Monday, February 25, 2019

MONDAY MEMORIAL - REMEMBERING JOE DICSO


Joe Dicso: 
Five minutes to Monologue, Mr. Martin!
Steve Martin: 
Thanks, Joe! 
Joe Dicso:
I can’t ever get fired, 
I’ve got a Union job.
But somehow tonight 
it doesn’t matter 
that I’m in with the mob!
'Saturday Night Live'

On the February 16th episode of 'Saturday Night Live', the show displayed this title card before going into the cast's curtain call.


I have yet to find official notice of Dicso's passing but Facebookers in the business who knew him have been paying tribute to the long-running  stage manager.

From People:
Stage Manager Joe Dicso: 
Going into the first show there were times I thought, “We’re not going to make this.” Sometimes the performers didn’t make it to the set until after we’d started. I’d tell the control room, “Laraine’s not here,” and the director would say, “We’ll go to a close-up of Belushi. Let us know when she’s there.” And that’s what we did. There’ve been heel marks on the floor from when I grabbed people on the wrong way to their marks.  


Here are the basics of his SNL career from the IMDb:


But he didn't just serve behind the scenes.  He also got pulled into the sketches like that opening musical number the night Steve Martin returned to host in 1991 which I quoted at the top.  To me this was one of the best show openings they ever did. 

These are the episodes in which he played himself on 'Saturday Night Live'



Jim Carrey hosted Mr. Dicso's last show and brought him out for a special tribute.



Jim Carrey:
It’s Joe Dicso’s last night here, ladies and gentlemen!  He’s been here for 21 years – he’s seen it all!


Good night and may God bless.....



6 comments:

Jim Peyton said...

A name I saw at every end credit. God speed Joe

Mike Doran said...

Joe Dicso was at NBC in New York forever.

At YouTube, check out Garry Moore's final show on To Tell The Truth from 1977.
Garry calls out something Joe Dicso said about Kitty Carlisle's wardrobe, following it up thusly:

"I don't know if you know Joe Dicso … if you don't, avoid it."

A much loved figure at 30 Rock. Once again, history takes a hit …

Toby O'B said...

Thank you for adding that, Mike. I hope Team Toobworld checks out the video.

Unknown said...

He was my grandmothers uncle and my father and aunt have some great stories with him. They even got to see the studio for SNL.
I can confirm from his more immediate family whom we keep in touch with that indeed Joe Disco had passed away on February 18th.

Toby O'B said...

Thanks for confirming that. I hope it was peaceful and that he lives on in your family’s memories.

Anonymous said...

To Tell the Truth 9/77 - Garry Moore's last episode - Part 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HmX6F8e88g&t=335
The discussion about Joe starts at around 5:40.
-Al Baird