Treadmill to Oblivion

Treadmill to Oblivion PDF Author: Fred Allen
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434401472
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Fans of classic comedy and Old Time Radio will be enthralled by Fred Allen's autobiographical tale of his early days in radio. From the host of a small comedy-variety show to national fame with Allen's Alley, here is the story of his trials, tribulations, and ultimate successes as one of the great radio comedians -- not to mention one of the great wits -- of the 20th century!

Treadmill to Oblivion

Treadmill to Oblivion PDF Author: Fred Allen
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434401472
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Fans of classic comedy and Old Time Radio will be enthralled by Fred Allen's autobiographical tale of his early days in radio. From the host of a small comedy-variety show to national fame with Allen's Alley, here is the story of his trials, tribulations, and ultimate successes as one of the great radio comedians -- not to mention one of the great wits -- of the 20th century!

Fred Allen's Radio Comedy

Fred Allen's Radio Comedy PDF Author: Alan Havig
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1439905606
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Tracing a career that lasted from 1912 into the 1950s, Havig describes the "verbal slapstick" style that was Fred Allen's hallmark and legacy to American comedy.

Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy

Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy PDF Author: Kathryn Fuller-Seeley
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520295056
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
"Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century--by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass medium in the US. In 23 years of weekly radio broadcasts, by aiming all the insults at himself, Benny created Jack, the self-deprecating "Fall Guy" character. He indelibly shaped American humor as a space to enjoy the equal opportunities of easy camaraderie with his cast mates, and equal ego deflation. Benny was the master of comic timing, knowing just when to use silence to create suspense or to have a character leap into the dialogue to puncture Jack's pretentions. Jack Benny was also a canny entrepreneur, becoming one of the pioneering "showrunners" combining producer, writer and performer into one job. His modern style of radio humor eschewed stale jokes in favor informal repartee with comic hecklers like his valet Rochester (played by Eddie Anderson) and Mary Livingstone his offstage wife. These quirky characters bouncing off each other in humorous situations created the situation comedy. In this career study, we learn how Jack Benny found ingenious ways to sell his sponsors' products in comic commercials beloved by listeners, and how he dealt with the challenges of race relations, rigid gender ideals and an insurgent new media industry (TV). Jack Benny created classic comedy for a rapidly changing American culture, providing laughter that buoyed radio listeners from 1932's depths of the Great Depression, through World War II to the mid-1950s"--Provided by publisher.

Fred Allen

Fred Allen PDF Author: Robert Taylor
Publisher: Little Brown
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
A biography of the man who created some of America's wittiest and most popular radio shows and an entertaining look at twetieth-century comedy.

Much Ado About Me

Much Ado About Me PDF Author: Fred Allen
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1839740981
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
Much Ado About Me, first published in 1956, is the autobiography of comedian Fred Allen's childhood and vaudeville career. (His long career in radio is documented in his other book, Treadmill to Oblivion). Much Ado About Me is a warm wise and wonderfully entertaining autobiography, jammed with extraordinary events and even more extraordinary people. Here is Fred Allen's early life in the suburbs of Boston; his apprenticeship in the Boston Public Library; the happy exciting round of Amateur Nights; the wonderful, improbable world of Scollay Square; the hopes, the anxieties and the fantastic adventures of a smalltime entertainer billed as Freddy James, the "World's Worst Juggler." From his first stage appearances on 'Amateur Nights' to his U.S. and international tours, Much Ado About Me is a warm and entertaining look at one of America's top stage performers and the golden age of Vaudeville. Included are 8 pages of illustrations.

All the Sincerity in Hollywood--

All the Sincerity in Hollywood-- PDF Author: Fred Allen
Publisher: Chicago Review Press - Fulcrum
ISBN: 9781555911546
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Allen offered a thinking person's humor, delivered every week to 30 million Americans in his 17-year-long radio show (1932-1949). The book showcases many of Fred Allen's previously published and unpublished letters, essays, radio scripts, and quips.

The Comedians

The Comedians PDF Author: Kliph Nesteroff
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 0802190863
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
“Funny [and] fascinating . . . If you’re a comedy nerd you’ll love this book.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, National Post, and Splitsider Based on over two hundred original interviews and extensive archival research, this groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past one hundred years. Starting with the vaudeville circuit at the turn of the last century, the book introduces the first stand-up comedian—an emcee who abandoned physical shtick for straight jokes. After the repeal of Prohibition, Mafia-run supper clubs replaced speakeasies, and mobsters replaced vaudeville impresarios as the comedian’s primary employer. In the 1950s, the late-night talk show brought stand-up to a wide public, while Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Jonathan Winters attacked conformity and staged a comedy rebellion in coffeehouses. From comedy’s part in the civil rights movement and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, to the first comedy clubs of the 1970s and the cocaine-fueled comedy boom of the 1980s, The Comedians culminates with a new era of media-driven celebrity in the twenty-first century. “Entertaining and carefully documented . . . jaw-dropping anecdotes . . . This book is a real treat.” —Merrill Markoe, TheWall Street Journal

Radio Voices

Radio Voices PDF Author: Michele Hilmes
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 9780816626212
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Looks at the history of radio broadcasting as an aspect of American culture, and discusses social tensions, radio formats, and the roles of African Americans and women

The History of Stand-Up

The History of Stand-Up PDF Author: Wayne Federman
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Today's top stand-up comedians sell out arenas, generate millions of dollars, tour the world, and help shape our social discourse. So, how did this all happen? The History of Stand-Up chronicles the evolution of this American art form - from its earliest pre-vaudeville practitioners like Artemus Ward and Mark Twain to present-day comedians of HBO and Netflix. Drawing on his acclaimed History of Stand-up podcast and popular university lectures, veteran comedian and adjunct USC professor Wayne Federman guides us on this fascinating journey. The story has a connective tissue - humans standing on stage, alone, trying to get laughs. That experience connects all stand-ups through time, whether it's at the Palace, the Copacabana, the Apollo, Mister Kelly's, the hungry i, Grossinger's, the Comedy Cellar, the Improv, the Comedy Store, Madison Square Garden, UCB, or at an open mic in a backyard.

Jack Benny

Jack Benny PDF Author:
Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
The comedy of everyone's favorite cheap, vain, violin-playing, 39 year old ex-vaudevillian comes alive again.