--- description: The "Everybody Loves Raymond" star has written a memoir, "When the Balls Drop" title: How Brad Garrett Ticked Off Cosby, Sinatra and Gotti image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0d6c7b87d31ef93/6987edc2e53aba79ae4db9c3/brad-garrett.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Brad Garrett Ticked Off Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra and John Gotti by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 1, 2015 6:27 PM CUT  Gallery Books by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 1, 2015 6:27 PM CUT America met Brad Garrett as Ray’s goofy brother Robert on _Everybody Loves Raymond._ Robert may have been bumbling, but he was rarely offensive. Garrett’s stand-up, however, can be a little saucier (and smarter). His new book of personal essays, [_When the Balls Drop_](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1476772908/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined")_: How I Learned to Get Real and Embrace Life’s Second Half_, recounts some moments that left some high-profile comedy targets less than laughter-filled. **Bill Cosby:** When Garrett was still getting started, he got a last-minute call from Cosby, who was guest-hosting Johnny Carson’s _The Tonight Show_. He agreed to do a spot on the show, and the two took a jet together from Las Vegas. En route, Cosby asked the younger comedian about his act. --- > “” --- But they were just hours away from taping, and Garrett had no other material that he hadn’t used on _Tonight Show_ spots before. So he did his Cosby impression anyway, knowing it would kill (it did). --- > “” --- Consider that door closed. **Frank Sinatra:** Garrett frequently opened for Sammy Davis, Jr., which is how he met Frank Sinatra’s people. They booked Garrett to open for Ol’ Blue Eyes on New Year’s Eve 1989, and Garrett was ecstatic. That is, until Sinatra saw him backstage and asked his guys, “Where’s Dreesen?” Tom Dreesen was his regular opener, but he was booked for Glen Campbell that night. “No one told me,” Sinatra said. “Why the hell would you hire someone to open who I’ve never seen before? And on New Year’s Eve?” Garrett was already sweating when he went onstage, but the act went relatively well. Sinatra booked him again one month later in Atlantic City, where Garrett faced a tough crowd (more about that later). His parting words to the audience were, “You’ve been very … lifelike. Thank you. And stick around for Frank!” This set off alarm bells for Sinatra. His close friend Jilly Rizzo went backstage after the show and confronted Garrett in his dressing room. --- > “” --- All was forgiven in the end, and the group went out for Chinese food. **John Gotti:** Perhaps the most dangerous enemy Garrett made was an audience member at his Atlantic City gig for Sinatra. He noticed some people weren’t even paying attention to his jokes: --- > “” --- Garrett got an explanation after the show: “Turns out ‘Mr. Peanut’ was John Gotti. Apparently, I have nine lives.” _When the Balls Drop_ hits shelves on Tuesday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3840352/brad-garrett-memoir/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3840352/brad-garrett-memoir/"},"headline":"How Brad Garrett Ticked Off Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra and John Gotti","datePublished":"2015-05-01T18:27:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:47:19.115Z","description":"The Everybody Loves Raymond star has a new memoir, When the Balls Drop","url":"https://time.com/3840352/brad-garrett-memoir/","keywords":["Books","celebrities","Memoir","Bill Cosby topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0d6c7b87d31ef93/6987edc2e53aba79ae4db9c3/brad-garrett.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0d6c7b87d31ef93/6987edc2e53aba79ae4db9c3/brad-garrett.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"brad-garrett","caption":"","creditText":"Gallery Books","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3840352/brad-garrett-memoir/","name":"How Brad Garrett Ticked Off Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra and John Gotti"}}]}] ```