This Day In Comedy: March

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
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19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

                Vintage Stand-up Comedy                

The Day Wrestling Died

As an teenager in the 1960s I loved watching wrestling on TV, when it was "really real", as Bruno Sammartino reigned supreme.

During one interview the camera was pulled back *just* enough so that, during a wrestler's rant, I saw the interviewer tap the wrestler's foot with his own foot. The rant abruptly ended, just when I thought that the interview was really spinning out of control.

The curtain was drawn back and I saw the great Oz for who, and what it actually was. Wrestling, for me, went in the pooper, more devastating than if Bruno himself crushed me into submission with his most famous closing moves: the Bearhug, the Hammerlock or the Pendulum backbreaker.

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This Day In Comedy: March 30

Born this day in 1962, Bil Dwyer (William Michael Dwyer) is 50, Evelyn Park, Illinois.
Born this day in 1953, Jeff Cesario is 59, Kenosha, Wisconsin  comedian & writer Dennis Miller Live, Larry Sanders Show.
Born this day in 1930, John Astin (John Allen Astin) is 82, Baltimore, Maryland 5'11" comic actor, TV's first “Gomez Addams" on The Addams Family, ex-husband of Patty Duke.
Born this day in 1949, Ray Magliozzi (Raymond Magliozzi), aka Clack Tappet is 63, Cambridge, Massachusetts radio talk show host with brother Tom, known as Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers, radio's Car Talk.
Born this day in 1935, Rex Robbins, Pierre, South Dakota, part of the Julius Monk Revues. In film The Royal Tennenbaums. He died 09/23/2003 from an aneurysm at age 68.
Born this day in 1950, Robbie Coltrane (Anthony Robert McMillan) is 62, Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland 6'1" actor and comedian.
Born this day in 1930, Rolf Harris is 82, Bassendean, Western Australia, 5'10"  singer-songwriter, television personality. Invented the 'wobble-board' musical instrument.

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This Day In Comedy: March 29

Born this day in 1961, Amy Sedaris (Amy Louise Sedaris) is 51, Endicott, New York 5'1" comic actor.
Born this day in 1946, Dennis Wolfberg aka Dick Hertz Long Island, New York comedian TV’S Quantum Leap. He died 10/03/1994 from melanoma at age 48.
Born this day in 1943, Eric Idle is 69, South Shields, County Durham, England 6'1" comedian, comic actor Monty Python troop.
Born this day in 1924, Jackie Vernon (Ralph Verrone) New York City, New York stand-up comedian, TV’s Jackie Gleason Show. He died 11/10/1987 of a heart attack at age 63. “Hello Again, Fun Seekers.”
Born this day in 1890, Joe Cook (Joe Lopez) Evansville Indiana comic actor, writer, comedian. He died 05/15/1959 from Parkinson's disease at age 69.
Born this day in 1918, Pearl Bailey (Pearl Mae Bailey) Southampton County, Virginia, actor and singer, Vaudeville,  Broadway. She died 08/17/1990 from arteriosclerotic coronary artery disease at age 72.
Born this day in 1913, Phil Foster (Fivel Feldman) Brooklyn, New York comedian, TV’s  Laverne & Shirley. She died 07/08/1985 from a myocardial infarction at age 72.
Born this day in 1929, Ronnie Williams (Ronald Clive Williams) Wales actor, comedian. He died 12/28/1997 by suicide off the Cardigan Bridge, at age 68.
Died this day in 1986, Harry Ritz (Henry Ritz) American comic, Ritz Brothers team. Born 05/22/1907, he died from cancer at age 78.
Died this day in 2005, Mitch Hedberg (Mitchell Lee Hedberg) Saint Paul, Minnesota comedian, a voice on Crank Yankers. Born 02/24/1968, he died of multiple drug toxicity at age 37.

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Sad, But True!

Years ago we commissioned an "original" oil painting to be produced by a local guy.  For guidance, we told him we wanted to cover a fairly large wall space in our living room and we suggested a color palette (sophisticated be we!) 

YEARS go by and I see the same painting in a movie. The movie was called "X-Rated" and was a bio-pic on porn's Mitchell Brothers.

Sigh.

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This Day In Comedy: March 28

Born this day in 1925, Connie Cezon (Consuelo Cezon) Oakland, California comic actor, Three Stooges shorts, played “Gertie” in TV’s Perry Mason. She died 03/26/2004 of complications from breast cancer surgery at age 78.
Born this day in 1972, Nick Frost (Nicholas John Frost) is 40, Dagenham, East London, England 5'8" comedian and actor.
Born this day in 1970, Vince Vaughn (Vincent Anthony Vaughn) is 42, Minneapolis, Minnesota 6'5" comic actor, writer, producer.
Died this day in 2004, Peter Ustinov (Peter Alexander Ustinov) London, England actor, writer, raconteur. Born 04/16/1921, he died from diabetes complications, heart failure at age 82.
Died this day in 1944, Stephen Leacock (Stephen Butler Leacock) Swanmore, Hampshire, United Kingdom. Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Born 12/30/1869, he died of throat cancer at age 44.
Died this day in 2004, Sylvia Froos, aka Baby Sylvia Froos, New York City, New York, made two talking shorts before The Jazz Singer. Born 04/19/1914, she died from a stroke at age 89.

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This Day In Comedy: March 27

Born this day in 1964, Bill Bussey (William Bussey Jr) is 48, Jacksonville, Alabama, “Bubba” of team Rick & Bubba, The Rick & Bubba Show, syndicated comedic radio program based in Birmingham, Alabama.
Born this day in 1901, Carl Barks, Merrill, Oregon cartoonist drew Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. He died 08/25/2000 of leukemia at age 99.
Died this day in 2002, Billy Wilder (Samuel Wilder) Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Sucha Beskidzka, Poland), director, 6 Oscars out Of 20 Nominations), did Seven Year Itch & Some Like It Hot. Born 06/22/1906, he died of pneumonia at age 95.
Died this day in 2002, Dudley Moore (Dudley Stuart John Moore) Dagenham, England 5’2” comic of Derek & Clive team, Beyond The Fringe, movies 10, Arthur. Born 04/19/1935, he died of pneumonia & progressive supranuclear palsy at age 66.
Died this day in 2002, Milton Berle (Mendel Berlinger), aka “Uncle Miltie”, Harlem, New York comedian of vaudeville, Broadway, film, radio, TV. Born 07/12/1908, he died from cancer at age 93. NBC Signed Berle To a $200,000 30 years contract. ”'I'll Kill You A Million Times!.”

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