11,729 stories by "Trav S.D."
Originally posted in 2010Â Today is the birthday of Clarence Williams (1893-1965), one of the first artists to use the word “jazz” to publicize his work. The Plaquemine, Louis…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS, STEAMPUNK/ VICTORIANA Tagged: R Bar, Steampunk Gothica
Originally posted in 2010 "THE GREATEST SINGLE WOMAN SINGING COMEDIAN IN THE WORLD" Vaudeville's greatest diva (and that's really saying something), Bayes was a complex mixture of traini…
Today (the Duchess reminds me) is the death day of Edgar Allen Poe, a fitting time to let you know that on Saturday the Edgar Allen Poe House in Baltimore (pictured above) re-opened for visi…
I had the BEST time this weekend bonding with my progeny at the University of Vermont’s Parent’s weekend (officially known as UVM Alumni and Family Weekend). Not a minute of t…
Just got word that Ain’t In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm is now available to pre-order from Kino Lorber. We note the occasion with a re-posting of our earlier review…
Tonight, October 7, Steve Massa will discuss silent comedy and his recent book Lame Brains & Lunatics at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Some rare…
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Ma…
Today is the birthday of late funny-man/ impressionist Fred Travalena (1942-2009). Travalena was someone I recall seeing constantly in the 1970s on programs like the Merv Griffin show …
Today is the birthday of the great screen light comedienne Carole Lombard (1908-1942). As impossible as it may seem to disassociate your mental image of her from that ethereal voice, t…
Today is the birthday of the Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind (1820-1887). The Swedish opera singer had been renowned throughout the halls of Europe for twelve years when P.T. Barnum bo…
Today is the birthday of Francis Joseph Flynn (1872-1898), professionally known as “General Mite”. Born on a farm in upstate New York, his birth weight was two and a half pounds …
Originally published in 2012 Today is the birthday of Milton Ager (1883-1979). Chicago native Ager began his career as an accompanist in nickelodeons and then vaudeville. His songs began to …
FORGOTTEN SHOWS, SATURDAY MORNING EDITION Korg: 70,000 B.C. was a live-action Hanna-Barbara Saturday morning kids show (they usually specialized in cartoons) about a family of Neanderthal…
Today is the birthday of the “middle stooge”, Larry Fine (1902-1975). With hair like that, he could have been an intellectual! Look at Einstein! For more on Fine and how he came …
Originally posted in 2011 The father of MGM contract player Gloria de Haven was an old vaudeville and stage star himself. Born Francis O’Callaghan today in 1886, he started…
Originally posted in 2011 Ms. Dresser (b. Louise Josephine Kerlin) is at the center of one of vaudeville's more excellent subterfuges. A perfomer since age 15, three years later she chanced …
Today is the birthday of Melville Morris (1888-1987). Morris started out as a song demonstrator for tin pan alley publishing firms, and then broke into vaudeville, performing solo, and also …
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES, PLUGS Tagged: Dirty Martini, Murray Hill, new burlesque, New Yorker Festival, Tigger Ferguson, World Famous Bob
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6 at 3:00 PM CLASSIC SILENT FILMÂ ON THE LOEW'S MOVIE PALACE BIG SCREENÂ (Journal Square, Jersey City) "MY BEST GIRL"Â Â starring Mary Pickford and Charles "Buddy" …
"Maybe you think you were handled roughly as a kid " watch the way they handle Buster!" " a 1905 ad for The Three Keatons Here's something we haven't seen in a while"a domestic abuse act! Ma…
We just learned that character actor Jay Robinson (b. 1930) has passed on. In his memory, we re-post this piece we did on him in our Hall of Hams back in April. I learned something ab…
1. Ten years ago today (October 3 fell on a Friday in 2003), I was just about to leave the office for my weekly weekend trip upstate to visit my kids when I got this message: “Dad̵…
Today is the birthday of one of my favorite character actors, Charles Middleton (1874-1949). The son of a Kentucky millionaire, Middleton started out in circus and vaudeville before breaking…
Today is the birthday of the angelic Gertrude Berg (Tillie Edelstein, 1898-1966). Berg was a kind of show business superhero — it’s crazy to me that her name isn’t a househ…
