Wednesday, July 1, 2026 Sign In
Starshine

Top 10 Things Mel Brooks Taught Us Last Night

King of parody puts on the ritz for UCSB Arts & Lectures at Montecito Country Club.

Top 10 Things Mel Brooks Taught Us Last Night
Mel Brooks

It’s good to be the king. Even at 88.

Mel Brooks, the king of farce, treated UCSB Arts & Lectures’ big donors to an evening of funny stories Tuesday night at the Montecito Country Club during a fundraiser for the organization’s Arts Education program.

A longtime lampooner of sacred cows from Jesus and the Nazis to Robin Hood and the Old West, Brooks is best known for writing and directing Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers (both the 1968 movie and the recent Broadway version). He’s one of 12 people in the universe to have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.