Every now and then, when I feel like living dangerously, I consider writing a series called “Is That Still Funny?”, in which I would examine the comedy that made me laugh when I was growing up. I have it all figured out: how I will guard myself against laughing simply from nostalgia, how we will skirt the issue of whether something can be offensive AND funny (and how many comedians have banked on getting the balance just right), and so on.
One of the problems with this is that I grew up watching almost exclusively comedy, from sitcoms to stand-up, from Saturday morning cartoons to Saturday afternoon showings of Abbot and Costello movies and, of course, the omnipresent Three Stooges shorts (which, for those of you watching them on television today, were actually run in their entirety ad commercials were stuck in BETWEEN them.)
The sheer variety of the offerings, which necessitates taking into consideration the comedy writers as well as costumes and sets, makes the whole thing impractical. Then you work in the question of catchphrases (as we used to label memes). These are a comedy staple going back decades, and almost certainly centuries, and each generation is mystified by the catchphrases of those before and those after. As “Vas You Dere, Sharlie” gave way to “Tain’t funny, McGee” to “And awaaaay we go” to “Verrry interesting” to “Can we talk?”, youngsters have looked on puzzled as their elders dissolved into helpless laughter.
So you will probably not be seeing me review Captain Nice or TomTerrific or Donald Kaul here. Unless I lose all sense of responsibility and start in on the research again. (I have tried. Erma Bombeck and Alan King, by the way, held up pretty well, while Space Kidettes did not.)
HOWEVER, just to hint at the difficulties, here is a quiz based on some comic mainstays of my formative years. If you know these from your own research into comic archaeology, good for you. If you REMEMBER all these, welcome to what I prefer to call Late Middle Age.
QUESTIONS
Q1.What were the names of the two seagulls Red Skelton used to impersonate?
Q2.What member of the animal kingdom was Dick Martin, of Rowan & Martin, justifiably proud he could imitate?
Q3.What creature spent Saturday mornings foiling Dick Dastardly and Muttley (in their Flying Machines?)
Q4.What kind of joke always upset Joanne Worley onRowan & Martin’s Laugh-In?
Q5.Who perpetrated knock knock jokes with Captain Kangaroo as his straight man?
Q6.What animal starred in another joke fad, often involving Tarzan or toenail polish or root beer?
Q7.Popular Italian comedian Topo Gigio made many an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. What was especially notable about this very short media darling?
Q8.What singing group turned a popular comedy show into a recording career, in the eyes of some fans eclipsing the Beatles?
Q9.What singing group turned a hit Christmas song into a never-ending series of animated cartoons and movies?
ANSWERS
A1.Gertrude and Heathcliff
A2.A flounder
A3.a pigeon
A4.Chicken jokes
A5.Mr. Moose
A6.Elephants
A7.He was a mouse
A8.The Monkees
A9.The Chipmunks
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