John Bunny enjoyed a popularity in his day that has evaporated with time. To some extent that process began right at the end of his screen career. The mid-‘teens saw the rise of slapstick in the manic Keystone comedies and… Read More »Revisiting the Films of John Bunny
The Mack Sennett films released through Paramount in the late ‘teens give you the impression that an effort was underway to take the Keystone format up a level. That is, if you can see one of the Paramounts. Despite who… Read More »Finding a Chestnut in a Haystack
The injury humor of Johnny Knoxville, the Farrelly Brothers, and thousands of anonymous klutzes is nothing new — French and Italian comedians were doing it during movies’ first decade. Last September, a lot of people sent me a link to… Read More »The Humor of “Jackass” and AFV In the Early 1900s, as Performed by Marcel Perez and Others
coming in January 2017: 3 special episodes of the podcast This mini-episode is more of a trailer of sorts for three special podcast episodes that I will post simultaneously in the first half of January 2017.In this 10-minute mini-podcast –… Read More »coming in January 2017: 3 special episodes of the podcast
Our first four Cruel and Unusual Comedy shows at MoMA have gone extremely well. We’ve had great houses – I’d guestimate 200+ people, and lots of new (and younger!) faces – at every program. Eileen Bowser came to our first… Read More »Cruel & Unusual: shows #1 – #4
May 19 – Steve and I were on the Leonard Lopate Show this afternoon. This was my third time on the show; I’d been on (solo) in 2006 for the MoMA Arbuckle series, and in 2007 as sidekick to Jessica… Read More »Leonard Lopate on WNYC
May 18 — Steve Massa and I were on WFMU tonight for a full hour on “The Speakeasy with Dorian“, hosted by Dorian Devins and co-hosted by Bruce Bennett. Bruce is a great film writer who I reconnected with in… Read More »WFMU radio interview
May 16 (Sat) – Had two great shows of “Museum Trip” in Brooklyn with Parallel Exit, and then got a second crack at Duvivier’s “Au Bonheur de Dames” at MoMA. Made some improvements in the Duvivier score second time around… Read More »Au Bonheur Des Dames – 2nd performance (w/audio)
May 6 – I was back at Radio City Music Hall for some practice time on the Wurlitzer today, in prep for next week’s SVA graduation. Turns out I won’t be using the organ at the ceremony — nothing to… Read More »Radio City Music Hall Wurlitzer (again)