''Hello Dummy!'' is a

comedy album A comedy album is an audio recording of comedic material from a comedian or group of comedians, usually performed either live or in a studio. Comedy albums may feature skits, humorous songs, and/or live recording of stand-up comedy performan ...

released by American

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

Don Rickles Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include ''Run Silent, Run Deep (film), Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958), ''Enter Laughing ...

. It was recorded at the

Sahara Hotel and Casino The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic. The name "Sahara" ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, and released in 1968. It peaked at No. 54 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs music chart. In 2025, the album was chosen for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress.

Reception

In a retrospective review, Jason Ankeny of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated ''Hello Dummy!'' explained that Rickles "steadfastly remains a true equal-opportunity offender, spitting out insults with the speed and force of a rivet gun and without regard to gender, race, creed, or sexuality" and that "''Hello Dummy!'' captures Don Rickles at the peak of his vicious powers". He concluded: "While certainly never a comedic revolutionary on par with

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of come ...

, Rickles somehow transcends political correctness so completely that he whips the crowd into a communal fervor worthy of a preacher."

Track listing

#"Hello Dummy!" – 35:39

References

{{authority control Don Rickles albums Live spoken word albums 1968 live albums 1960s comedy albums United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums Warner Records live albums