The False Ducks Blahg

    There are many things that strike me as funny. I’m a bit of an odd duck when it comes to comedy.  I actually wanted to write a book called “Odd Ducks.”  It was going to be part of a trilogy of books with the word “Duck” in the title but none of them would be related.  About 20+ years ago I wrote my novel “False Ducks”, which is unpublished, about a radio sketch comedy group.  You can read samples of it at http://www.falseducks.com/false/falsies.html.  I started a second book entitled “Odd Ducks” about a woman who accidentally gets left behind on the highway when her husband stops at  a rest-stop on the highway and drives away without checking to see that his wife, sleeping in the back seat, is no longer there.  It’s based on a true incident.  Here’s what I wrote on it: 

ODD DUCKS

by Scott Henderson

   If Donald had only kept on driving, if Donald had only stopped at a full service gas station, if Donald hadn’t had the Big Gulp at the last rest stop, if Donald had have approached his car from the rear, if Donald hadn’t been so hell bent on getting back on the road, if Donald had have taken a cursory glance in the back, if Aunt Maisie hadn’t dropped dead in the middle Sunday dinner, if the new job didn’t pay so much, if Clara hadn’t insisted on sleeping in the back, if Jenny had have exhibited a little more teenage angst and insisted on the back seat for herself and further if Jenny had have given a rat’s ass about anyone else for even one moment, if Clara had a stronger bladder, if Clara had have left some note or sign to flag Donald’s attention that she left the car shortly after him then maybe, just maybe, and still that was a long shot outside chance, then maybe none of what followed would have followed.

Thursday  5:45 a.m.

   Clara managed to exit the Curly Q just in time to see Donald drive away.  She had been left behind.

The Previous Sunday 8:14 p.m.

Clara let the phone ring 3 times before picking it up.  If Donald had been home he would have barked at her after the first and she’d have answered it.  Donald hated hearing the phone go past one ring.  “It might be important,” he’d say.  “Someone might have died or something,” he’d add.  His mind ran that way.

Donald was out though.  He’d gone for a walk.  Oh, he didn’t fool Clara, he was smoking again.  He always smoked when things changed.  Donald was like a smoke stack when he was nervous and he was nervous when the routine of his life was altered in any way.

Donald was up for a new job.  He was being considered for the position of Media Relations person for Dynaco Nuclear Electric.  It was a big step up from Safety Engineer but that’s what the bigwigs at Dynaco wanted.  They wanted someone who knew what they were talking about and could translate that knowledge into a well meaning but believable pack of lies about the better quality of life to be derived from Nuclear energy.  In other words Dynaco wanted a good liar.

Jenny would have answered the phone if it had been for her.  The fact that it rang more than once meant it wasn’t for Jenny.  Camped out in her room, Jenny would have rolled over to glance at the call display screen and then just as quickly would have rolled back in total disinterest.  Jenny was 15, that was the only explanation necessary.

Clara tossed aside the book she’d been reading and picked up the phone.

“Hello,” she said in her best someone might have died answering voice.

“Clara?”, the voice on the other end asked before continuing.  “Aunt Maisie’s dead.  She dropped dead right before dessert.  It’s awful.  There’s gravy everywhere.  She took a seizure and fell right over.  There’s gravy everywhere.  And I’d baked such a beautiful cake too.  Right out of Cottage Living magazine.”

“Abbey,” Clara broke in.  “Slow down.  What happened?”

“Well, there’s gravy everywhere if that gives you a clue,” Abbey continued.  “We were eating dinner, you know, a nice family dinner, mom and dad over and they drop by with Aunt Maisie, well I don’t mind because she is family and she does have money,  but to drop dead right before dessert and with such a nice cake waiting straight form Cottage Living Magazine.”  Abbey paused for a breath.

During the brief intermission Clara switched the phone to her other ear.  Abbey was not only talking quickly she was stuck on a higher volume.

“Well, the ambulance attendants said it must have been an aneurism or a burst blood vessel or some little thing but Albert thinks she choked on a lump in the gravy but that can’t be because I strained the gravy.  You remember how mom always strained the gravy and we said mom you don’t need to strain the gravy but she kept on straining it, well now I strain the gravy because it makes it smoother and I guess mom was right and Albert was wrong.  Watch the gravy, don’t track it all over the carpet Albert!”  Abbey was shouting this last piece of direction to someone else.

“Abbey,” Clara tried to interject.

“Don’t worry Clara I’ll save the cake for the funeral.  It’ll keep for a few days.  You will come though won’t you?  I’d hate to have such a nice cake go to waste on just Albert and I.  Albert doesn’t really need it you know, the poor dear, he’s gained fifteen pounds since last Christmas.  Nothing, Albert dear, I’m just talking to Clara about poor Aunt Maisie.  Mind that gravy Albert” Abbey said aside.  “You wouldn’t know it but there are beets in the cake.  That’s what it is.  It’s a Chocolate Beet Cake right from this month’s Cottage Living Magazine.  Of course they’re canned beets, you have to have the syrup to make the cake.  You are coming aren’t you Clara?”  Abbey halted abruptly.

Clara switched the phone back to her original ear.  Abbey was starting to give her a headache too.

“How’s mom?”, Clara thought to ask.  Aunt Maisie was actually Great Aunt Maisie because she was their mother’s aunt.

“As well as can be expected.  Oh I know she’s disappointed about the cake and I’m sure she feels responsible.  After all she was the one who practically dragged poor Aunt Maisie here tonight.  You know I was just saying to Albert after she died that she didn’t look at all well.  But you didn’t say if you were coming Clara.”  Nothing got past Abbey.

“To the funeral?”

“Of course, I didn’t mean for dinner.  It’s too late for that and even if you did come I don’t think it would be appropriate to eat the cake.”

“When?”

“After the funeral of course.  Everyone will be absolutely famished.  They always are at funerals.  I’ll have to make some sandwiches and you can bring that marvellous potato salad with the peas in it.  Better plan on a dozen people.  It will be a small intimate luncheon.  We won’t invite just everyone.  I only have the one bathroom downstairs and I certainly don’t want everyone traipsing through the house to the one on the second level.  I just wont’ have it.”

“When’s the funeral I mean?”  Clara was trying hard to keep pace with her sister.

“Oh I don’t know, what’s good for you?  Please don’t say Tuesday though because I have to have the carpets cleaned and I know on such short notice I’m not going to be able to get anyone in here until Tuesday.  Does gravy stain?  Wednesday’s probably best but definitely not Thursday.  Thursday, Albert and I have counselling.”  Abbey lowered her voice to a whisper before continuing.  “Sex, Clara.  I insisted on the sessions.  Albert simply doesn’t want to do…well you know, not that I want to either really but we should be doing something I suppose, after all we are married and there are the children and we wouldn’t want them to grow up strange because Albert and I weren’t perfect role models.”

“Abbey, I think you better let mom and dad make the arrangements for Aunt Maisie.”  Clara couldn’t possibly imagine what was going through Abbey’s head.  Here she was babbling on about her petty little life while everyone else was probably very upset over Aunt Maisie.  Clara didn’t enjoy conversations with her sister and any kind of visit was always strenuous.

Abbey and Albert lived in Niagara Falls.  It was far enough away from Ottawa, where Clara and Donald lived, which was alright by Clara and even more alright by Donald.  Donald could not stand Abbey and could tolerate Albert only somewhat.  They did not spend holidays together.  Since Clara and Donald had married they’d only visited a handful of times.

“I hope mother’s cousin Dillard isn’t invited to the funeral.  He’s absolutely uneducated and that wife of his has to be at least ten years younger than him.  What was he thinking taking such a young bride?  I mean really Abbey, you would think the man could find someone more his own age.  Well at least she has manners which is more than I can say for mother’s cousin Dillard.  Then there’s those twins of theirs.  Unmarried at their age and absolutely no good looks to speak of.  That’s totally unacceptable in two bachelors still living at home in their early forties.  There’s some genetic flaw somewhere that’s married into the family.  Oh I just dread the thought of mother’s cousin Dillard anywhere near me.”

Clara thought back to her last visit with her sister.  Albert and Abbey had stopped by on their way to Montreal for a convention of Amusement Museum Managers.  That was Albert’s occupation.  He managed two very successful tourist museums in Niagara Falls and had been positively written up in several of the well circulated tourism magazines including Cottage Living Magazine.

On that trip Albert and Abbey had only been in the house twenty minutes before Donald had to feign some excuse which allowed him to nip down the block and have a cigarette.  Clara always knew when Donald was smoking and she didn’t blame him a bit when it came to visits with Albert and Abbey.  Clara would have indulged herself if she smoke but instead she would usually sneak a drink during a bathroom break in the visit and would come back that much more pleasant to her sister and her husband.

And Abbey’s children were no better.  Clara wondered why Abbey went on about mother’s cousin Dillard’s twin boys when she had twin terrors of her own.  Not that Abbey saw them as anything other than angels.  “Fallen angels, is more like it,” Donald would always says later.  “Those two brats of hers would give Satan a run for his money.”  Donald always exaggerated but in this case he was closer to the truth.

Alexander and Andrew were ten going on twenty-five to life.  Arson, extortion, theft, profanity and cruelty toward animals were some of their more minor vices.  They’d never been convicted by their mother however.

“And the way they dress.  None of them have any fashion sense.  There’s more to life than denim.  I just won’t have them at the funeral is all and certainly not at my home.  The Chocolate Beet cake right out of Cottage Living Magazine would not be safe around them.”

And Alex and Andy were fat.  Abbey always said well fed but they were still fat.  Spoiled rotten on candy and treats.  Bribery no doubt for good behavior; promises never kept by the twins.

“And their car.  Can you imagine that thing in the funeral procession?  I would die.  I would just die.”

Clara cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder and rubbed awkwardly at her temples.  It was then that Donald walked in.

Clara immediately smelled the distinct aroma of peppermints and cigarettes.

“Is that for me?” he asked, gesturing with a free hand toward the phone.  In his other hand was a bag of peppermints and a magazine.

“It’s Abbey.”

“Who’s died this time?”

Clara just stared at him.  This wasn’t unusual for Donald.  He always said that Abbey only called when someone died or that she wanted to boast about some contribution that Albert had made to the betterment of Amusement Museums everywhere.  Actually Abbey had never called before about someone dying but Donald and Clara had tired of Albert’s unending string of new exhibits that always, according to Abbey, rocked the establishment of Amusement Museums right down to their wax foundations.

“Aunt Masie died, right in the middle of Sunday dinner.”

“And there’s an article in there too about Albert’s new Hindenberg exhibit.  Albert says this is the one that will put them over the top.  He says this one will rock the establishment right down to their wax foundations.”  Abbey had switched topics again in that moment she had spoken to Donald.

“Your Great Aunt Masie?  God, what happened?”  Donald was striking the magazine against the side of his leg.  He always did this when caught off guard with a rolled up magazine in his hand.

“I don’t know,” Clara said.  “Something about an aneurysm and gravy and now something about Albert’s new Hindenberg exhibit.”

Donald stopped striking the magazine against his leg and tossed it into Clara’s lap.  “Yeah, I know.  It’s in the new Cottage Living magazine I bought you down at the store.  There’s also an interesting recipe in there for a Chocolate Beet Cake we should try.”

———————

Chapter Two

Thursday  5:45 a.m.

 

Clara managed to exit the Curly Q just in time to see Donald drive away.  She had been left behind.

Clara did not break into a mad run, nor flail her arms about wildly, nor call frantically after Donald.  She just stood there blinking…and wondering.  Wondering if maybe she shouldn’t break into a mad run, or flail her arms about wildly, or call frantically after Donald.  By the time she realized a combination of all three was best, it was too late.  Donald and the car were already out of sight.

Clara just stood there blinking.  And then very slowly she began to rub her eyes and tried to wake herself up.  This had always worked before.  She remembered times like this, not being left behind at a Curly Q on the highway, but times when she knew instinctively she was asleep and that if she tried hard enough she could wake herself up but that when she woke up she was always disappointed to learn later that she hadn’t really been awake and that she had only dreamed she had managed to wake herself up.  This was like those times, she thought, except she was at a Curly Q on the highway and Donald had left her behind.

Rubbing her eyes did not help.  And she did not wake up.  She decided she must really be awake and that the logical thing to do was to tell someone she had been stranded here at the Curly Q.

So Clara walked up to the Curly Q drive-through menu sign and said in clear voice “I’ve been left behind here at the Curly Q”, and without thinking she added “and a Curly Q Dodger, please.”

Several seconds passed before the menu barked at her in a barely audible but clearly disinterested voice.  “Welcome to the Curly Q, home of the Dodger, may I take your order?”

Clara blinked again but with resolution repeated herself.  “Yes, I’ve just been left behind,” and again without thinking, “and a Curly Q Dodger, please.”

“The grill closed at 5:30.  Will there be anything else?”

Again Clara blinked.  That’s odd, she thought, the menu doesn’t say anything about the grill closing at 5:30.  She peered closely, blinking, at the picture of the Curly Q Dodger.  It looked like all of the pictures on the menu except that on top it seemed to have something that looked suspiciously like cheese without clearly resembling cheese.

“Your sign doesn’t say the grill closes at 5:30.” Clara spoke clearly into a small mesh hole that looked like a place where you spoke into if you wanted to order something or question why the menu didn’t say anything about the grill closing at 5:30 in the morning.

The voice spoke again, in another barely audible but clearly disinterested voice, from the small mesh hole where orders were taken or complaints was lodged.  “The grill closes at 5:30 to begin preparation for the breakfast menu.”

Clara blinked and glanced around at the huge sign and found the small breakfast menu printed on the right.

“Okay then, I’ll have a Curly Q Breakfast Dodger,” Clara said in a very determined voice, “and I’ve been left behind and need to use your phone.”  Clara wasn’t sure whom she should call.  She just wanted out of the drive-through and back into her car.

The disembodied voice of the mesh hole droned again.  “The breakfast menu is not available until six a.m.  Will there be anything else?”

Clara poked at the mesh hole.  She wasn’t sure if it was that the grill had closed at 5:30 and that the sign did not state that the grill closed at 5:30 or that the breakfast menu wasn’t available until six or that she had failed to noticed the small letters that stated that the breakfast menu was only served between six and ten or that Donald had left her behind but she was beginning to feel very upset.  “You don’t understand, I’ve been left behind and I don’t really care if your grill closed at 5:30 or that the breakfast menu isn’t available until six.  I want to get back in my car and I want the largest coffee you’re allowed to sell by law!”  She really did want the largest coffee they were allowed to sell by law.

“Thank you, please pull ahead.”  Did Clara detect even more disinterest in the barely audible voice from the small mesh hole?

Clara walked around the sign, following the arrow markings on the pavement, and up to a sliding window.

The window slid upwards and a young girl not much older than Jenny stared straight ahead at something on a computerized screen and said, in that clearly disinterested voice, “that’ll be a dollar thirty-five.”  Then the young girl turned, looked at Clara, and blinked.  “I’m sorry, the drive-through is for vehicles only.  The restaurant is open for pedestrian convenience.”  The window slid closed.  Obviously at the Curly Q, a pedestrian in the drive-through was not an uncommon occurrence.

I also wanted to write a story called “Peeking Duck.”  I know, you’re thinking that I meant to say “Peking Duck” about the food delicacy but I spelled mine to reflect the story.  It was going to be about a filmmaker who goes undercover with a homeless person and loses himself in that world.  Thus the title, “Peeking Duck.”  I thought I had never written anything on that but I recently found a synopsis I had put together:

Peeking Duck

This is a story idea about a documentary film maker  who films a street guy named Larry he used to go to school with.  Written in first person.  The twist is at the end another documentary maker goes out to film a street guy that turns out to be the film maker.  “Standing next to Larry was the ugliest guy I’d ever seen with no neck.  His head was attached directly to his shoulders.  If he hadn’t been standing there, Larry would have been the ugliest guy I’d ever seen.”

Maybe someday, I’ll get back to these two stories. 

   I had been struggling to come up with an idea for a blahg this week when I came across a printed error that struck me as very humorous and inspired this blahg.  As I have noted before, I post daily THIS DATE IN SINATRA HISTORY logs to other Sinatra fans.  One of today’s entries was “July 23rd, 1992 Sands, Atlantic City, New Jersey.”  I usually try to include clippings of reviews or advertisements but today I found the following notice that inspired me for this blahg: 

In case you didn’t catch it, Frank Sinatra is billed as a Comedian.  Yes, Frank Sinatra, Comedian, with such great jokes as “Did You Hear The One About The Traveling Salesman?”, “Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road,” and “What Time Is It When An Elephant Sits On Your Watch?”  In fact, some of Frank Sinatra’s song titles could be the basis for comedy routines:  “Everything Happens To Me,” “That’s Life,” “Somethin’ Stupid,” and “How Little We Know.”  Of course you might get some traction out of a routine called “My Way.”  So why was there this mistake in billing?  If I expand the original advertisement, you will see that there was someone else appearing at the Sands on that date in 1992: 

Elayne Boosler was a top comedian in the 1980s and 1990s.  I think she was the one that was supposed to be billed as Comedian at the Sands.  Here’s an early appearance of her on the Merv Griffin show: 

She’s no Sinatra but I found her funny. 

   I want to share a couple of pictures with you.  These are shots of a big shelf of DVDs I have in my home, a smaller shelf next to it, and some items that hang on my wall. 

The Sons of the Desert poster was given to me by my daughter Emaily and the Babes In Toyland is a framed LP of the soundtrack.  The bottom pencil and charcoal picture, drawn by my daughter Abbie, is of Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock in the movie “Safety Last.”  I also house my friend Bryan’s DVD collection in other parts of my house but this big shelf is really the center of my collection.  If you look closely you can see DVD collections of Charley Chase, Max Linder, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Charlie Chaplin, Edgar Kennedy, The Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Our Gang/Little Rascals, Roscoe Arbuckle, Thelma Todd/Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd/Zasu Pitts, Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, and great comedies directed by Preston Sturges. The smaller shelf also has some comedy DVDs of Jerry Lewis and The Three Stooges.  These people are what I call funny and some are what I call geniuses. I often re-watch many of these DVDs because they hold up well and entertain better than most “so-called” comedies today. 

   If I tried to do a blahg honoring these great comics and legends, I am sure I wouldn’t do any justice.  I thought I would share some samples of video and audio of these people who make me laugh.  There is no particular order to my tribute but lately I’ve been watching some Laurel and Hardy shorts and movies.  For a while most of Laurel and Hardy’s earlier classic material was not available in North America.  There were poor versions and colorized material but I had to purchase a box set from the United Kingdom: 

This beautiful 21 disk set contains many of their early feature films as well as all of the silent and short films they performed in together.  There are some extras of colorized versions of shorts as well as foreign language versions where Laurel and Hardy spoke their lines in German and Spanish.  There has been a box set of their material restored and released in North America as “Laurel and Hardy: The Essential Collection” which only has two features and their sound shorts.  Another set, “Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations” has 18 shorts and two features.  So, for a good deal the UK box contains more.  Of course, you’ll need a region-free DVD player or find a hack to make your DVD player region-free.  There are also North American releases of later films they made at Fox and I own those as well.  It’s not easy being a completist. 

   I have a few records in my collection that contain routines by Laurel and Hardy but on one record is the routine that was put out on a 78 rpm record in 1932 to coincide with their first trip to the United Kingdom.  Someone has posted it on YouTube: 

In the same year, 1932, Laurel and Hardy made the only short for which they were awarded an Academy Award, “The Music Box”: 

Laurel and Hardy were not only funny but they were true friends to the end.  Even their worst films have fun moments and are better than the foul language filled toilet humor movies we get today.   By the way, my favorite Laurel and Hardy feature is 1936’s “Our Relations.”  Stan and Ollie have identical twin brothers named Bert and Alf that they haven’t seen in years and presume are dead.  Unfortunately Bert and Alf have been at sea and they’ve landed in Stan and Ollie’s town.  Hilarity ensues with mistaken identities all around until they meet up at the end of the film.  

   This past week I have taken time out at work twice to watch a couple of Our Gang/Little Rascal shorts.  I receive updates from https://www.classicflix.com/ and they are currently working on restorations of these fun shorts.  Volume 3 will be released in October and the email I received had a link to watch some of the restoration of the 1932 short “Pooch.” 

The next day I had to watch 1932’s “Free Wheeling”.  My daughter Abbie and I watched all of the Our Gang/Little Rascal sound shorts and we both loved the really young “Spanky” character in “Free Wheeling.”  The gang have a donkey operated taxi and Spanky and Jacquie Lyn want a ride.  They have no money so they decide to shake down a monkey for some change.  It’s hilarious because the monkey is just there and they approach it and ask it if it has any money.  I think there was a sleeping Organ Grinder under a tree but it’s hard to tell.  The children then begin to literally shake it down for loose change.  Quite often, Abbie or I will say to the other “Hey Monkey, got any money?”  The line might not be accurate but it still makes us laugh. 

By the way, the little girl, Jacquie Lyn, costarred with Laurel and Hardy in the very funny “Pack Up Your Troubles.”  There is a very interesting story of what happened after she left Hal Roach studios.  This is from her Wikipedia entry: 

Lyn’s short career at Hal Roach Studios ended when her stepfather demanded more money for her services. She grew up, married, changed her name to Jacquelyn Woll, and was not heard from until the early 1990s. Woll’s son had purchased a Laurel & Hardy videotape for her; the tape was introduced by Stan Laurel’s daughter Lois, who related that Laurel & Hardy fans worldwide were searching for the whereabouts of Jacquie Lyn. Woll contacted The Sons of the Desert, the official Laurel & Hardy fanclub, and was reintroduced to the public, becoming an honorary member of the organization.

Jacquie Lyn passed away in 2002 at the age of 73. 

   It’s funny how some things tie together.  Jacquie Lyn tied into Laurel and Hardy and so do the next two comics.  The first is the Master of the Slow Burn, Edgar Kennedy.  Kennedy was part of Hal Roach’s stock of players so he often showed up as an adult or police officer in both Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts as well as Laurel and Hardy shorts and features.  There’s a great book about Edgar Kennedy called “Master of The Slow Burn” by Bill Cassara.

This is an insightful and invaluable book on Edgar Kennedy with an extensive filmography.  Some of my favorite Edgar Kennedy shorts are part of his “Average Man” series that ran from 1930 to 1948.  In all there are 103 RKO “Average Man” comedy shorts and I’ve been slowly trying to track as many as I can.  Alpha Video put out six volumes of the shorts and recently they’ve started a new “Rarest Comedies of Edgar Kennedy” with two volumes of rare shorts with most being from the “Average Man” series. The Average Man series had two formats.  The first had Edgar Kennedy with a wife played by Florence Lake, a meddling mother-in-law played by Dot Farley, and a lazy/scheming brother-in-law first played by William Eugene and then by Jack Rice:

The second format featured Edgar Kennedy with a wife played by Vivian Oakland and a scheming Father-In-Law by Bill Franey:

One of the earlier shorts in the series to view online is “Camping Out” from 1931.  William Eugene is featured in this one as the Brother-In-Law:

An example of the Average Man short with Vivian Oakland and Bill Franey is 1940’s “Sunk By The Census”: 

There is the odd Average Man short in which neither Florence Lake nor Vivian Oakland played his wife.  This didn’t happen that often and in fact, a young Irene Ryan, who played “Granny” on “The Beverly Hillbillies” played Edgar’s wife in two shorts.  Get the book, find the shorts, watch what you can.  Some are considered lost or maybe not found but quite a few are on YouTube and the aforementioned DVDs.   There’s even a group trying to find and restore all of the Average Man Shorts.  You can check them out here:  https://www.fesfilms.com/edgar.html.

   Jumping ahead to “Charley Chase” and referencing his early character, “Jimmy Jump,” there’s a great box set of early Charley Chase films put out in 2009 by VCI with the title “Becoming Charley Chase.” 

Charley Chase was born Charles Joseph Parrott in 1893.  Eventually he would change his name to Charley Chase.  The earliest shorts in the “Becoming Charley Chase” set range from 1915 to 1925.  The set included shorts in which he was the star and some he directed.  Charley Chase directed some of the Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts and even directed a short of his own entitled “On The Wrong Trek” from 1936 in which Laurel and Hardy make a cameo:

I like Charley Chase in both his silent and sound shorts.  Sadly, there was no booklet included with “Becoming Charley Chase” but you could download it online.  I’m glad I did because it’s no longer available to download.  If you buy this set, let me know and I’ll send you a PDF of the booklet. 

   There are quite a few collections of Charley Chase’s sound shorts.  The most recent is “Charley Chase: At Hal Roach” with two volumes already released and a third due in August of this year (2021).  Volume 3 includes the last set of shorts he made at Hal Roach studios from 1934 to 1936.  Chase would make his last shorts from 1937 to 1940 at Columbia Studios and these have also been released in two volumes on the Sony Home Pictures label.  Sadly, Charley Chase would pass away in 1940 at the age of 46.  Here’s another fine example of Charley Chase’s comedy with his 1937 Columbia short, “The Big Squirt.” 

   

   I could go on and on about my DVD collection or the comics and comedians I enjoy watching or hearing.  Some of my past blahgs mention some of these artists.  You can check out HAVE YOU READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?, R.I.P. JERRY LEWIS 2017, or even REMEMBERING PHYLLIS DILLER; THANK YOU BEN AFFLECK.  I might talk about some of my other favorites in future blahgs but the title of this blahg is “What’s So Funny?”  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention again my own dealings in a radio sketch comedy show in the 1990s called “Dead From The Neck Up” with my friend Steve Dafoe and producer and occasional writer and voice talent, Bryan Dawkins.  Before we were “Dead From The Neck Up”, we tooled around with the title “Two Guys In Short Pants.”  Here’s our debut show under that title: 

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We had quite a few funny sketches and these two are comedy commercials for “Two Guys Proxy Service”: 

Two Guys Proxy Service # 1:

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Two Guys Proxy Service # 2:

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Of course we sometimes leaned toward the bizare in such sketches as “The Man Who Married A Balloon”:

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Or our parody of “Batman” known as “Hatman”: 

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I think some of our best sketches were actually commercials.  Here are a couple more examples: 

EATAWAY LAUNDRY SOAP:

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KENNEDYS FOR GUN SAFETY:

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Bryan played John Kennedy with Steve playing Robert Kennedy and Teddy Kennedy.  I was doing my older Ronald Regan imitation. 

   Our show lasted about three seasons with three Christmas specials from 1993, 1994, and 1995 and many can be heard here: http://www.falseducks.com/dead/readdead.html.  Last year for Christmas 2020 we recorded new material for the first time in 25 years and we edited together our “The Dead From The Neck Up 25th Anniversary Covid 19 Quarantine Special”.  Here’s a video/audio of the remastered show:

   In our later seasons we got into longer sketch stories such as “The Big D” and “10W-30, The Alvin Parsley Story.”  I haven’t got around to digitizing those but when I do, I’ll update this blahg to include those minor classics.  I’ll leave you with the only known videos of us in the studio:

Now that’s what I call “funny!”