Carol Burnett Taught Herself Slapstick Comedy and Reveals 'I Never Broke Anything'

Victoria EdelTue, May 5, 2026 at 8:50 PM UTC

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Carol Burnett on 'The Carol Burnett Show' in 1967Credit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty -

Carol Burnett opened up about teaching herself slapstick comedy on The Garry Moore Show early in her career

Burnett would later use that same physical comedy on her Emmy-winning series, The Carol Burnett Show

Burnett credited her ability to learn so quickly — and not break anything — to her athleticism

Carol Burnett had some bumps and bruises on her way to stardom.

Burnett opened up about her career in an interview with Los Angeles Magazine published April 29. She reflected on her early life in Hollywood (after her family had moved there from Texas), working as a movie theater usher and attending the TCM Classic Film Festival.

Journalist Chris Nicholas asked Burnett about her appearance in a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone, titled "Cavender Is Coming." He noted she "took a fall like a real slapstick comedian" and asked, "Where did you learn that?"

“I taught myself," Burnett, 93, said. "I just learned that you don't stiffen up when you're gonna fall down." Perhaps most surprisingly, she revealed, "I never broke anything."

Carol Burnett on 'The Carol Burnett Show'Credit: Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

From 1959 to 1962, Burnett appeared on The Garry Moore Show, a variety series that launched the careers of many famous comedians. "I remember when I first got on The Garry Moore Show we did a sketch where I had to jump out of a window," she shared. "I said, ‘Sure' because I wanted the job. I landed on a mattress and stupidly said 'Thanks.' "

She then confessed, "I just thought I was gonna go splat."

She also remembered comedian Jerry Lewis asking her, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Because Lewis, who died in 2017 at 91, also "took all those pratfalls." But in the end, Burnett survived the stunts and won an Emmy for The Garry Moore Show in 1962.

Burnett explained now that she was able to embrace physical comedy so completely because of her athleticism. “I used to fly kites and roller skate up the sidewalks," she remembered.

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"We would climb the Hollywood Sign with the neighborhood kids. The boards were rickety, and you'd get splinters, but at the top you could lean over and just look at Hollywood. I feel like I've lived a charmed life with so many wonderful coincidences that have happened," she continued.

From 1967 to 1978, Burnett starred in her own series, The Carol Burnett Show. She was the first woman to host her own comedy-variety series, and it mixed comedy sketches with songs and dances. She also continued to play with physical comedy, including in sketches where she would let herself be punched in the face, have buckets of water thrown on her or play an accident-prone wife who needs insurance.

Carol Burnett on May 1Credit: Araya Doheny/Getty for TCM

The Carol Burnett Show won 25 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Variety Series — Musical in 1972, 1974 and 1975.

In total, Burnett has won seven Emmys. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1975 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. She received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2013 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2015.

Most recently, she starred as Norma Dellacorte on Apple TV's series Palm Royale, which ran for two seasons, from 2024 to 2026. Kristen Wiig, who starred with her in the series, told PEOPLE in 2025 that it's "hard to put into words” what it meant to appear on the show alongside Burnett.

“We genuinely love each other,” Wiig, 52, said. “I think when you have that ease with a person in real life, you're able to make bigger creative choices, too. I think one sort of begets the other. Working together has also brought us closer outside of work, so it's just been a dream come true for me."

Burnett added, "I can't even say it was work. I just had the best time, and everybody in the cast was a family. I know so many television shows have said, ‘Oh, it was a family,' but this definitely is one. There wasn't a diva in the bunch at all. It was just a joy to go to work. We just get in the sandbox and play.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”