Review: Mark Nadler Turns up the Volume at the Dutch Treat Club
The afternoon celebrated Sid Caesar by speaker author David Margolick (When Ceasar Was King) and entertainer Mark Nadler
One of the Dutch Treaters at lunch on April 1, 2026 asked for the volume to be raised during Mark Nadler’s performance and Mark quickly replied, “Well, that’s the first time I’ve been asked for me to be louder!” Mark was the perfect entertainer to be a part of an afternoon which featured a talk by author David Margolick who presented his new book: When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented American Comedy. Margolick is the author of several books, including Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink; Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song; and Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock. He was a longtime contributing editor at Vanity Fair, and before that, a legal affairs reporter at The New York Times, where he wrote the weekly "At the Bar" column. He is currently working on a biography of Dr. Jonas Salk for the "Jewish Lives" series published by Yale University Press.
His multi-media presentation included some rarely seen footage of what has been referred to as the longest laugh in television history from Caesar’s Your Show Of Shows, a skit called “This Is Your Story” that featured Sid, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris. It was indeed hilarious and we got to watch the entire segment! He spoke of Caeser’s 10-year absence from TV after the exhausting run of his landbreaking show, due to burnout, and the fact that televisions were a rare luxury in the beginning that tended to only be in the homes of the more affluent and intelligent audiences. In fact, he quoted former Dutch Treat president Issac Asimov, who said he bought his first TV just to watch Caesar. As audiences became less “elite”, and television began to spread across America, audiences preferred Lawrence Welk to Caesar, who many perceived as “snobby”. In fact, Welk was such a threat to Caesar, that Sid devoted four sequential weeks of brutal scenes about Welk. It was an entertaining and fascinating talk.
Mark Nadler (who had no problem being heard or seen by the Dutch Treaters), bears more than a passing resemblance to Sid, especially in their performance style. Nadler, an extraordinary pianist/singer/comic, was the perfect choice of entertainment for the afternoon. He is the recipient of multiple awards from: the Manhattan Association of Cabarets, the Backstage Bistros, the New York Nightlife Awards, the Broadway World Awards, the Bay Area Outer Critics’ Circle Awards, has also been nominated for France’s prestigious Trophée de la Théâtre Musicale. He has been a soloist with major orchestras, playing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Philadelphia’s 14,000 seat amphitheater at The Mann Center. His off-Broadway show, “I’m a Stranger Here Myself”, was honored with a New York Nightlife Award, a Drama Desk nomination and a nomination for Australia’s highest performing arts honor, the Helpmann Award. Nadler opened with “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling” and then did a one-man rendition of “Cell Block Tango” that was a hysterical masterclass in multiple character creations, as he performed EVERY part in a completely different physicality, accent and voice. Mark brought his performance to a close with a moving rendition of the Gallagher/Waldrop contemporary and timely ballad, “Laughing Matters.”
See photos from the luncheon below. Learn more about the Dutch Treat Club on their website here.
Mark Nadler
David Margolick & KT Sullivan
David Margolick
Your Show Of Shows
Raissa Katona Bennett & Mark Nadler
The Dutch Treat Club
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