11,878 stories by "Trav S.D."
Francine "The Lucid Dream" is a singer, burlesque performer and producer of The Pink Room: David Lynch Burlesque, Francine's Pink Room and Franny's FLICKS. Francine started her career on the…
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Ma…
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Ma…
Joseph Jacobs (1813-1870) was a Jewish conjurer and ventriloquist who also billed himself as a Wizard, Improvisator, Mesmerist, and Electro-Biologist. Born in Canterbury, England, he was tou…
Today is the birthday of Martin Van Buren Bates, the Kentucky Giant (1837-1919). Normal at birth, he started in a-growin’ at around age 6. By the time he was 12, he was 6 foot tall and…
Big John/ Little John was a Saturday morning kid’s show on CBS that ran for one season in 1976. Sherwood Shwartz of Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch was executive produce…
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Manor Media…
Gin Minskystarted hitting the stage with taps on her feet at the tender age of five and hasn’t looked back since. She got her start as a classically trained dancer studying jazz, balle…
The Ravel Family were a four generation clan of French circus/ variety performers. The progenitor was Gabriel the father, but the family troupe appears to have originally been founded and le…
Today is the birthday of banjoist, comedian and songwriter Freddy Morgan (1910-1970). He started out in vaudeville in the 1920s as one half of the banjo duo Morgan and Stone. In 1947, heÅ
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Manor Media…
Today is the birthday of Mike Nichols (b. Michael Igor Peschkowski, 1931). I wrote a little about Nichols and May in my new book Chain of Fools. They represent a sort of bend in the road in …
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Those who exclusively associate Jonathan Harris (1914-2002) w…
Today is Ole Olson’s birthday (for more on him and his partner Chic Johnson, see my article here). I note with pleasure that Youtube has a whole mess of their movies on Youtube in t…
Today is the birthday of great American lyricist Gus Kahn (1886-1941). He began his career writing special material for vaudeville acts in the early teens, and progressed to Broadway, whe…
A few years back I wrote about those puckish political provocateurs the Billionaires for Bush here and here. Now they are back just in time to lampoon Mitt Romney before (I hope) he disappea…
Today is Election Day! And not only that, it’s the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #254: John Philip Sousa (for my full article on him go here). As you pull your lever for President (or…
Jonathan Harrington (1809-1881) was a ventriloquist and magician based out of Boston, one of the first native Yankees to take up those professions. Inspired by an 1821 performance in Boston …
There are worse times to read books like Ben Winters' The Last Policeman than in the wake of a major natural disaster. (Are there any books like this one? A pre-apocalyptic murder mystery?) …
Today is the birthday of Peter Noone, lead singer of British invasion band Herman’s Hermit’s. We’ve written here earlier about Harry Champion and the original 1910 version …
With the F Train running out as far Avenue X, this weekend the Countess and I were able to make it out to Coney Island to bring a shopping cart full of donations to an impromptu re…
Today is the birthday of the favorite playwright of my early twenties (and still one of my favorites) Sam Shepard, born 1943. I think he is America's greatest stage poet, and, along wi…
In observation/preparation for Will Rogers birthday today (see our tribute article here) last night we watched his 1934 feature Judge Priest. Time has given an unfortunate new spin to the re…
This is one in a series of posts we are producing in connection with our new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, available from Bear Manor Media…
There were 7 Shields Brothers from White Rock, Texas, but only four of them were tall enough to tour with P.T. Barnum’s circus as “giants”. Even so, though they were billed…
