Murray Langston

Appearing Fri,Sat

Murray Langston, aka “The Unknown Comic”, is a Bags to Riches story of a young boy who left the comfort of freezing weather in Canada
and headed to California to get into show business, heavily influenced by watching all the early films of Jerry Lewis. In his early twenties, after having worked various jobs waiting for his break, he finally landed an appearance on the hugely successful Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In TV show as Beautiful Downtown Burbank’s greatest impressionist - with his impersonations of a fork and a tube of toothpaste. It didn't make him a lot of money or a household word, but a few years later Murray became a regular performer on The Sonny & Cher Show which lasted for 4 ½ years and led to other comedy acting jobs on hit TV shows such as The Bobby Vinton Show, The Wolfman Jack Show, Lola Falana’s Lola! show, and The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle show. On a break from those shows, Murray decided to take some of his earnings and invested in a nightclub/restaurant which he called "Show-Biz" where many aspiring performers began their careers. Among them were Michael Keaton, David Letterman, Ghallager and Debra Winger who worked for him as a waitress.

Unfortunately, after two years Murray lost all of his investment and was out of a job. Out of money and wondering where to turn to next,
he heard of a show called the "Gong Show" which paid scale to union members. Since Murray was a union member - but not wanting anyone to know he was suddenly desperate - Murray came up with the idea of putting a bag over his head, telling a couple of corny jokes and calling himself “The Unknown Comic”. He only meant to do one show, but the audience and the host Chuck Barris thought he was so funny that he was asked to repeat his performance, and he appeared on over 150 episodes of the show.

This led to appearances on every talk show of that era, from Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and Dinah Shore, to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Within a year, Murray created a comedy act and was suddenly appearing in Las Vegas at the Sahara Hotel, and subsequently ended
up appearing at just about every hotel on the Strip. Murray became the first comedian in Las Vegas to hire two other comics to open for him, appearing with his all-comedy show, first at the Landmark, then the Hacienda, and the Dunes, long before other comedy clubs showcased comedians on the strip. Murray decided to then move into another direction and wrote and produced his own movie about the homeless called, "Up Your Alley". He followed this by directing another film called, "Wishful Thinking", and later also directed a play called, "Run for your Wife".

During his career Murray has appeared on over 800 television shows and close to 20 movies, and in clubs all over the country. Murray officially
retired several years ago to raise his two daughters, and only rarely leaves the happy, comfortable life he loves to make live appearances. So be sure to take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see The Unknown Comic in person at Reno Pop Culture Con Opening Night Event, and get his autograph in Celebrity Summit of the show floor on Friday and Saturday of the show.