Three Favorite Bits from Bill Knoedelseder’s “I’m Dying Up Here”:

But he couldn’t figure out why Jay kept hopping up and down during his routine. He moved closer to the stage and saw that a patron in the front row was trying to pound on Leno’s toes with his balled up first … What amazed him most was that Leno kept his composure and timing while managing to avoid most of the blows.

Instead, Letterman took it right to them. “So what do you puds want to talk about tonight?” were the first words out of his mouth. From opposite sides of the room, two men heckled him simultaneously. He fired back, “Are you two guys sharing a brain?”

Ringo Starr made a memorable solo appearance at Sunset one night, arriving so intoxicated that Mike Binder, who was working the door, had to help him to a seat in back. Starr was seated just as David Letterman took the stage, and the former Beatle immediately began heckling him, which attracted the attention of every comic within earshot. Letterman had a reputation for eviscerating hecklers, and as word spread along the back hallway, other comics started filing into the room to watch the impending bloodshed.

It wasn’t a fair fight. In the spotlight, Letterman couldn’t see who the heckler was, so he showed no mercy, and Starr was too drunk to appreciate how badly Letterman was beating him up. Finally, one of the comics took pit and called out, “Hey, Dave, it’s Ringo.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Letterman shot back in the direction of Starr. “You ruined your career, and now you’ve come here to ruin mine.”