The 2000 Year Old Man, 50 Years On

The 2000 Year Old Man sketches originated in a party when Carl Reiner started asking his friend Mel Brooks a few ad-lib questions that  resulted in some hilarious answers and kept the guests laughing for over two hours. According to an interview the two gave to Ari Karpel of  the New York Times they came up with the idea in a lull in the writers room of “Your Show of Shows” for which they both wrote.According to Reiner:

I always knew if I threw a question to Mel he could come up with something…  I remember the first question I asked him. I turned to Mel and I said, “Here’s a man who was actually seen at the crucifixion 2,000 years ago,” and his first words were “Oh, boy.” [He sighs.] We all fell over laughing. I said, “You knew Jesus?” “Yeah,” he said “Thin lad, wore sandals, long hair, walked around with 11 other guys. Always came into the store, never bought anything. Always asked for water.” Those were the first words, and then for the next hour or two I kept asking him questions, and he never stopped killing us.

Fellow comedian George Burns heard the material and told them that if they didn’t put it on an album he would steal the material. So they made the album and actor Cary Grant liked it so much he talked the pair of comedians into giving him 12 copies. Little did they know that he intended to give one to the British Queen Mother who became a huge fan.
In the interviews that spanned several albums Brooks told  the interviewer about the real lives of the dead and famous and what it was like to have lived so long.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of  the 2000 year old man, Shout Factory has just released a box set that includes 3 Cds and 1 Dvd   covering all five released albums and TV specials.
Here are some examples from 2000 years of wit:
On Parenthood:  I have over 42,000 children, and not one comes to visit me
On Shakespeare: He was a dreadful writer. Every letter was cockeyed; he had the worst penmanship I ever saw in my life
On the Black Death:  Too many rats, not enough cats.
On women: They were discovered by a man named Bernie.

About his Wives:

Where Words Came From:

The 2000 Year Old Man (animated)
The 2000 Year Old Man:The Complete History