11,835 stories by "Trav S.D."
All kinds of cool things are turning 50 and 100 these days — I’ll never catch them all. Both Pets Sounds and Blonde on Blonde hit the half century mark yesterday. I h…
100 years ago today Charlie Chaplin released The Floorwalker, the first of twelve classic comedy shorts he would make for the Mutual Film Corporation. Mutual was the firm that had prev…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy The Floorwalker (1916). The Floorwalker was the first of Chaplin’s Mutual comedies and he uppe…
In the sideshow world there are two kinds of human anomaly: the born freaks (your little people, your giants, your conjoined twins, etc) and the made freaks (your bearded ladies, your tattoo…
Today is the birthday of the late Bea Arthur (Bernice Frankel, 1922-2009). Her sit-com Maude (1972-1978) was a big hit of course; I’m sure no one my age or older has forgotten it…
Filed under: American Folk/ Country/ Western, AMERICANA, BROOKLYN, Music, PLUGS Tagged: 2016, Bayou 'n' Brooklyn, Jalopy Theatre, music festival
Just got the sad news that the Musee Conti Wax Museum in New Orleans folded a couple of months ago! It seems like kismet that we got to see it. I’d wanted to check it out for years and…
The old cliche is that you’re supposed to grow more conservative the older you get. “A Democrat, huh?”  Joe Flaherty rants to his daughter Linda Cardellini on Freaks …
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Contemporary Variety, Indie Theatre, Magicians/ Mind Readers/ Quick Change, PLUGS Tagged: Corn Mo, magic, Tanya Solomon, Truth Assassin, Voorhees Theater
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Singers, Singing Comediennes, Women Tagged: Amy Engelhardt, cabaret, Don't Tell Mama, singer
Just a few words of posthumous praise for character actor William Schallert , who passed away this week at the age of 93. If you know this blog at all it won’t surprise you to le…
Today is the birthday of the one and only Duke Mitchell (Dominic Micelli, 1926-1981). Like most classic comedy and B movie horror fans, I’d long known Mitchell solely as the co-star, w…
The great and ubiquitous Jim R. Moore of Vaudevisuals.com came to our recent Slipper Room Show celebrating 20 years of the American Vaudeville Theatre, 1000 vaudevillians on Travalanche, and…
Today is the birthday of America’s great actor-director-gourmand-and-raconteur Orson Welles (1915-1985). We’ve already done a tribute to Welles the actor (here). Today I thought …
Filed under: Burlesk, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: burlesque, Coney Island USA, Schlock and Awe, Trick the Bastard
Just a few days ago, we wrote a little appreciation of Mexican influence on American culture. Today being the holiday of  Cinco de Mayo we thought we would again celebrate a particular ma…
Well, as predicted, Hamilton was nominated for a gazillion Tonys yesterday, and I would say “well deserved” except I never follow the Tonys, I know nothing of the other …
Today is the anniversary of the release of the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy The Cuckoos (1930). Ironically, the film began life as a Clark and McCullough vehicle, the 1926 Broadway hit…
Today is the birthday of Julia Arthur (Ida Lewis, 1869-1950). Originally from Ontario, Arthur was considered one of the great Shakespearean actresses of her time, notable for her appearances…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Bizarre Bushwick, burlesque, Call Me on the Ouija Board, seance
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: burlesque, Slipper Room, Twirly Whirley Burly-Q
Today is May Day, celebrated by many as International Workers Day since the time of the Haymarket Riots. Given my background, I have long confounded some people close to me, and often myself…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Hollywood (History), Movies, PLUGS, VISUAL ART Tagged: Cartoon Carnival, Circus Clowns, movie, screening, Standard Toykraft, Tommy Stathes
Today is the birthday of Marjorie “Babe” Kane (1909-1992), not to be confused with her contemporaries Marjorie Beebe, Babe London, or Helen Kane.  The Kane in question star…
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bring those problems [to] us. They&#…
