I used to think he was cringey. But watching this now, his act was brilliant! He innocently captivated the audience

Wow, Paul Reubens is a freaking genius. He had just barely started his comedy career, and he had that audience eating out of the palm of his hand! By the way, I hope you all realize that this is likely his first ever recorded performance of doing the iconic tequila dance, from the movie " Pee-wee's Big Adventure." This footage is a valuable piece of comedic history, and the perfect example of why the Pee Wee Herman character is so iconic, and why Paul Reubens is going to be remembered as a comic Legend. Paul Rubens well deserves a place in the Comedy Hall of Fame.

Wow I’m in tears. He looks like he had been doing this for years. Totally unique act. Complete control of himself and the audience. Just an amazing performance. 😂😂😂. Part of the Genius is he is just doing and saying completely ordinary and juvenile stuff and it is hilarious due to the delivery and context. Pure comedic genius.

Came here because I just heard the news today of Mr. Reuben’s passing. May he RIP. Thank you for putting smiles on our faces and laughter in our voices.

Paul was the only Hollywood person who ever invited me to work on a project without an audition.

Incredibly brave performance. A high wire act that could collapse on itself at any moment.

This is pure...this is amazing. He's doing this to a room of adults...nobody had seen anything like this ...Paul Reubens was a true innovator or comedy

I’ve never seen this before and it’s impressive and really funny. Part of his special talent was that at the beginning he’s practically channeling a 10 y.o. boy trying to do stand up comedy, then he transitions into something a little more mature, then walks the edge between the two for the rest of the set. Just brilliant.

It's funny that he looks confused, but he's in total control of that audience.

“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens wrote. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”

I think a lot of people forget just how good Pee Wee is at stand up. The idea of being pissed off and bothered at the audience reaction to his own comedy is a genius move. Pee Wee and Letterman were always a great combo, too. I could never tell if David was really thrown off by Pee Wee's antics, or not (that was the genius of David Letterman, as well), and, combined with Pee Wee's awkwardness, it always made for good television.

Fantastic set. When he gave them that first SHHH!! and sneer, he owned that audience from there on. Then he goes right to the loudest person in the crowd and gets them to participate in a gag. Brilliant showmanship. Pee Wee was such a great character. He could get away with a lot of stuff in that character that a normal comedian couldn't.

OMG I had tears in my eyes😂. I first saw Pee Wee on his HBO special in the 80's and thought he was brilliant. Later I bought the VHS tapes of his TV show for my 3 yr old daughter in the 90's. She loved it. When she got a little older we watched Pee Wee's Big Adventure together, which we also loved. Try to think of another comedian who was actually playing to adults, acting like a kid, and was loved by both. The man was genius! From all accounts I've seen, in real life he was a caring, thoughtful and sweet friend to those he knew. Search for Conan's tribute to him recently on YT. RIP Paul Reubens.

Rumor has it that man is still trying to get his wallet back from peewee. 😂

The great thing about this is that the audience had no idea WTF this was

like him or not he is brilliant. he knew how to play off the audience and never once broke character.

The great thing about telling people that you have been doing stand up comedy for a couple weeks, is you can actually be nervous and it all looks like part of the act. Genius!

Just wonderful. Telling the audience to “shut up” and “I’ll wait”. “Is that your real laugh, ma’am?” No one had ever seen anything…anything…like this

He was so comfortable. So smart. So funny. Amazing crowd work. Genuinely missed.

What threw the audience off was that he was so original and unexpected that the audience didn't know what to think. He coulda just stood there and had them in stiches but when he started in on them they started peeing their pants laughing and couldnt stop.