Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are among the most famous comedy duos of all time due largely to the success of the bit "Who's On First?" The sketch finds Abbott the new manager of a baseball team and Costello is attempting to find out the names of the players. What starts as a simple premise quickly spirals into a rapid fire back and forth that gets more confusing by the second.
As it turns out "who" is the name of the fella who plays first base. Abbott plays the straight man in this instance and this allows for the very talented Costello to demonstrate his neurotic schtick. He knocks his hat off, becomes more and more frustrated and in the end, gives up entirely, never realizing he did in fact find out the names of all the players.
The success of the act gave Abbott and Costello the distinction of being the only two people not directly associated with the game of baseball to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Many believe they were actually inducted, but this is just an urban legend. The Hall even has an entire exhibit dedicated to the routine showing the bit in it's entirety along side some of baseball's funniest bloopers.
Some of you might have seen this guy in an early media arts class, or perhaps you have a grandparent who interrupted a Real World Road Rules Marathon to regale you with remembrances of the glory days of television. Either way, watch Sid in this sketch. It's a masterful display of timing and physicality. It's eight minutes long, but it's worth it, even for modern folk.
I realize that this is a film comedy blog, that Sid is somewhat out of place here. He has appeared in films, but he never found the success on the silver screen that he did on the golden box. So why bring him up?
Sid Caesar managed to assemble some of the greatest comedic minds of the last fifty years all into one room. He wasn't the head of the Friars Club. They were all in his writers room. At one point or another, during the run of his two variety shows (Your Show of Shows, Caesar's Hour) Caesar had Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, and Carl Reiner all pouring their brain juices into his comedy sketches. I can't even fathom. Take a look at our syllabus and think about the cosmic coincidence of the whole thing. In this little summer class slice of comedic film we've got Allen, Brooks and Simon. If we continued of into the Seventies and the Eighties we'd no doubt his Reiner (The Jerk) and Gelbart (Tootsie.) Start here
and do some surfing. See how many of these guys were involved in your favorite comedies. It boggles my mind.
Can you imagine that writer's room? It's like taking Bird and Magic and putting them on the Bulls in the nineties with Jordan... that's a terrible metaphor for an Emerson College blog, but hopefully the point comes across. It's just so unlikely. It's raining out, youtube some more Sid. My personal favorites: The Clock, The 3 Haircuts, and From Here To Obscurity.
Buster Keaton is revered for his style of comedy performed in the early 1900’s. His slapstick comedy work became popular with the rise of silent film. He is often compared to his colleague Charlie Chaplin who is equally affiliated with the rise of silent era comedy. However, Chaplin and Keaton have different and distinct styles. Chaplin is often portrayed as clumsy lower class fool who was subject to the hardships of the world but always managed an escape from his current predicament only to land himself in another. Keaton was better known for his acrobatics and physical abilities while on camera. Because they are also many similarities between these two they are often compared. However, how often is a 20th century action hero compared to the great Buster Keaton? Believe it or not Jackie Chan, known for his martial arts and lighthearted action adventures, reveres Keaton as a fundamental influence in his work.
As shown in the video above, Chan recreates Keaton scenes as a tribute to the actor. Chan also pays homage to other early comedic actors such as Harold Loyd and Chaplin but remains most heavily impacted by Keaton. Chan is now described as “the Buster Keaton of kung-fu” (spill.com) because of his obedience to Keaton’s style of filmmaking. Often ending in whacky over the top conclusions much like Keaton’s films, Chan’s work has become a way for younger audiences to appreciate and learn film history, whether they are aware of it or not. This approach also makes Chan’s work more appealing to older audiences ensuring that his films have mass appeal and even respect for his predecessors.
There are also personal similarities between these two actors. In this day and age Chan is capable of almost anything in his films. Chan is well known for his control and direction while on set. Chan is much more than an actor; in fact he is also a director, writer, producer, and stuntman (IMDB). It is rare to see this level of control in Hollywood yet Chan often fulfills many rolls on a single production much in the same way as Chaplin and Keaton. Chan’s appreciation for his predecessors has allowed him to create a successful form of action comedy that is appreciated by audiences everywhere.
Tiny Tim, born Herbert Khaury, was born in Manhattan in 1932. Tiny's desire to become a singer started at a young age and he subsequently learned to play the guitar and the ukulele. He eventually dropped out of high school and started to perform. His first performance was at a lesbian cabaret in Greenwhich village during the early fifties. He was not yet known as tiny Tim though, at that time he was performing under the stage name of Larry Love .
By the onset of the sixties Tiny had built a cult following in the Greenwhich village music scene and began incorporating strange renditions of old standards into his repertoire. He finally settled on the name Tiny Tim after the character in Dickens' A Christmas Carol (according to some accounts, it was suggested by a manager accustomed to working with midgets).
Tiny's more marked rise to fame began after an appearance in the film You Are What You Eat.
Other film appearances include "Blood Harvest" the 1987 horror flick, "Masters of the Gridiron"(1985) a viking movie with a cast of NFL players, "Normal Love" (1963) the sequel to Jack Smith's "Flaming Creatures" , and "The Yellow Sequence".
After his movie debut Tiny booked a spot on the comedy tour Rowan and Martin's laugh-in, then TV with appearances on Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan, and Jackie Gleason.
In 1968 Tiny Tim signed a record deal with Reprise and his single of "Tip-toe through the Tulips" sold 200,000 copies. He also recorded a Children's album that year called For All My Little Friends.
He was later married to 17 year old Victoria Buddinger (or Miss Vicki) on the Johnny Carson show. They had a daughter named Tulip a few years later but the marriage eventually failed and they divorced after eight years of marriage. He remarried in 1984 to Ms. Jan and that marriage lasted until 1994, they lived in seperate households for the majority of the marriage. He then married again in 1995, this time to a Ms. Sue.
After his divorce from Ms. Jan he joined a circus where he performed for about 7 months. He also recorded throughout the 80's for a number of different small labels.
In September of 1996 Tiny had a heart a heart attack while performing at a ukulele festival in Massachusetts. He recovered from that attack but later died after having another heart attack on stage, this time in Minneapolis while playing Tip-Toe Through the Tulips.
Lucille Ball the famous television comedian of the 50's, with her husband, launched a 30 minute sitcom that attracted the American audience for 6 years called "I Love Lucy." During the fourth season they had Harpo Marx as a guest star in episode 27: Lucy and Harpo Marx Lucille Desiree Ball born on August 6, 1911. Her father died before she was four and her mother was working all the time, therefor she was responsible for taking care of her younger brothers. This lead made want to vent out therefore she enrolled herself into a drama school. She started playing small roles in the 1930. Patients paid off and at the end of the 30's she was starring in B-pictures and the A-Pictures. While filming Two Many Girls in 1940 she met her husband Desi Arnaz, who was six years younger. Together the came up with the hit show "I Love Lucy" starring themselves as the main role. Lucy was the first woman to own her own film studio ,Desilu. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000840/bio )
The famous comedian group the Marx Brothers had a very uniqur character called Harpo. Harpo Marx was born in 1888 as Adolph Marx.Since he is Jewish,he changed his name to Aurthr Marx during WWI because it was too German; resembled Hitlers name. (http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/harpo.htm) Like his brothers he started on Vaudeville with a speaking role. But then he was given bad reviews and his uncle suggested that he can attract more attention silent. He got his stage name Harpo from a dealer during a card game at the Orpheus Theater in Illinois. He gave him the name because he played the Harp. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpo_Marx) He didn't say a singe word but he was loved and remembered till this day. (http://www.benjisamit.com/harpo/1.htm)
In the episode 27: Lucy and Harpo Marx here is what happens: While living in Hollywood, Ricky and Fred invite Harpo Max to the apartment. When he shows up, Lucy is disguised as him; seeing the real Harpo, she hides. Harpo is shocked when he sees what he assumes is his reflection, which forces Lucy to mimic his every move. This was a tribute to Harpo and Groucho's famous mirror scene in Duck Soup. (Wikipedia)
Joseph "Buster" Keaton was given his nickname at the age of 6 months by Harry Houdini because he was clumsy (IMDB). His ability to be so clumsy became a talent and led him to become such a skilled stuntman. Check out Keaton's full Bio here at IMDB. While watching Buster Keaton’s films in class, I was taken aback by the amount of realistic stunt work that was performed. From falling off of moving trains, to hanging from a branch over the edge of a waterfall, Keaton appears to be a master stuntman. Although I was impressed with the realism of the stunts performed, I thought that they must have been somehow faked. However, after conducting research on the subject, I found that Keaton actually performed all of his own stunts, and in some cases he even acted as a stunt double for other actors in his films who refused to take such serious risks.
In the silent film era, many stunts were performed by the actual actors and not by doubles. I was very surprised by this, since stunts in today’s films are most often performed by doubles. Read more about stunts in the silent film era here. Although camera trickery was heavily used in the silent film era, Keaton's risky stunts, such as the waterfall scene in Our Hospitality, were not faked. One reviewer of his films commented that sometimes the camera man couldn’t even bear to watch what was being recorded. I think the stunts are truly incredible, given the limited safety technology and knowledge that was available during that time period. This site has an excellent review of the film Our Hospitality.
Most actors in today's films do not put themselves in such genuinely dangerous situations. Current stunts are often simulated by digital technology and/or performed in highly controlled environments. Keaton's stunts, and the fact that we find humor in them, make him unique in the silent film comedy genre. It is also interesting to note that he was not always left unharmed after these acts. When visiting a doctor to have x-rays, the doctor found that his neck had broken and healed itself. Take a look at this site for more information about Keaton's career and his unique stunt work ethic.
He is often remembered for his physical comedy. He set the stage for comedy stunt work, and this likely influenced the genre as a whole. For a great summary of Keaton's life an impact on the film industry, read this blog post: Great Filmmakers: Buster Keaton.
