Comedian famous for smashing watermelons walked into the Idaho Capitol with 2 mallets

Gallagher didn’t get the reception he expected when he walked into the Idaho Capitol carrying two of his trademark Sledge-O-Matic wooden mallets.

The comedian, who gained fame in the 1980s for a routine that includes smashing watermelons and other items onstage, was looking for a state film office — which Idaho does not have — to discuss a project he’s working on.

Instead, he was shown the door. Gallagher, 73, whose given name is Leo A. Gallagher Jr., said a security officer escorted him out of the building.

“They ran me off,” he said during an interview Tuesday, the day after the incident, in his room at a hotel near the Boise Airport. “Don’t they want people to come to town with business ideas?”

An officer with Capitol Mall Services said he could not say, for security reasons, whether Gallagher was escorted out.

Howard Stern once said, “Gallagher’s mind goes a mile a minute. You can’t keep up with him.” It certainty felt like that during 25 minutes on the phone with him Monday and an hour with him in person on Tuesday.

He may have earned millions of dollars telling jokes, but Gallagher is no dummy. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of South Florida and once worked as a chemist.

Bouncing from topic to topic in a near stream of consciousness, Gallagher said he’s working on a number of projects.

He came to Boise, he said, after finishing a show Friday in Lapeer, Michigan, east of Flint, to scout locations and make contact with film production companies. He’s looking to make a film adaptation of the life of Enheduanna, a Sumerian woman who lived in the 23rd century B.C. who is credited with being the first known poet. The story would start in Iraq and move to modern Manhattan, with women in each place battling the devil.

Why Boise?

“Well, I’ve been all around and this is a good little enclave here,” he said. “This is like hiding from the craziness of America.”

Gallagher, who lives in Los Angeles, said he’d like to retire to the Treasure Valley and build a family-reunion resort here. Forty or 50 members of families, car clubs or other groups could hang out instead of booking a hotel. He said he’s looking to do the same in other cities around the United States.

He’d also like to build a retirement housing project where old entertainers, athletes and other celebrities could live among regular folks. The celebrities would stay for a couple of months, then go to another city with another one of Gallagher’s developments.

“I’m looking for a place to retire where I can sell houses, so I’m looking for a builder who wants to build a retirement area with me and other celebrities. Retire with the stars!” Gallagher said.

On Tuesday, he pitched his idea to James Escobar, the principal architect for Neudesign Architecture of Meridian.

“He has some creative ideas,” Escobar said.

“I’m looking for people, can-do people who look outside the box,” Gallagher said. “I want to meet with artists of any kind, songwriters, musicians, idea people. I’d like to talk to big money people about stock. I’d like to talk to builders and Realtors to seeing what land is available.”

“Maybe I won’t be in Boise. Maybe I’ll be in another surrounding town that’s even more hungry for these ideas.”

Gallagher (who can be contacted by message at his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/GallagherShow/) said he’s always hungry for ideas. He said he has a patent on software for slot-machine technology that he’s trying to pitch to casinos in Nevada and elsewhere. He has ideas about how to help children make better food choices and is working on an inflatable suit that would protect skiers when they fall. He once suggested using helicopters to lift wrecked cars off Los Angeles freeways to free up traffic.

It’s hard to say whether any of Gallagher’s ideas will take shape. He’s been talking about them for several years but said he’s seriously looking to build his reunion and retirement projects, and to set his film, here.

(Incidentally, while Idaho has no film office, the Idaho Commerce Department works to connect filmmakers and producers with location and talent scouts, said Diane Norton, the department’s tourism manager. She said she was in a meeting when Gallagher came to her office across from the statehouse, so she did not see him.)

Gallagher said he’ll remind people of his encounter at the statehouse.

“There’s going to be a cocktail party one day, and this is going to get a big laugh when I tell them I got ran off,” he said.