11,843 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of the great Russian actress Maria Ouspenskaya (1876-1949). Film buffs know her well as the mysterious Gypsy fortune teller in The Wolf Man (1941) and Frank…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the day Austria-Hungray declared war on Serbia, thus triggering World War One. We who have not felt the sting of a proper World War in over six decades year…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Clown, Comedy, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Cloud City, Show and Show Show, Williamsburg
Today’s the anniversary of the release date of the Roscoe Arbuckle comedy Fatty’s Tintype Tangle (1915). Fatty’s photograph (tin type) is accidentally taken with a wo…
 Today is the birthday of the great impresario André Charlot (1882-1956), whose great career radiated across the great show business capitals along with the march of history, w…
There’s something chilling? ironic? depressing? that this World War One centenary year is taking place at the very same time that World War Three, 3.5 or Four (depending on how you cou…
The happy news that I’ll Say She Is  will be in this summer's New York International Fringe Festival provides a nice opening for this update re-blog the topic of the Fringe…
Originally posted in 2013. Today is the birthday of Gus Elen (Ernest Augustus Elen, 1862-1940), one of the first of the so-called “coster comedians” of the English music hall…
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the  Buster Keaton short The Blacksmith (1922). An extremely Keatonesque opening shot (Buster standing next to the tallest tree …
Tonight is the anniversary of the release date of the hilarious Laurel and Hardy comedy Them Thar Hills (1934). In this Hal Roach production, the boys go camping in a trailer as a trea…
Tonight on TCM, a cornucopia of silent comedies; quite a diverse selection. It’ll be interesting to see the rationale they give for putting this particular batch on a bill together.…
Today is the birthday of Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944). Jenkins is a notorious in show business annals as the worst professional opera singer in history. A 1909 inheritance allow…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Burlesque Bliz, Excelsior Burlesque, Horse Trade, Wonderland
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, Dime Museum and Side Show, Indie Theatre, PLUGS Tagged: Bunny Buxom, Chris McDaniel, Donny Vomit, Frankie Sin, Gal Friday, Jonny Porkpie, Kraine T…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Circus, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Big Sky Works, Circus Cabaret, The Treasure Chest
As we mentioned just now, tickets for our Fringe show I’ll Say She Is are available today.  But we would be remiss in not mentioning the fact that some of our closest f…
Filed under: Comedy, Comedy Teams, Indie Theatre, ME, My Shows, PLUGS Tagged: I'll Say She Is, Marx Brothers, New York International Fringe Festival, Noah Diamond, Trav s.d.
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Charley Chase comedy Mighty Like a Moose (1926), directed by Leo McCarey. Some fans consider this short Chase’s best. For my t…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Burlesk, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Burlesque at the Beach, Cherry Delight, Coney Island, Lefty Lucy, Spectacle
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Hal Roach silent comedy Why Girls Love Sailors (1927). Though this film features both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in prominent part…
 Today is the birthday of popular character actor Barnard Hughes (1915-2006). Theatre lovers know him from his long running Broadway hit Da (1978-1980, with many ensuing tour…
Today is the birthday of Hannah Williams (1911-1973). Along with her older sister Dorothy, she began performing in a singing dancing kiddie duo in the vaudeville theatres around the…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Stan Laurel comedy Kill or Cure (1923). In this Hal Roach short, Stan plays a door-to-door patent medicine salesman whose wares are …
  Today is the birthday of the visionary theatrical producer Charles Frohman (1856-1915). Frohman came up through the ranks, ripping tickets at Hooley’s Theatre, Brooklyn, then …
Today is the birthday of Zita Johann (1904-1993). Best known for playing the duel role of Helen and Princess Anck-es-en-Amon in the original version of The Mummy (1932), she was in a t…
