11,744 stories by "Trav S.D."
Our Vaudephone taping schedule is officially on hiatus as I work on my new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube. We will be resuming with a who…
Today is the birthday of the great Bing Crosby. (For more on him and his vaudeville beginnings go here). Not many people know this, but Bing was discovered for the pictures by Mack Sennett o…
Some confuse some aspects of what I do (whatever that is) with nostalgia. But since vaudeville and such-like perished decades before I was born, that can’t be right, can it? (…
Today is Pinky Lee’s birthday. For the full story on this burlesque comic/children’s tv host go here. And here he is in action: To learn more about vaudeville, consult No Appl…
The Countess and I donned our finest threads and arrived at the Players Club just in time to miss dinner last night. The occasion? The 2012 Theatre Museum Awards for Excellence. Last nig…
Today is the birthday of “Grandpa” Al Lewis (Albert or Alexander Meister, 1923-2006). Among many other fake biographical tidbits, Lewis often gave out that he was born in 1910. S…
I had a moving experience last night. The Countess and I went to Loews Jersey to see a double bill of A Night to Remember and The Poseidon Adventure. I’ll probably scribble a few notes…
Tonight’s Roller Derby match-up: at 8pm the Manhattan Mayhem take on the Bronx Gridlock at Long Island University. For more info and tickets go here.
Hat’s off to our friend Ben Model who sits on a star studded panel at the American Museum of the Moving Image tonight. With him on the dais:Â Robert Klein, Harold Prince, tv media c…
The Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble is opening their production of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera tonight. It’s the original 18th century play/operetta on which Brecht based …
John Cusack’s The Raven opens nationally today. I really want to see it, if only for the vicarious thrill of watching Cusack walking around looking like this. As I write here, I’…
Today is the birthday of apoplectic character comedian Edgar Kennedy (for his full bio go here). Here he is in his 1943 RKO comedy short “Hold Your Temper”. (Something tell…
Today is the birthday of the greatr classic blues singer Ma Rainey. (See here for her full story). Now here is the tune that August Wilson named his famous play after: To find out more about…
I just learned that my local grocery store used to be a vaudeville house! From the Sept. 18, 2008 New York Sun: “The white terra-cotta-clad C-Town supermarket on the north side of 9th …
Eddie Emerson (Edward William McQuaid) and Jerry Baldwin had a comedy/ magic/ juggling act from around 1907 until the demise of vaudeville in 1932. Billing themselves as “Emerson and B…
Our Vaudephone taping schedule is officially on hiatus as I work on my new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube. We will be resuming with a who…
Today is the birthday of Borscht belt funnyman Jack E. Leonard (Leonard Lebitsky, 1910-1973). I discovered him absolutely backwards. He came to my attention as one of the stars (playing the …
Today is the birthday of Blanche Ring (1871-1961), star of late variety, vaudeville and Broadway. A fifth generation member of a theatrical dynasty, she is much associated in her early years…
Can’t put my finger on why I find the picture above kind of disturbing. Is it that it looks like Steve Allen has pulled a random elderly audience member up onstage and is making her do…
Tomorrow morning (4/23/12) starting at 6am on TCM, a bunch of silent Laurel and Hardy shorts! 6am: Do Detectives Think? 6:30am: Putting Pants on Philip 7am: You’re Darn Tootin’ 7…
Today is the birthday of the great Tin Pan Alley songwriter Paul Dresser (1857-1906). The brother of novelist Theodore Dreiser, he famously gave his name to singer Louise Dresser so a little…
Today is the birthday of English music hall drag king Hetty King (1883-1972). Her father Will King had a one-man band act in the music hall. She herself started performing at age six. She be…
El Barto was the stage name of magician named James Barton (not to be confused with singer/performer/actor of the same name). Born on this day in 1859, he was an oprhaned and homeless tee…
Today is the birthday of Beatrice Kay (1907-1986) best known for repopularizing songs of the Gay 90s long after the fact. She got her start in vaudeville, radio, and Billy Rose’s Diamo…
