Tour of the Friars Club
(Friars Club Website)
57 East 55th Street
New York, NY 10022
212.751.7272

Officers:
Jerry Lewis, Abbot
Freddie Roman, Dean
Stewie Stone, Prior
Fred C. Klein, Treasurer
Stu Cantor, Scribe

Michael L. Gyure, Exec. Director
Michael Caputo, General Manager
Joseph F. Barletta, Editor-in-Chief, The Friars’ Epistle
Barry Dougherty, Editor and Friars Club Historian
Randie Levine-Miller, Special Events Producer
Larry Gerard, Web Monk

Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
November 13, 2008

It was thrilling to tour the Friars Club, renowned for la crème de la crème of the comedy, theatre, and television industry, with Barry Dougherty, Friars Club Historian and Editor of “The Friars’ Epistle”. Barry also works on the infamous Friars Club Roasts (not for the faint of heart) and the Friars Club Tributes (on the gentler side). The list of Officers of the Friars Club is a tribute on its own, with Jerry Lewis as the Abbot SINCE 2006. In fact, the Officers have titles that relate to a Monastery, as the Friars are a fraternal organization with a commitment to public service and excellence in performance. The Friars Club Foundation speaks to the public service programs that give scholarships to worthy arts proposals and to students with potential for show business.

The six-story brownstone, an English Renaissance “Monastery”, is an escape for its members, who lunch, play cards or pool, and tell each other jokes. The Friars Club was founded in 1904 (See Friars Club History), with a small group of theatre press calling a meeting at Browne’s Chop House, and its subsequent events were first called Jubilee Dinners and Frolics. Friars Club members included Frank Sinatra, George M. Cohan, George Burns, Enrico Caruso, George Jessel, Mike Todd, Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Lucille Ball (women were not admitted until 1988). Current members include Al Roker, Matt Lauer (See the Matt Lauer Roast photos), Don King, Billy Crystal, Joy Behar, Bebe Neuwirth, Meredith Vieira, and Brian Williams. New members include Danny DeVito, Martin Short, and Jim Bouton. According to Barry Dougherty, lawyers, doctors, and business executives are urged to join as well, comprising one-fourth of membership, to round out the dynamic lunch and dinner event conversations. I was fascinated by the Roasts, and the process of choosing the person to be “roasted” each year. Actually the selection meetings are ongoing, and the person who will be “roasted” chooses his/her Roast Master ((Donald Trump chose Regis Philbin as his Roast Master, and Don King chose Donald Trump).

Joy Behar, called The Grand “Jestress”, was the Club’s first female Roast Master. Before women were admitted, Phyllis Diller snuck into one of the Roasts dressed like a man, looking like Claude Rains. The Friars Club also holds auditions for young comedians, called “So You Think You Can Roast”. Applicants enter a 90 second video of their best Roast material and may choose their Roast subject from a list of suggestions, like Oprah or Britney Spears. The video audition winner is placed into a round of competition, like “The Apprentice”, to win a stand-up role at an annual Roast, gathering exceptional attention. Anyone can laugh at any moment, when you need a lift, by clicking onto the Friars Daily Joke page, which I often do. Also, Club Historian and Editor of “The Epistle”, Barry Dougherty, has written several collections of Friars Club jokes and Roasts, such as The Friars Club Private Joke File, which I gave to my father, who loves colorful jokes.

My Friars Club Tour included the winding staircase and stained glass windows, with photos of George M. Cohan and Irving Berlin, The Billy Crystal Lounge, for cocktails and dinner, the Frank Sinatra Dining Room, for gathering for brunch, lunch, dinner, and in-house events, The Milton Berle Room, with a grand fireplace, The Joe E. Lewis Bar in the Lucille Ball Room, the William B. Williams Billiard Room, for celebrity pool, and the Ed Sullivan ( a former Friars Abbot) Banquet and Meeting Room, with media equipment, for evening get-togethers. The Friars Club has its own song, written by Friar Charles Emerson Cook, and music by Friar Victor Herbert. It ends: "…Too oft we must prate others’ virtues as great, In one self-advertised pageant, But to-night, with a will (while we OK the bill), Let us drink to the health of the agent.” (Friars Club Press Book).

Friars Club Welcome Foyer
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Frank Sinatra Dining Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Frank Sinatra Dining Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

Barry Dougherty, Dir. of Communications
Friars Club
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Friars Club Hair and Nail Salon
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Frank Sinatra
Top of Fourth Floor Stairway
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Friars Club Winding Staircase
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Friars Club Winding Staircase
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Ed Sullivan Sculpture
in the Ed Sullivan Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Frank Sinatra Drawing
in the William B. Williams Billiard Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Friars Club Pool Table
in the William B. Williams Billiard Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Gibson Guitar Signed by Les Paul
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Jack Benny's Violin
A Gift from Roberta Peters
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Friars Club Banner
in the Milton Berle Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Grand Wall of Renowned Photos
in the Milton Berle Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Inlaid Ceiling and Chandelier
in the Milton Berle Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Photos of Renowned Friars
in the Lucille Ball Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Photos of Renowned Friars
in the Lucille Ball Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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The Joe. E. Lewis Bar
in the Lucille Ball Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Frank Sinatra Photo
in the Lucille Ball Room
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Photos of Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan
on the Winding Staircase
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Lydia Martinez
at the Friars Club Reception
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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Fahti Beqiri, Bartender,
in the First Floor Bar
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower

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For more information, contact Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower at zlokower@bestweb.net