RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch

We got some emails about our post yesterday featuring a You Tubed tribute to Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, one of the stars of Hal Roach’s “The Little Rascals” — an incredibly gifted child comic actor whose life came to a tragic end.

A reader emailed me THIS LINK to a colorized 1937 Little Rascals Short “Night ‘N’ Gales” — one of my favorites. Note that I have absolutely NO PROBLEM with colorization. If it’s done tastefully — as this one is — it makes film comedy that should live forever more accessible to younger people, who have a hard time watching anything in black and white.

Here’s the You Tube embed. If it does not go to the end, click on the link and watch it there. I also found info on the colorized collection, which you can buy on Amazon, and the icon is below (I will order it for my collection of classic comedy to take with me on my 8 weeks on the road this summer). All of these kids were incredible and Switzer was a fine comedian. Watch it and see:

A young TMV reader emailed me asking about a series of You Tubes I ran more than a year ago, wondering who the moustachioed comedian in it was because he had been so impressed. In fact, the comedian was Ernie Kovaks, a 1950s to early 1960s television comedy performer who was WAY ahead of his time.

I was a huge fan of his when I was in elementary school and still remember January 13, 1962 when I learned he died in a car crash, apparently while reaching to light his famous cigar. I was grief stricken and my classroom show and tell the next day was on a news article about his death. I also learned a lesson: I thought Well, he’s gone but his show and comedy will continue with someone else doing it! but in fact it didn’t. Just as in politics, in show biz someone who brings something personal to the table takes a lot of that something from the table when they leave the scene.

Kovaks was a HUGE influence on many comedians who later used irony in their comedy. His show was not typical 1950s-1960s adapted vaudeville, or adapted radio, or adapted night club comedy. It was highly visual, used existing television technology (and tried to expand it) took its time to build to a punch line, and was filled with irony and shocking-for-its time black humor. His death was a loss to the comedy world and if he is not totally forgotten today, he is barely known (at all) among many young students and consumers of comedy.

Here are two samples of his work. First, this calssic Dutch Masters commercial, written and starring Ernie. Aside from the fact it advertises tobacco, you could not see something like this on TV today:

Kovaks loved to experiment with visuals and ancient and bad music (he was a 1960s Dr. Demento), as well as zippy catchy music. Look at this almost surrealistic, famous, partly-silent skit that he taped on a tilted set — complete with sound effects, old music, and visuals (be sure to watch it after it ends since there is another cigar commercial).

A Kovaks show was written and directed (including camera angles) by Kovaks and starring Kovaks, so when his life ended on that road in 1962, he was gone from the scene in more ways than one. FOOTNOTE: He was way ahead of his time and did his comedy in his own universe at his own pace. So when you view it today, some holds up, some doesn’t, and some is puzzling — but Kovaks never meant his comedy to be like anyone else’s.

A classic vaudeville/burlesque routine featuring the tragic and ill-fated Lou Costello (who died of heart disease at age 52):

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman went to Brown University to give a speech on Earth Day and he was greeted by a big student crowd — and pies in his face thrown by environmental activists.

Note when you watch the video how this form of pie-in-the-face is not funny at all but is done in a way so that it resembles an assault. And it is dealt with (correctly) that way by the legal system:

The legalities and proprieties of pie-throwing aside, what’s notable in the video above is that these students were the gang that couldn’t throw pies straight.

They should have studied the undisputed mastersof pie throwing:

The Today show has for years had guests on who plug their books. But there was one guest on who did it without saying a word: Harpo Marx, the hugely popular silent brother of the classic vaudeville-film Marx Brothers team. In 1961, in his early 70s, he appeared on the show and promoted his new book. Minus talking:

Harpo was famous for his parts in the Marx Brothers movies where he’d honk a horn rather than speak. And there are few recorded instances of him talking in front of a microphone.

And this is one of the few:

Here is one of the Marx Brothers’ most famous comedy bits — from the film Duck Soup, reportedly shot in one take after one rehearsal and with no script.
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We ran this about a year ago but have had a reader request to run it again. Did you ever hear about the old vaudeville shows, where high-energy performers had to entrance an audience with their talents, energy and charisma?

Here’s a perfect example of that kind of act. In 1955 the great comedian Jimmy Durante (one of the most beloved performers of the early to mid 20th century) did his old vaudeville act on TV with his former partner Eddie Jackson. Note the pizazz with which they do the songs, the timing…and the incredible energy of these two performers who were not exactly spring chickens when they wowed this audience.

Young aspiring performers, take note and study their stage presence:

Jack Benny was one of the 20th century’s most beloved comedians: a star of vaudeville, the golden age of radio, movies and television. He actually invented the situation comedy on radio. And he could milk a laugh by scanning (slowly turning and looking at) the audience — extending a laugh seconds longer than any other comedian. He helped pioneer 20th century comedy that was more attitude than just setup/joke setup/joke.

Mel Blanc was a comedian who became a legend in cartoons. He did the voices for most Warner Brothers cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Tweety, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig and more) and later on for Barney Rubble and Dino on The Flintstones.
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When people ask me, as a professional entertainer, who my favorite comedian or entertainer of all time is, they’re surprised by my reply: it’s Lou Costello, the chubby half of the classic Abbott & Costello comedy team.

They’re also surprised to hear me say I’m not talking about Costello as he appeared in the team’s films — but the Costello I watch (and study) on DVDs of the team’s filmed Abbott & Costello Show, a nutty situation comedy that inspired Jerry Seinfeld to create his show. And, especially, the Lou Costello as seen on DVDs in the old Colgate Comedy Hour shows where he and his parter performed live, a zillion things went wrong, and you wondered how Costello could keep the pace up without having a heart attack.

In fact, he died at age 52 of heart disease in 1959. But for students of comedy and aspiring comedians, he left a body of work that can still be studied and enjoyed.

Here’s one of the classic routines the team performed in burlesque, filmed and adapted for their TV show (so they could copyright and own it) — and one where Costello shines.

If you’re a young reader who is studying comedy and never really seen him, note here:
(1) His timing on his key lines.
(2) How he reacts to everything going on around him.
(3) His glances and comments to the audience and his enormous likability.
(4) The appearance of his partner Abbott (with the mustache) and, at the end, the appearance of the most unloved of the Three Stooges’ “Curley replacements,” Joe Besser as “Stinky,” an obnoxious brat (played by a grown man in ridiculous early 20th century kids clothing). Besser’s creation of the bratty kid is a classic.

This show comes from the collection noted below of remastered half hour Abbott & Costello Shows from the first of its two seasons.