11,741 stories by "Trav S.D."
I don’t care a fig for physical feats — those can be achieved by a rhinoceros as much as a man. My idea of Superman is more like Noel Coward (1899-1973): prolific writer of pl…
For most of my adult life, had you asked me who was the most brilliant, wise, perceptive, brave and penetrating stand up comedian of the modern era I would have said without hesitation Lenny…
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 Manor Media…
Today is Rosetta Duncan’s birthday, one half of Stars of Vaudeville #92: The Duncan Sisters (for the full skinny on them go here). Considered one of the greatest sister acts in vaudevi…
Today is Dave Clark’s birthday! (Born 1942) I always think the trivia question “Who was the drummer of the Dave Clark Five?” is like “Who is buried in Grant’s T…
Another great exhibition we took in last night: Circus and the City: New York, 1793-2010 at the  Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture (BGC).…
There is a charming (and free!) little exhibition on Charles Dickens now up at the main branch of the New York Public Library, that’s well worth a pop in off the street to go se…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #271: Morey Amsterdam (more on him here). Here he is an irresistaibly charming, very old school turn on a 1964 edition of The Hollywood Palace�…
Long about the early to mid 80s, there was a sea change in the output of some of my favorite contemporary comedians. It confused me. The original phase of Saturday Night Live (1975-1979) had…
Like something out of a fairy tale (Snow White and the Seven Rapunzels), the Sutherland Sisters Seven caused jaws to drop by letting their hair down. The seven were Dora, Grace, Isabella, Ma…
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of Christopher Plummer (b. 1929). As pa…
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 Star of Vaudeville # 91: Lillian Roth (1910-1980) (for more on her and her vaudeville beginnings go here). I’ve seen more of her films since my earlier posts &…
There is something to be said for the excellence wrought (indeed, necessitated) by the fierce competition in vaudeville. Case in point: these ponies. Horses are notoriously dumb beasts, in t…
Swiss-born Josephine Clofullia (1827-1875) was one of the hairiest of all historical bearded ladies, having been (at least reportedly) covered in hair at birth, and in possession of a two-in…
Today is the birthday of Frank (1915-1998). Today we treat NOT of what you might call “the classical Sinatra”, he of the Rat Pack, Nelson Riddle, Ava Gardner, From Here to Ete…
Today is the birthday of Charles Frederick Gebhart, a.k.a Buck Jones (1889-1942). Born in Indiana, he was raised in Montana, where he learned to ride and rope. Folliwng military service, he …
While the annals of vaudeville magic are chock full of Chinese and pseudo-Chinese practitioners, with Indian (and pseudo-Indian) being the second most numerous specialty, one encounters very…
Naro and Zita Lockford were a French brother-sister adagio act who came over to the U.S. in the early 20s from the Folies Bergere. In 1922 the two appeared in the Broadway show The Rose o…
Never mind your friends’ and relatives’ wish lists! I know what they want! I Know what they want! Trust me! This page of my  blog is the only catalog you’ll ever need fo…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #270 Stubby Kaye (for my full article on him go here). I just found this hilarious record of him singing a song written by Rags Ragsland “My…
Some (those my age and a little bit older, as well as lovers of nostalgic reruns) may protest that this show isn’t forgotten at all, but I assure you, I’ve talked to several peop…
Vantile Mack was one of P.T. Barnum’s exhibits in the late 1850s, also billed as the Ohio Fat Boy, the Giant Baby, and the infant Lambert (after Daniel Lambert, 1770-1908, up til th…
Songwriter Robert Wilcox Bigelow (1890-1965) got his start in vaudeville as one half of the team Bigelow and Campell, which toured the circuits from 1909 through 1923. Then, for three years …
Germany-based performer Charles Prelle had a ventriloquial dog act, i.e. he placed masks over the dog’s mouths, they would move their jaws and Prelle would supply the voices. His…
