Philosophy
Sad news. Soupy Sales just died. He had been in failing health for a while and now joins the Cosmic Comic in comedy heaven.
He was a dj, a stand-up, and dance show host before landing the gig that would be his path to comic stardom, children's programming. In the age of Howdy Doody, Soupy Sales changed the landscape. It is now assumed that if I take the short people to see a movie that it will be written in such a way as to entertain them with age appropriate humor while a parallel line of subtle jokes, allusions, and references that will go over their heads will be included for the parents. It was Soupy Sales who first entrenched the two-tiered style in kid's comedy. It's not true that he worked blue, a persistent rumor that annoyed him throughout his life, but he definitely worked as hard to crack up the crew as he did the kids.
His trademark, of course, was the pie in the face. Sure, plenty of comics had taken one before him, but he is reported to have taken 25,000 pies to the face. If you got hit with a pie in the face non-stop once a minute, it would would last continuously for 17 days, 8 hours, and 40 minutes to get hit with as many pies as Soupy Sales.
Rest in peace, Soupy.
- Rip Greg Giraldo
My Fellow Comedists, This week we sadly lost Greg Giraldo. A New York lawyer turned stand-up, he was one of the few who managed to take a really, really hard life dedicated to an art and turn it into a straight job. A very smart writer with a rock solid...
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- The Feast Of Saint Miltie
My Fellow Comedists, This week we celebrate the feast of Saint Miltie on what would have been Milton Berle's 101st birthday. He had one of the longest and most influential careers in 20th century comedy. Beginning as a child actor in silent films,...
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A Superman comic sold for a million bucks and now a Batman comic triumphs. "Comic showing Batman's debut sells for $1m" A comic showing the debut of superhero Batman has been sold for more than $1m (£655,000) at an auction in Dallas. February 26th,...
Philosophy
RIP Soupy Sales
Sad news. Soupy Sales just died. He had been in failing health for a while and now joins the Cosmic Comic in comedy heaven.
He was a dj, a stand-up, and dance show host before landing the gig that would be his path to comic stardom, children's programming. In the age of Howdy Doody, Soupy Sales changed the landscape. It is now assumed that if I take the short people to see a movie that it will be written in such a way as to entertain them with age appropriate humor while a parallel line of subtle jokes, allusions, and references that will go over their heads will be included for the parents. It was Soupy Sales who first entrenched the two-tiered style in kid's comedy. It's not true that he worked blue, a persistent rumor that annoyed him throughout his life, but he definitely worked as hard to crack up the crew as he did the kids.
His trademark, of course, was the pie in the face. Sure, plenty of comics had taken one before him, but he is reported to have taken 25,000 pies to the face. If you got hit with a pie in the face non-stop once a minute, it would would last continuously for 17 days, 8 hours, and 40 minutes to get hit with as many pies as Soupy Sales.
Rest in peace, Soupy.
- Rip Greg Giraldo
My Fellow Comedists, This week we sadly lost Greg Giraldo. A New York lawyer turned stand-up, he was one of the few who managed to take a really, really hard life dedicated to an art and turn it into a straight job. A very smart writer with a rock solid...
- E-books?
Amazon has announced that its sales of e-books has surpassed its sales of hard cover books. The idea is to settle (in their interest) whether the e-book is for real or just the latest new Coke. I'm not a luddite, but I am a late adopter. I'm not...
- The Feast Of Saint Miltie
My Fellow Comedists, This week we celebrate the feast of Saint Miltie on what would have been Milton Berle's 101st birthday. He had one of the longest and most influential careers in 20th century comedy. Beginning as a child actor in silent films,...
- Bucks For Bombs
Cluster Bombs Nothing new about US arms deals but it just appears to defeat an ethical purpose. What a "cash cow". "U.S. arms sales could hit $50 billion next year" by Andrea Shalal-Esa July 20th, 2010 Reuters U.S. arms sales will be little changed...
- Batman Is Now Leading
A Superman comic sold for a million bucks and now a Batman comic triumphs. "Comic showing Batman's debut sells for $1m" A comic showing the debut of superhero Batman has been sold for more than $1m (£655,000) at an auction in Dallas. February 26th,...