Vic Dunlop | Standup comic, 62

Vic Dunlop, 62, a standup comic with a natural flair for making people laugh, died Saturday of complications of diabetes in Los Angeles.

After launching his career in the early 1970s with Natural Gas, a small comedy-improv group that appeared regularly on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, he gained national attention on his own later in the decade as one of the comedians on Make Me Laugh.

In one attempt to crack up a contestant, Mr. Dunlop, then weighing 280 pounds, dressed up like a baked potato: He was covered in tinfoil and topped off with a scoop of sour cream on his head.

One visual aid remained a staple in his act: a pair of plastic, bloodshot eyes that he'd insert over his own eyes. He'd say, for example, "Show up at LensCrafters and say, 'What the hell happened to my eyes?' "

At the end of the routine, he'd say: "I know you're saying, 'Where can I get these eyeballs?' You can. I'll be in the back selling them for $5." He did - packaging them as "Vic Dunlop's Crazy Comic Eyes."

Comedian Murray Langston, who appeared on Make Me Laugh with Mr. Dunlop, said: "The one funny thing about him was everything was funny about him - the way he delivered lines, the way he looked, and the way he gestured. He was a little bit over the top, but all just funny."

Summing up his comedy philosophy in a 1991 interview, Mr. Dunlop said: "I like to have a party, and I include my audience."

Mr. Dunlop, who lost a leg to diabetes in 2000, continued to headline in clubs across the country and performed at the Riviera in Las Vegas last month.

- Los Angeles Times