Howard Stern recently had a special where Tom Bergeron, host of Hollywood Squares and Dancing with the Stars, played a set of interviews he had done with Moe Howard and Larry Fine of the Three Stooges back in the early 70s, shortly before their deaths. It was altogether fascinating to hear them reflect on their long career, and to hear how much they felt their act was regarded as vaudevillian slapstick, rather than "serious" comedy.
I have always been a fan of the Stooges, even though my parents hated them. I had a couple of VHS tapes my grandfather gave me of their early shorts (before the crap budget films they made in the early 60s, when networks and the burgeoning television audience began to discover their work), and I would be absolutely transfixed for at least an hour. While I will not deny that they inherited at least part of their act from the (painful) legacy of vaudeville, looking back I really do think they were hitting on something new, that merged slapstick with Catskills club-honed one liners, hilarious sight gags with almost non-sequiturs. For real, Don Rickles owes Moe Howard at least half his career for the whole "numbskulls" routine.
Unfortunately, I've never met anyone with my passion for the Stooges, probably because all their stuff looks absolutely tame after Monty Python, SNL, and Second City, not to mention Pryor and Lenny Bruce absolutely blew them out of the water in terms of material and variety. But I still hold steadfast to my admiration of their innovations in American comedy, and if anyone wants to watch them with me, please tell me.
Quickly, I'll list my favorite episodes, two with Curly (and honestly, the stuff with him is all you need to see), and one with Shemp.
1. "You Natzy Spy!": This is the original Hollywood Hitler spoof, before The Great Dictator or "Der Fuehrer's Face," that has Moe as Hitler, Larry as Goring, and Curly as Goebbels. Classic speech scene.
2."Disorder in the Court": The first Stooges short that I watched, and probably my favorite. Great stuff from Curly.
3. "Malice in the Palace": This one was on the VHS I had too; this is with Shemp, who was defintely not as talented or recognizable as Curly, but funny nonetheless.
All these are in the public domain so YouTube and Google video should have them.
--If people like this I can make this into a regular thing, looking at old TV shows, movies, etc.
Old Stuff: The Three Stooges
Howard Stern recently had a special where Tom Bergeron, host of Hollywood Squares and Dancing with the Stars, played a set of interviews he had done with Moe Howard and Larry Fine of the Three Stooges back in the early 70s, shortly before their deaths. It was altogether fascinating to hear them reflect on their long career, and to hear how much they felt their act was regarded as vaudevillian slapstick, rather than "serious" comedy.
I have always been a fan of the Stooges, even though my parents hated them. I had a couple of VHS tapes my grandfather gave me of their early shorts (before the crap budget films they made in the early 60s, when networks and the burgeoning television audience began to discover their work), and I would be absolutely transfixed for at least an hour. While I will not deny that they inherited at least part of their act from the (painful) legacy of vaudeville, looking back I really do think they were hitting on something new, that merged slapstick with Catskills club-honed one liners, hilarious sight gags with almost non-sequiturs. For real, Don Rickles owes Moe Howard at least half his career for the whole "numbskulls" routine.
Unfortunately, I've never met anyone with my passion for the Stooges, probably because all their stuff looks absolutely tame after Monty Python, SNL, and Second City, not to mention Pryor and Lenny Bruce absolutely blew them out of the water in terms of material and variety. But I still hold steadfast to my admiration of their innovations in American comedy, and if anyone wants to watch them with me, please tell me.
Quickly, I'll list my favorite episodes, two with Curly (and honestly, the stuff with him is all you need to see), and one with Shemp.
1. "You Natzy Spy!": This is the original Hollywood Hitler spoof, before The Great Dictator or "Der Fuehrer's Face," that has Moe as Hitler, Larry as Goring, and Curly as Goebbels. Classic speech scene.
2."Disorder in the Court": The first Stooges short that I watched, and probably my favorite. Great stuff from Curly.
3. "Malice in the Palace": This one was on the VHS I had too; this is with Shemp, who was defintely not as talented or recognizable as Curly, but funny nonetheless.
All these are in the public domain so YouTube and Google video should have them.
--If people like this I can make this into a regular thing, looking at old TV shows, movies, etc.
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totally, do it.
BackDoorAngel
August 6, 2009 at 5:59 PM