Pat Paulsen - Career in Comedy

Career in Comedy

Paulsen went on to become a single act appearing as a comedic guitarist in various clubs on the west coast and in New York City. During one of his appearances in San Francisco, he met the Smothers Brothers.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour premiered in 1967. Paulsen said he was hired because he sold them cheap songs and would run errands. At first he was cast as their editorialist, and his deadpan, double-talk comments on the issues of the day propelled him into the national consciousness. (His deadpan work was nearly flawless: on one isolated occasion, in a talk about Hawaii, he defined a "wahine" as something you put on a bu-hun with lots of mu-hustard. His composure started to crack, but he recovered.) His work on The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour earned Paulsen an Emmy in 1968.

Early in 1970, Paulsen headlined his own series, Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour, which ran 13 weeks on ABC. Guests on the first show were former US Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and an animated Daffy Duck, whom Paulsen interviewed.

The comedian was approached by the Smothers Brothers with the idea of running for President in 1968. His reply, he was later to recount, was: "Why not? I can't dance – besides, the job has a good pension plan and I'll get a lot of money when I retire."

In addition to his work with the Smothers Brothers, Paulsen made a memorable guest appearance on The Monkees, appearing in the 1967 episode "Monkees Watch Their Feet", playing the secretary of National Defense.

In 1968, Paulsen appeared as timid, tenderfoot Federal Agent Bosley Cranston in The Night of the Camera (Season 4/Episode 10) of The Wild, Wild West. Pat's character had a photographic memory and ended up with the girl(s) much to the surprise of agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman).

During the Sesame Street inaugural season (1969–1970), he often recited the alphabet in one of the comical early skits – fumbling on a few of the letters.

Paulsen's campaign that year, and in succeeding years, was grounded in comedy, while not bereft of serious commentary. He ran the supposed campaigns using obvious lies, double talk, and tongue-in-cheek attacks on the major candidates, and responded to all criticism with his catchphrase "Picky, picky, picky". His campaign slogan was "Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny."

Paulsen's name appeared on the ballot in New Hampshire for the Democratic Primary several times. In 1996, he received 921 votes (1%) to finish second to President Bill Clinton (76,754 votes); this was actually ahead of real politicians such as Buffalo mayor James D. Griffin. In 1992 he came in second to George Bush in the North Dakota Republican Primary. In the 1992 Republican Party primaries he received 10,984 votes total.

During later years, Paulsen appeared in nightclubs, theaters, and conventions throughout the country. He also appeared each summer in Traverse City, Michigan, at the Cherry County Playhouse where he produced and starred in some 25 different plays, including The Fantasticks, The Odd Couple, Harvey, and The Sunshine Boys.