A few days ago we ran two posts showing the great Jackie Gleason, and one of them showed Gleason using his great gift of pantomime. A reader in comments noted that it was Red Skelton who was the true master of pantomime — and we have to say: he’s correct.
Gleason was The Great One in every respect, but Skelton specialized in pantomime, although he also did (like Gleason) a pro-forma opening monologue and some wild, though sometimes corny sketches.
We found this LEGENDARY clip on You Tube showing one of Skelton’s free-wheeling rehearsals, with all kinds of silliness and ad-libs that could never have made it onto the air in the 1950s and 1960s. We read about this one over the years…and here it is for you…Red Skelton and Martha Raye destroying a rehearsal and saying things the CBS censor would never have allowed.
And, once again, if you’re a fan of Skelton you can still get some of his work on DVDs. If you’re a younger person who never saw him but is interested in comedy, seek out, view and study his work (especially if you’re interested in doing, watching or studying pantomime). More info on his DVDs is here.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.