Sir...in my heart, I know I'm funny.

The actor Bruno Kirby has died. This news item identifies him as best known for his work in "City Slickers," but I remember him for a small part he played in an episode of "Columbo," and especially as Robin Williams' antagonist in "Good Morning, Vietnam."

That film gets remembered mostly as the first film that had the sense to wind Robin Williams up and let him go. But I think it's a much better film than that. One of the reasons is that director Barry Levinson had the rare good sense to surround Williams not with stand-ups who might try to compete with him for laughs, but with actors, who knew how to pick their moments and get laughs on their own terms.

Kirby was among them. His deadpan delivery made for some of my favorite lines in the picture.

...comedy is kind of a hobby of mine. Well, actually, it's a little more than just a hobby, Reader's Digest is considering publishing two of my jokes.

I mean, how can you beat that?

Anyway, all I really wanted to say is that I'm very sorry to hear about this.