Tag: Happy BIrthday
Well, maybe it’s his birthday. The year was 1895 and the day was probably today.
Today is the 73rd birthday of Tommy Smothers and, as much as I think it’s important to honor the work of those who have passed away, it’s a pleasure to be able to salute a fine comedian who is still very much with us. Tommy Smothers was one-half of the Smothers Brothers, partnering his younger brother Dick (born 11-20-39) on their own CBS television variety show. They are still active and in fact both can be seen in cameo roles in last year’s The Informant!.
Today we celebrate the birth and career of Ray Bolger (January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987), vaudevillian and song & dance man best known for his portrayal of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
I’m sure you’ve all seen the Marx Brothers movies several times over — and if not, what are you waiting for?? — but all the more reason to celebrate today being the birthday of Harpo (November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964), the Marx Brothers’ most physical performer and purest clown.
“A comedian is not a man who says funny things. A comedian is one who says things funny.” —Ed Wynn
In honor of the birthday of Fannie Brice (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), the inspiration for the Barbara Streisand musicals Funny Girl and Funny Lady, here’s proof that Brice was indeed quite funny. This is A Sweepstakes Ticket, a skit from the movie revue, The Ziegfield Follies (1946). There’s some great clowning and physical comedy in here by Brice, but also by Hume Cronyn in a rare broad comedy role. William Frawley, an old-time vaudevillian but best known as landlord Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy, is also the landlord here.
I just ran across this photo of Pablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) made up as a clown and, since it’s his 128th birthday this month, I thought I’d include it with some of his circus paintings. The photo accompanied an article titled “Artists and Clowns” by Albert Faurot from the Third Quarter, 1963 edition of Silliman Journal. (No pun intended; that’s a university in the Philippines!) Note that at the time of writing Picasso still had ten years to live.
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Workshops & Other Events
My first book (1976)
My book Clowns has long been out of print, but you can borrow it for two weeks at a time from the Internet Archive. More information is available here.
My second book (2015)
Visual and verbal humor for the cognitively and artistically curious! Available here.
“A book to treasure!”
—Bill Irwin