R.I.P. Mitchell Walters

In the new Showtime docuseries about The Comedy Store, Andrew “Dice” Clay credited Mitchell Walters with calling him up and talking him into moving from Brooklyn to Hollywood, leaving Pip’s for The Store where he would cultivate his infamous “Dice” character.

Before all of that, though…Walters was quite literally helping comedians on the move, carrying their luggage on tour at age 13. “I would carry suitcases for the performers — I was pretty much their concierge,” Walters said in a 2005 interview. “That was what made me want to get into comedy.”

Back in the 1980s, Walters was one of the Outlaws of Comedy touring and performing and partying alongside Sam Kinison. This is what his act looked like at that time:

Over the years, Walters became best known for knowing a lot about numbers, numerology and area codes.

“I mention numbers throughout my show, tying them into people’s lives,” he said. “I’m a numbers freak. One time a person told me his birthday was March 13. I said, `Your birthday is 3-1-3, the area code in Detroit, Mich. Anytime you hear someone say, “Detroit,’’ you’ll think of your birthday.’’’

After Kinison died, Walters would reunite with some of the other Outlaws for a new tour backing Ron Bennington and “The Ron & Ron Show” on the radio called Ron Bennington’s Disciples of Comedy.

Around that time, in 1994, Walters came down with Bell’s palsy, telling the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale: “I wished I had had a stroke instead of Bell’s palsy. At least you can get medication for a stroke. I still performed seven shows at the Comic Strip. I was like Superman on kryptonite. I had no verbal power.”

But he kept on performing. Here he was in Atlantic City a few years ago.