He also remembers having giant bags of toys dumped on the floor of the hotel rooms.
Dick Van Dyke came from the tail end of Vaudeville, where performers had to have a whole variety of skills.
Remember: Every one of these folks that hits the limelight, beat out thousands of others.
We think our vocation is competitive? Showbiz says "Hold my beer."
but he did do a bunch for America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hartman#Discography
And he’s great with a lasso!
I love his albums with Edie Brickell, he’s good with Steep Canyon Rangers, and more recently have heard him shine with Alison Brown (banjo), Sierra Hull (mandolin), and others in his latest tour.
If you’re looking for the top banjo players technically, you might check out Béla Fleck, Jens Kruger, Noam Pikelny, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Don Reno, and Earl Scruggs. I’ve personally heard superhuman performances by Jens Kruger in-person and I grew up on Scruggs.
And of course, there's Sir Doctor Brian May.
Many of the early electronic musicians were basically engineers (you had to be, to use some of those old synthesizers).