MetaFilter posts tagged with radio and comedy

Freberg! Freberg!

Kattullus — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:38:54 -0800

Oregon! Oregon! A Centennial Fable in Three Acts is a musical comedy by famed radio comedian and Looney Tunes voice actor Stan Freberg that was commissioned in 1959 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Oregon statehood. This year, on the 150th anniversary, Stan Freberg and Pink Martini will revive the musical with a new 4th act written by Freberg (check out the complete Pink Martini concert on the page). For more Freberg goodness check out these 15 episodes of his radio show and this 1999 interview which includes some of his classic sketches (sketches in RealAudio format).

Matinee with Bob and Ray

not_on_display — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:36:21 -0800

"Wally Ballou here, reporting for the Matinob with Ray and Bob from the World Wide Internets..." Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding are better known as Bob and Ray. Spending over four decades on the radio, television, print, and Broadway, beginning in Boston in 1946, they pioneered absurdist, satirical, dry, improvisational sketch comedy, influencing a legion of future comics (and others). The duo was inducted into the NAB Hall of Fame in 1984. They last appeared on the radio in NPR's "The Bob and Ray Public Radio Show" from 1982-1987. More Bob and Ray via the internets: • Their page on the Radio Hall of Fame's website has a media player. • OTR.net has a few more sketches in RealAudio format. • Here are some mp3's of Bob & Ray on : 6/6/1959, 1/25/1975, 1/26/1975 [via] • NPR's site has clips, but no mention of the 1982-87 show on their own network! • From the LP Bob and Ray Throw a Stereo Spectacular: Dr. Ahkbar's Castle; The Laboratory • One fan's blog. Kurt Vonnegut said of Bob and Ray: "You might think that once their bodies were out in the open, on stage before cameras, they would have to leave many of their radio characters behind. But this hasn't been the case at all. Those characters are so well written, so amusingly conceived, that Bob & Ray could become them, if necessary, while dressed as hula maidens or encased in deep sea diving suits." Here's proof: • from Bob and Ray, Jane, Laraine, and Gilda (1979): 1 | 2 • On David Letterman's show in the early 80's: Interview: 1 | 2 | The Next President of the United States • On Johnny Carson's show: - Most Beautiful Face Winner / Wally Ballou and Four Leaf Clover Farm (With interview) - Interview with a Whooping Crane Expert - Interview with a Comparison Shopping Expert - Interview with a Condor Photographer - Interview with a Vegetable Hobbyist - Interview with the head of a Paperclip Factory • On the Finley Quality Network: Interview with a Komodo Dragon Expert [text] • Live on stage: the famous STOA sketch. • An animated 1950's Advertisement for Piel's Beer Ray Goulding died in 1990; Bob Elliott continued in show business, usually supporting his son, Chris, in a movies (Cabin Boy), a book, and a television show (Get a Life). Bob Elliott Remembers Ray Goulding in this 7 May 1992 NYT article More clips from Get a Life.

Waits for applause...not a sausage

louche mustachio — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:04:07 -0800

The Goon Show was a popular and influential radio comedy produced by the BBC from 1951 - 1960, starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. Here, you can listen to it whenever you like. If you haven't had enough punishment, you can watch them! With your eyes! The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (1956) The Runing, Jumping, and Standing Still Film(1959) They reunited for in 1972 for The Last Goon Show of All

Who's that ugly dwarf with his hand in your mouth?

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:16:05 -0800

Los Angeles! he walks again by night... ...out of the smog, into the fog. Relentlessly -- ruthlessly -- ("I wonder where Ruth is?") -- doggedly! ("Woof woof!" *) For the past 42 years the Firesign Theatre, the best comedy group of the 1960's, has been putting their art in cans from Canada to Kashmir. Up for the Grammy in 1998 and 2001, Firesign at their best combined clever, multilayered writing with pitch-perfect satirical performances as Rocky Rococco, Ralph Spoilsport, Art Holeflaffer, Hemlock Stones, Uh Clem and Barney, and many more. Back in the day, it would have been astonishing if at least one of your peers couldn't recite all of The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye, including the sound effects. "Iiiiiiiit's -- candied apples and ponies with dapples, you can ride all day! / It's girls with pimples and cripples with dimples / that just won't go away! / It's spics and wops and niggers and kikes / with noses as long as your arm! / It's Micks and Chinks and Gooks and Ginks and Hunkies -- honk honk! - that never left the farm!" That's America, buddy! So wake up -- to your only logical choice: ~~Me. George Tirebiter.~~ Firesign Theatre. * "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Woof woof woof woof! I am -- ectrician! --obody's sweetheart!"

How big a boy are 'ya?

bigmusic — Thu, 11 May 2006 17:25:00 -0800

Roy D. Mercer asks Bill Goldberg if he's ready for an ass whoopin.[more inside]

Comedian Linda Smith dies of cancer

ceri richard — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 10:23:45 -0800

British comedian Linda Smith dies of cancer. Linda Smith, president of the Humanist society and a regular on BBC Radio 4's flagship comedy shows such as The News Quiz and Just A Minute, plus her own A Brief History of Timewasting, her wonderfully deadpan style and the ability to transform moaning into an art form will be missed by many.

The world of double entendre

rolo — Fri, 27 Feb 2004 09:07:28 -0800

The recent post that revived the rude ‘Rainbow’ kids show sketch reminded me of the our (that is, British) obsession with comic double entendre - the ability to accept the filthiest things as long as there is a parallel innocuous interpretation. I think it is something to do our love for wordplay and subtext, our innate hypocrisy and the belief that sex is, in fact, rather naughty. Perhaps the prime example are the Julian and Sandy sketches that ran on the BBC Radio show ‘Beyond Our Ken’ from 1964-69. Over Sunday lunch, millions (there was ONLY the BBC in those days) listened to two very camp characters saying outrageous things in Polari (underground gay slang). A much earlier prime example is the great dirty joke (it’s the one in blue at the bottom of the page) that got comedian Max Miller (died in 1963) banned from the BBC for 5 years. A more recent case of innuendo is, of course, Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy. Of course the double entendre can also be unintentional.

Ricky Gervais And Comedy Radio

MiguelCardoso — Sun, 04 May 2003 22:33:53 -0800

The Funniest Brits Since Monty Python, The Fast Show And The League Of Gentlemen are definitely Ricky Gervais* and Stephen Merchant whose giggly, gloriously silly and shockingly juvenile improvised radio antics can be heard every Saturday on xfm. Radio is so often overlooked and underestimated as a vehicle for comedy that it hurts. This is probably more so in America than in the UK. [Don't know about Canada or Australia, although they produce so many excellent comedians.] Sooooo... What's your idea of radio comedy gold?
*Gervais, in case you've never to have heard of him, is the star of the magnificent The Office, recently aired on cable, along with Ali G, and returning to America in a bastardized version; already featured on MetaFilter.

Recockulous — Wed, 25 Sep 2002 07:38:49 -0800

Mullet Talk, FM morning radio show comedy at it its finest. Of course, in Pittsburgh we appreciate the finer things in life. Sadly, this is the only episode I could find on the web.

BGM — Thu, 22 Aug 2002 14:36:06 -0800

WNEW Dumps Opie And Anthony I guess we know how far too far is now. How long before they make their triumphant return on another ratings-starved radio station?

Doug — Sun, 17 Jun 2001 14:08:04 -0800

Funniest man on radio. There are hundreds of television channels, and multimillion dollar movies being made, but I'd rather listen to an AM talk show. You can also listen on the internet here.

aflakete — Wed, 11 Apr 2001 15:51:24 -0800

Harry Secombe passes at 79. I just saw the Peter Sellers bio on American Movie Classics the other day, and found out how important The Goon Show was in the history of comedy. A Hard Day's Night and Monty Python had their roots in this groundbreaking British radio show that ran from 1949-1960.