Sunday Standup (and Sitdown) Comedy Showcase: Victor Borge Performs at the Hollywood Palace in 1967

Some of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines by iconic comedians on Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.  

Today we're sharing one of Victor Borge's early standup comedy routines (actually sitting down.)

Victor Borge (1909-2000) was a Danish comedian, conductor and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the United States and Europe. His blend of music and comedy earned him the nickname "The Clown Prince of Denmark","The Unmelancholy Dane", and "The Great Dane." 

He was born as Borge Rosenbaum to a Jewish family in Copenhagen. His parents were both musicians. He began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.

When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland. Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and, in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee's radio show, but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall program.

Most of his humor centered on his relationship with his beloved piano and the funny variations on classical music that he created and performed to the delight of his audiences.

In this 1967 video clip from the Hollywood Palace TV Show, Borge previews safety features on new pianos.

Enjoy!

Sunday Standup Comedy Showcase: Early Milton Berle Standup on the Hollywood Palace

Some of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines by iconic comedians on Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.  

Comedian Milton Berle's career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and television. Born Mendel Berlinger in 1908, he dominated the television screen for most of the twentieth century. 

Here's a video of Milton Berle in the first of many appearances hosting The Hollywood Palace in 1965. 

Enjoy!

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Henny Youngman Heckles Milton Berle on Hollywood Palace

The year was 1966. Yes, that's 54 years ago. Milton Berle was hosting on The Hollywood Palace when Henny Youngman started to heckle him from the balcony.

Heckling Berle was a regular activity during the 1960s and 1970s, starting when Berle hired comedian Irving Benson to look down from the balcony overlooking the stage of Berle's variety show and banter with Berle about the host's alleged lack of talent and originality. 

Youngman and Benson heckled on Berle's shows The Hollywood Palace and The Milton Berle Show. The heckling routine was picked up years later by the muppet characters Statler and Waldorf on The Muppet Show.

Enjoy! 

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Jackie Mason at the Hollywood Palace

It's another Throwback Thursday. Time to turn the clock back, way back, to 1964 when comedian Jackie Mason gave a performance on the Hollywood Palace TV show.

At the time, the 36-year-old Mason was in the early part of his career. Now 91, he still makes occasional TV appearances. 

A former rabbi, ordained by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Mason quit his rabbinical career to become a stand-up comedian because, he says, "Somebody in the family had to make a living." His three brothers, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all rabbis.

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

Comedy Showcase Nostalgia: The Stand-up Comedy Stylings of Lee Tully

Lee Tully was a Chicago born performer who found fame in the Catskills, the Jewish Alps in the late 1940s. As he wrote so evocatively in his record album liner notes “It was in this scene of minks, wolves, canasta, chopped liver, borscht, and sour cream that he discovered heartburn which led him to write his first record hit “Essen” which became the number one Yiddish seller in the country.”

Tully began doing "kosher comedy." Yiddish Eli Basse songs such as "Oomglick Blues" and "Litvak and Galitz" turn up on his first album, "Seltzer on the Rocks." He expanded for more mainstream comedy for his two-record contract with Jubilee, which coincided with his expanded touring all over America.

Here's a video of Lee Tully performing on The Hollywood Palace hosted by Sammy Davis Jr. in 1967.

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: Jack Benny, Mel Blanc, and the Tijuana Troubadors

One of Jack Benny's funniest sidekicks was Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices who went on to become the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, and the Tasmanian Devil.

Blanc made frequent appearances on Jack Benny's TV show. In this video clip he's the leader of the Tijuana Troubadors, a musical group from Mexico whose vocabulary is limited to Si, Sy, Sue, and Sew.

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: Joan Rivers - 50 Years Ago on Hollywood Palace

For today's Throwback Thursday comedy special, we go back fifty years for a Joan Rivers standup comedy stint on The Hollywood Palace.

The date was February 5, 1966, and Joan's performance was a preview of the themes that she would use for the next 40 plus years of standup comedy.

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

The Great Jewish Comedians: Larry Storch on The Hollywood Palace in 1965

Larry Storch is one of the oldest living Jewish comedians. He was born in New York City in 1923. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx with Don Adams, who remained his lifelong friend. 

He is best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows, such as Mr. Whoopee on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, and his live-action role of the bumbling Corporal Randolph Agarn on F Troop.

Storch never graduated from high school because of hard times in the Great Depression, instead finding work as a stand-up comic for $12 a week opening for bandleader Al Donahue at the band shell in Sheepshead Bay. He served in the United States Navy during World War II on the submarine tender USS Proteus with Tony Curtis.

An impressionist, Storch does hundreds of voices and dialects ranging from Muhammad Ali to Claude Rains. This has proved useful for cartoons. He has voiced characters in numerous TV and film animations including The Batman/Superman Hour, The Pink Panther Show, Groovie Goolies, The Inspector, The Brady Kids, Cool Cat, Koko the Clown, Treasure Island, Return from Oz, Scooby-Doo, Tennessee Tuxedo, Aesop's Fables, Oliver Twist and many more. Larry had worked with Mel Blanc and June Foray at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. 

He was the first actor to voice Batman's arch enemy, "The Joker", in The Adventures of Batman segments produced by Filmation animation in the late 1960s. Larry continued his association with Filmation as a voiceover actor in other series the company produced including Journey Back to Oz where he voiced Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farmhand Amos. This Kansas character did not have an alter ego in Oz. Storch also provided the Tin Man's speaking voice while Danny Thomas provided the character's singing voice.

Storch appeared on many variety shows, including Sonny and Cher, Laugh-In, Hollywood Squares, Playboy After Dark, and The Hollywood Palace, with several appearances on the The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and The Steve Allen Show. Jackie Gleason personally asked Storch to fill in for him in the summer of 1953 while Gleason was on hiatus. This led to the 10-episode The Larry Storch Show with guest stars including Janet Blair, Risë Stevens, Dick Haymes, and Cab Calloway.

At the age of 93, Storch is now "semi-retired". He likes to play his saxophone in the park and does occasional memorabilia shows to greet his many fans. He signs autographs at film festivals, including Chiller Theater and the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. He is currently working on his autobiography.

Here's a funny video clip of Storch in a standup comedy bit on The Hollywood Palace in 1965. He is introduced by Janet Leigh.

Enjoy!

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: Jack E. Leonard with Frank Sinatra on Hollywood Palace

Jack E. Leonard, born Leonard Lebitsky, was an American comedian and actor who made frequent appearances on television variety and game shows in the 1950s and 1960s.

Leonard's Wikipedia entry describes his comedic method as sarcastic and aggressive, creating an "insult humor" genre which anticipated Don Rickles. (Rickles's Friars' Club roast was emceed by Leonard, who introduced Rickles as "a man who's been doing my act for about 12 years now.") 

A trademark line, after taking off his hat to reveal his bald head: "What did you expect, feathers?" He also referenced his weight problem in his act. Leonard's strong and unapologetic on-stage personality ("Good evening, opponents!") belied a gentle and giving spirit that would occasionally be revealed in his act when he would sing a sentimental song.

He wore a distinctive outfit: a dark suit, purposely two sizes too small, a white narrow-brimmed hat, and horn-rimmed glasses.

In today's video, Leonard laces into Frank Sinatra as Sinatra hosts the Hollywood Palace TV show. 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.)