Billy Crystal says he no longer talks to God after a year in which he lost his Pacific Palisades home to wildfire and his close friend Rob Reiner to murder, even as he leans on laughter and a new Broadway show to cope.
Asked in an interview that aired Sunday on Sunday Morning whether he still talks to God, Mr. Crystal told correspondent Tracy Smith, “I don’t trust him.” He said too many bad things have happened and that the world feels strange and frightening. Asked about the conversations with God, he said he is not having them anymore.
The answer marks a shift from “700 Sundays,” the Tony-winning one-man show in which Mr. Crystal describes conversations with God.
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A wind-driven fire swept through the Palisades in January 2025, destroying more than 5,000 homes, including the house where Mr. Crystal and his wife, Janice, had lived for 46 years.
In December, Mr. Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead in their Brentwood home. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in their deaths.
Mr. Crystal said the killings are still too big and senseless to absorb. He said he and the Reiners were together at a holiday party the night before and said goodbye late that evening.
He said humor has always been how he gets through the worst times, calling laughter a “healer.”
That instinct drives “860,” his new one-man show, named for the street address of the home he lost. Mr. Crystal announced the show in April, and The Associated Press reported that his daughters soon found a rock in the wreckage engraved with the word “Laughter.”
Mr. Reiner helped pick the title. Mr. Crystal said he had several options, and Reiner told him “860” was the one.
The show, directed by Scott Ellis, is in previews and opens Oct. 21 at the Imperial Theatre for a limited engagement through Jan. 3, 2027. The set, CBS reported, is an exact replica of his home office. Mr. Crystal said he hopes to bring the show to Los Angeles after the New York run.
Mr. Crystal, 78, said performing “860” has already helped him heal, and that he feels good and is optimistic about what comes next.
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