Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Eddie Cantor Sings "My Wife is on a Diet" in 1930

Eddie Cantor sings "My Wife Is on a Diet" in the 1930 short subject Getting a Ticket. He's been pulled over by a cop and tells the man he's Eddie Cantor. Eddie has no identification with him, so naturally to prove who he is, he sings a song.

In the song, Cantor details the hardship of having to eat grapefruit every day.

"No gravy and potatoes, just lettuce and tomatoes..." Not much has changed in the last 90 years.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

#Throwback Thursday     #TBT

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Eddie Cantor Sings '"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" in 1931

It's another Throwback Thursday and we're turning the clock back 89 years to 1931 when Eddie Cantor was featured in the Max Fleischer's Screen Songs for By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, My Baby Just Cares For Me and Show Me The Way To Go Home. 

Cantor, born Isidore Itzkowitz (1892–1964) was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor, and songwriter. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, this "Apostle of Pep" was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five daughters. 

In this video clip, Cantor sings, dances, plays the clarinet and tells a couple of jokes.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Eddie Cantor's 1951 One-Man Show

It's another Throwback Thursday and we're turning the clock back 69 years to 1951 when Eddie Cantor put on a one-man show featuring comedy, song and dance.

Cantor, born Isidore Itzkowitz (1892–1964) was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor, and songwriter. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, this "Apostle of Pep" was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five daughters. 

Some of his hits include "Makin' Whoopee," "Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)," "If You Knew Susie," "Ma! He's Makin' Eyes at Me," “Mandy,” "My Baby Just Cares for Me,” "Margie," and "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?" He also wrote a few songs, including "Merrily We Roll Along", the Merrie Melodies Warner Bros. cartoon theme.

His eye-rolling song-and-dance routines eventually led to his nickname, "Banjo Eyes." In 1933, artist Frederick J. Garner caricatured Cantor with large round eyes resembling the drum-like pot of a banjo. Cantor's eyes became his trademark, often exaggerated in illustrations, and leading to his appearance on Broadway in the musical Banjo Eyes (1941).
His charity and humanitarian work was extensive, and he helped to develop the March of Dimes (and is credited with coining its name). He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1956 for distinguished service to the film industry.

In this one-man show, Cantor sings Ballin' the Jack, Josephine Please No Lean on the Bell, several improvised songs, and tells stories about John Barrymore, Orson Welles,and Jimmy Durante. 

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.




#Throwback Thursday     #TBT

"Tevye's Daughters" from Yiddish "Fiddler" Sing "Making Whoopee" in Yiddish

Rachel Zatcoff and Stephanie Lynne Mason, who are currently playing the roles of Tevye's daughters Tsaytel and Hodel in Joel Grey's Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof, shared the stage last December at a special Folksbiene benefit concert honoring Broadway director Jerry Zaks.

The two singers performed a Yiddish version of Makin' Whoopee, the song made famous by Eddie Cantor in 1929.

Just below the Folksbiene concert video you'll find an excerpt from the film Makin' Whoopee with Cantor singing the song back in the day.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

The Great Jewish Comedians: Eddie Cantor in a 1923 Vaudeville Act

Eddie Cantor (1892-1964), born Edward Israel Iskowitz, was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor, and songwriter. 

Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, he was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five daughters. 

Some of his hits include "Makin' Whoopee", "Ida", "Yes! We Have No Bananas", "If You Knew Susie", "Ma! He's Makin' Eyes at Me", "Baby", "Margie", and "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?" He also wrote a few songs, including "Merrily We Roll Along", the Merrie Melodies Warner Bros. cartoon theme.

In one of the earliest experiments with synchronized sound, Eddie Cantor does his vaudeville act (stand-up comedy and songs) against a plain backdrop.

If you'd like to get a taste of what old-time Vaudeville was like, take a look at this fascinating and amusing talkie short. Headliner Eddie Cantor delivers a six-minute routine consisting of several jokes, two songs, and one comic poem, performed before a black backdrop in an empty studio. 

It's too bad the filmmakers couldn't have captured him in front of a live audience-- as it is, Eddie's jokes are met with eerie silence --but at least George Olsen's terrific dance band was present (off-camera) to provide jaunty jazz accompaniment. This short captures Cantor's act at the point when his career was really taking off, when he was starring in the Broadway musical comedy "Kid Boots," produced by legendary showman Flo Ziegfeld. 

The film was made at the midtown Manhattan studio of Lee De Forest, pioneer of the sound-on-film process known as 'Phonofilm.' Between 1922 and 1926 De Forest made dozens of talkie shorts featuring prominent performers such as Cantor, DeWolf Hopper, Weber & Fields, Eubie Blake, etc., films that are invaluable records of the great stage stars of the day.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.) 




(Our thanks to Braden Scott for posting this video and info on YouTube.)