife Barbara on this side of his attorney and his attorneys wife over his shoulder these two big Italian bodyguards Driessen sits here and my mum sits here I sit right across from him and Khoikhoi the nanny sits between Barbara Sinatra and I so we're having a blast around 20 minutes in it's like surrealistic for a kid like me and I'm thinking geez I can't believe it he's being so nice to us and so gracious that I begin to realize that he thinks that Khoikhoi is my wife because they're being so nice and I think well there's no reason to tell them you don't want to make this awkward to make Khoikhoi feel stilted so I just roll with it it seems like nothing but then around 35 minutes in Khoikhoi nudges me under the table I looked on and under the tablecloth she's holding an autograph book with a poodle on the front cover and she's like motioning towards Sinatra I'm completely vomitus I can't I can't say anything so I go heavy heavy body language on one I look up I catch Sinatra's eyes he thinks I'm having a seizure I have to straighten up but now I'm completely panicked it's hanging over my head like the autographed book of Damocles I can think of nothing else around ten minutes later I decided time to get up and blow dodge and kiss the ring you know we go around the table to kiss the ring because it's Sinatra and that's what you do here's how cool this guy is my mom goes in first now like I said my mom 69 at this point she's dead within like a hundred and twenty days I always thank you God that you allowed this to happen for her she steps up she says mr. Sinatra when I was a young girl in Pittsburgh in 1952 I saw you at the Stan Lee theater and to finally have dinner with you later in life like this it's just the thrill of my life sir Sinatra looks up better he says 1952 Stan Lee theater Pittsburgh I remember that show baby you were on the left side of the stage then now you look good so oh I brought me ice I was so touched I stepped off at this point I would have slept with him I got like a tear in my eye go Frank Jesus what you just did for my mother he literally gives me the chilly face like get out here I do a half turn quickly steps up lap she hits him with the autograph book oh I'm trying to stop but I look over to my mum for help she's floating off the ground like this and just like a ferngully fairy she's no help over my shoulder I actually hear Frank Sinatra say did you say SOI SOI and the bodyguard says Khoikhoi Frank Khoikhoi I've a near Sinatra say ah que si what I'm flipping out I have to walk out towards the main room quite boy my mom come float not I can't get mad at quake boy for God's sake she's from the Philippines she just had dinner with Frank Sinatra she's in low-level shock say they say quake at least let me see it I open up to the page that he's signed and it says to so PO SOP oh it's like he went so far was it this your sofa Oh dad unbelievable

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Views: 1,235,505

Rating: 4.6617002 out of 5

Keywords: Dennis, Miller, Frank Sinatra, Dinner

Id: tQyJlKI26lk

Length: 8min 4sec (484 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 15 2012