Are All Jerrys Funny?

I come before you today to admit that my wife, clever world-conquering she-beast that she is, still regularly confuses Adam Sandler with Ben Stiller. I do not suffer from this particular lapse of recognition. I see these gentlemen as separate and distinct comedic talents capable of all manner of amusing feats, though both have also distinguished themselves in more dramatic fare. For me, it could be noted that Sandler is the goofier of the two, while Stiller plays a little more intense.
But that's not exactly what I'm concerned with today. Ben Stiller had parents that delivered to him a comic sensibility that was forged in the outrage found in the mundane. Stiller and Meara, his mother and father would most certainly have influenced his eventual career choices.
In case you were not aware of the early forms of this dynamic duo, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were a married couple who brought a more gritty vibe to the bits performed by Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Nichols and May were far more erudite than Stiller and Meara. Manhattan as opposed to the Bronx, if you will. There was an earthiness in what Jerry and Anne did that most certainly sprang from their real-life marriage. Sixty-two years of it. If you're going to be married to someone for more than half a century, you had best develop a pretty good sense of humor. Or show up with one.
Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara apparently did just that. As a matter of fact, they were a comedy team before they were a family team. They were a part of The Compass Players, which eventually became the legendary Second City, making the pair pre-legendary. In 1961, they started out on their own, and didn't look back.
Decades passed, and the duo showed up separately or together on hundreds of TV shows, and dozens of films. From Ed Sullivan to Laugh-In to the Love Boat, you couldn't switch the dial too many times without running into Stiller and Meara. Jerry was perhaps best knows as George Costanza's dad on Seinfeld, where he gave us innumerable great lines as well as the alternative holiday, Festivus.  His collaborations with Kramer made everyone else's bad ideas seem just a little better.
Now the curtain has rung down on Jerry's act. He goes to join his beloved partner in the comedy club in the sky. Maybe now I can use this moment as a chance to tag off on my wife's confusion: "Oh him? That's Jerry Stiller's son." Aloha, Jerry. You stomped on the Terra and made me laugh. You will be missed.