Richard Philip Lewis is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He came to prominence as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s and became known for his dark, neurotic and self-deprecating humour.
As an actor, he is known for co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in the sitcom Anything but Love, and for playing the role of Prince John in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Lewis gained much wider exposure in the 1980s and 1990s with numerous appearances on talk shows such as The Tonight Show, both Late Night and the Late Show with David Letterman, and The Howard Stern Show.
He also produced the comedy specials I’m in Pain, which aired on Showtime in 1985, followed by I’m Exhausted, I’m Doomed and Richard Lewis: The Magical Misery Tour, which all aired on HBO in 1988, 1990 and 1997 respectively.
GQ magazine included Lewis on their list of “The 20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists”, and Lewis was ranked #45 on Comedy Central’s list of “100 Greatest Standups of All Time” released in 2004.
Does Richard Lewis always wear black?
Richard Lewis is known for wearing black in all his comedy shows. Looking back at over 20 years of Curb alone shows the subtle evolution of his uniform.
He was wearing slouchy suits long before the current wave of stylish people went rummaging around for vintage Armani.
These days, the look is a bit more closely tailored, and Lewis will sometimes wear a t-shirt underneath his blazer instead of a shirt and tie.
The black sort of came incidentally. “I didn’t make the conscious effort to find a costume, you know, as a hook,” he says of his signature color.
Lewis thinks maybe his obsession with dressing in black came from watching the television Western Have Gun – Will Travel when he was a kid.