Houdini and Groucho

Imagine these two entertainment icons on stage at the same time. Well it happened, and Groucho shared it with his audiences many times over the years. The first time I heard the story was when Merv Griffin shared it with Orsen Welles on his TV show. But there is nothing like hearing Groucho tell the story.

Here is the story in Groucho's words:

There were times when I used to wear a mustache, and there were times when I didn't. I got tired of wearing it, and I would take it off, because if I didn't have a mustache on, people didn't bother me in the street. Then one night I went to the Wintergarden, and Houdini was appearing there, and I was sans mustache. That means 'without'. Gotta watch yourself at the Wintergarden. Anyway, I'm sitting in the second row, and Houdini is now doing a trick. He would take some needles and put them in his mouth, and a spool of thread, and then he would thread the needles. So he asked for a volunteer out of the audience, and who do you think went up on the stage. And he opened his mouth wide. "I wanna prove that there is no trickery to this trick. What do you see in there?" And I said "Pyorrhea!" and left the stage. 

If you'd like to listen to Groucho tell it...

1911 Magic

I just discovered this on YouTube.com and I'm guessing it will only be up for a day. But on some videos they've added a button that says '1911'. Click the button and it converts the video into a silent movie version of the video complete with Sepia Tone footage and ragtime music.

The Magical Three Stooges

The Three Stooges, comedy icons from the early days of movies. Their popularity continues today though all of the various Stooges are gone. I spent some time recently on Youtube watching videos of interviews with Moe Howard and Larry Fine. The history of their act is fascinating to me. Though I wouldn't say I'm a typical fan of the Stooges. I guess for me, they were intriguing and interesting in the same way a magic act or a manipulator would be, but not really all that funny. That's not meant to be a slam on the Stooges, as some people find them hilarious. I just saw them differently and yet still entertaining.