Remembering Groucho and the Marx Brother's. Four brother's would develop an act in Vaudeville, known as the Marx Brother's. The oldest would leave the troop, with Zeppo replacing Zeno, and the four, Chico, Harpo and Groucho would dominate Hollywood's slapstick comedy years. To perform in Vaudeville, you had to be multi-talented, with musical skills being held by all four brother's. If you couldn't entertain with music and comedy, you needed to juggle, do slight of hand, or have some unique talent: one man was able to play music with his farts.
Groucho was the king of improv in Hollywood, and later on TV. Historian's write that many lines in the movies were generated on the set, and not found in the script. Alan Alda and Woody Allen would politely steal the mannerisms and gestures of Groucho in launching their own career's. His nose, glasses and fake mustache are sold in stores around the world. His comedy has stood the tests of time, though it is clearly based upon a time, long gone by.
The 50's, birth of television, was an era of an industry trying to identify their viewing audience. Jack Benny, George and Gracie Allen would bring Vaudeville vignette's to the medium, west
ern's, crime drama's, family sit com's and primitive cartoons would be primary mediums, with variety shows, news and sporting events filling the remainder. Late night television would introduce Jack Parr, Steve Allen and eventually Jonny Carson would define a new era of comedy, variety and improv.
This history of American comedy, is a study in sociology, revealing much about the social changes of the time. Comedy is hard, but it is one of the safest mediums of criticism and even outrage. Laughter is it's own reward, the best medicine, but here's to the many founding comedian's who tested their metal in front of the hardest critics in Vaudeville and New Jersey and New York.
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