A look Into the world of Old Comedy
At the turn of the century in America, thousands of people needed an escape from their cramped apartments in the city. These people ventured out to see the acts of vaudeville. Vaudeville was a type of variety comedy which consisted of comedians, singers, ventriloquists, dancers, musicians, acrobats, and more. It began as early as 1880 and survived well into the 1920's, quickly becoming America's most popular form of entertainment. Vaudeville was performed everywhere from small local stages to the Palace Theatre.
Many of these variety show were obscene in their comedy, and were intended for all-male audiences. Then, in 1881 a man named Tony Pastor, who perfromed in minstrel shows, created a variety show for families. This idea became popular and quicly spread, because wider audiences meant more money.
There was usually a dozen or more acts in every vaudeville performance. Starting and ending with the weakest, the shows went on for hours. These perfromances ranged from musicians, to cortionists, to tumblers, to magicians and more, but the real focus of vaudeville was comedy. Great comic acts such as Witt and Berg and Burns and Allen brought in the biggest crowds.
Some of the most famous vaudeville performers began at an early age and many of the big names in vaudeville went on to be movie and TV stars, such as Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Burns & Allen, and Fanny Brice. "Even today, shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live continue the traditions of popular variety entertainment" (About Vaudeville).
ABOUT
Abott and Costello
Bob Hope
Fanny Brice
Burns and Allen
Laurel and Hardy
Vaudeville
Sketch Comedy
Sketch comedy is a comedic act consisting of a series of short comic scenes called "sketches," which are usually around ten minutes long. These sketches are performed my comedians and actors, sometimes on stage or through an audio or radio show. Sketches like these are often improvised by actors, making them even more funny. This form of comedy still exists today in many forms, but it got its origens from vaudeville.
Sketch comedy is basically vaudeville shows consisting of skits performed by actors and comedians. Some famous groups of sketch comedy performers of the 20's and 30's were Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and the Three Stooges. In the 1940's, the first sketch comedy show, Your Show of Shows, aired on NBC, and soon, sketch comedy such as Monty Python's Flying Circus were changing television forever.
Old Time Radio
The old-tiOld time radio era, which is referred to as the Golden Age of Radio, refers to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the early 1920s until the 1950s, when television preceded radio, becoming the more popular form of intaking scripted programming. During this period radio dominated the entertainment world comedic variety skits and acts which warmed the hearts and imaginations of its listeners. Radio comedy was a good way to escape the depression that still rocked the nation.
Top comedy talents whom were broadcasted for many years were Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Victor Borge, Fanny Brice, Billie Burke, Bob Burns, Judy Canova, Jimmy Durante, Phil Harris, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx and more. Even more funny were such shows created by Abbott and Costello, Amos 'n' Andy, Burns and Allen, Easy Aces, Ethel and Albert, and many others.
