Category Archives: Comedy

Groucho Marx & Erin Fleming On The Dick Cavett Show

A Rare TV Appearance & Interview With Groucho Marx’s Muse, Erin Fleming

For anyone who has read extensively about Groucho Marx’s life, the name Erin Fleming will elicit a strong reaction.

There are two views of Fleming’s relationship with Groucho. People who spent time with Groucho and Fleming were split as to their opinion of Groucho’s muse. Continue reading →

A Different Kind of “Dog Catcher” At New York Giants Spring Training 1956

The Catcher Was A Dog – Spring Training Phoenix, Arizona 1956

Is Being A Catcher A Dog’s Life?

Sparky the dog in Wes Westrum’s catching gear March 12, 1956 photo; United Press

Baseball catchers wear the so-called tools of ignorance. They get hit by wild pitches, foul balls and errant bats, constantly taking a beating behind the plate. So who wants to be a catcher? Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #106 – Jack Benny & Mary Livingstone At Ciro’s

Jack Benny and Wife Mary Livingstone Dine At Ciro’s 1955

Jack Benny Mary Livingstonephoto Nat DallingerJack Benny and his wife Mary, enjoy an evening at Ciro’s in Hollywood. Benny started his career in the entertainment world as a doorman at a theater in Waukegan, Illinois, his birthplace. The Benny’s have been married 28 years. photo: Inside Hollywood by Nat Dallinger for King Features Syndicate week of August 12, 1955

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Classic Hollywood #101 – Groucho Marx Was Born October 2, 1890

The 130th Anniversary of The Birth Of Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx in 1931 photo Eugene Robert Richee for Paramount

There are at least five comedians I wish were alive now to comment on the state of the world. If interviewed they could  put current events into perspective. They are George Carlin, Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor and Groucho Marx.

Each humorist was intelligent, sardonic and biting in their outlooks on life.

My all-time favorite was Groucho Marx.

Julius Henry “Groucho” Marx was born on October 2, 1890.

There are literally thousands of stories about Groucho and the Marx clan. Rather than rehash his life I’ll throw out one little known fact about Groucho from brother Harpo’s autobiography, Harpo Speaks! (1961, Bernard Gies Associates). Continue reading →

Cut Scene From A Classic Movie – Double Indemnity 1944

Double Indemnity – The Pep-Up Speech That Never Was

aka: The “Benefits” Of Living & Working In Mid-Century America

The classic American film, Double Indemnity has a scene in which Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is meeting with his boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) in Neff’s office. Continue reading →

Video: Dove vs. Cat – (It Doesn’t End The Way You Think)

What Happens When A Dove Visits A Sleeping Cat?

You’ve heard the expression let sleeping dos lie. But what about cats? Well this daring dove is determined to wake up this cat. And the cat will have no part of it. This is not Sylvester and Tweety.

Apparently this dove regularly comes around to annoy this cat. Does the cat even attempt to slaughter it?

This is either the bravest bird or the most laid back cat.

At one minute in, the bird is laughing, at the cat, right?

The questions I have are as follows:

1) Who lets a dove into their house in the first place? Continue reading →

A Klingon In The 1964 Topps Baseball Card Set & Other Strange Musings

Some Random Observations On 1964 Baseball Cards and Players

Joe Torre 1964 Topps looks angry

Take away the cap and Joe Torre is not a ballplayer. He looks like a tough Brooklyn badass who you wouldn’t want to mess with.

The 1964 Topps baseball card set could be known as the mug shot set. Boring head shots predominate with few players pictured in full body or action poses. Continue reading →

Signs In French

Real Signs In France

The French have a different way of doing things. Especially with their signage.

Here are three signs that caught my attention.

baggage troubles french sign sillyThis one was on a train going from Paris to southern France. It says:

Forgot Your Luggage? Worries Guaranteed!

Now I’m not quite sure if they literally meant it. That if you lost or left your baggage on the train that you would be worried. Well of course you would! Or is this the French way of saying, “You are screwed if you lose your luggage. So don’t lose it!”

Something definitely got lost in translation. Maybe hire a proofreader who understands English when the next version of this sign is created.

The next one doesn’t need any words, even though it had them only in French. This was near the beach. Continue reading →