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richlevy · 05-22-2007, 08:05 PM

I picked comedians from the 'golden age' from 1930's through the 1950's. Newhart was a genius and invented his own style, but I wanted to list the guys who still had one foot in vaudeville and who were comics as well as comedians.

Mel Brooks was a writer and performer before he was a producer/director. A lot of these guys worked together as writers and performers on a number of shows. Of the group, Don Knotts and Lucille Ball were the youngest, and Lucy was a bit more reserved that Imogene Coca.

BTW, I'm not sure, but I believe that Don Knotts,Lucille Ball, and Gleason were the only non-Jewish performers on that list. This was not intentional, but during that period, most of the famous comedians were Jewish.

The reason I picked who I did was because these people had the timing, guts, and intelligence to work on the edge of comedy at a time when comedy was being broadcast live on TV and radio. A lot of these people were former vaudevillians who kept up that same frantic pace in a lot of their routines.

My personal favorites are Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks doing The 2000 Year Old Man

Brooks/Reiner doing the 2000 Year Old Man

Brooks/Reiner satirizing coffee shops

Holy S**t!!!! I never saw this one from Mel Brooks (probably NSFW simply because it would probably be offensive to someone)

05-22-2007, 08:05 PM	#15
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	I picked comedians from the 'golden age' from 1930's through the 1950's. Newhart was a genius and invented his own style, but I wanted to list the guys who still had one foot in vaudeville and who were comics as well as comedians. Mel Brooks was a writer and performer before he was a producer/director. A lot of these guys worked together as writers and performers on a number of shows. Of the group, Don Knotts and Lucille Ball were the youngest, and Lucy was a bit more reserved that Imogene Coca. BTW, I'm not sure, but I believe that Don Knotts,Lucille Ball, and Gleason were the only non-Jewish performers on that list. This was not intentional, but during that period, most of the famous comedians were Jewish. The reason I picked who I did was because these people had the timing, guts, and intelligence to work on the edge of comedy at a time when comedy was being broadcast live on TV and radio. A lot of these people were former vaudevillians who kept up that same frantic pace in a lot of their routines. My personal favorites are Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks doing The 2000 Year Old Man Brooks/Reiner doing the 2000 Year Old Man Brooks/Reiner satirizing coffee shops Holy St!!!! I never saw this one from Mel Brooks (probably NSFW simply because it would probably be offensive to someone) __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama** Last edited by richlevy; 05-22-2007 at 08:11 PM.