Ssssssssssst! Throw me a Gookie!

June 28, 2008 5:13 PM

The story behind Harpo Marx's "Gookie" face. (See 2:16.)

The Animaniacs take on The Gookie.
(Previously.)

posted by miss lynnster (20 comments total)

Beautiful.
posted by nola at 5:27 PM on June 28, 2008

If there is a National Hall of Faces, the Gookie should be enshrined in it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:56 PM on June 28, 2008

Dookie face.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:15 PM on June 28, 2008

I used to watch a lot of Marx Brothers when I was a kid, I used to practice the Gookie face in a mirror. Never got it as good as the master.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 6:23 PM on June 28, 2008

Nice, thanks!
posted by languagehat at 6:38 PM on June 28, 2008

I have won many a weird face contest by making a gookie.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:05 PM on June 28, 2008

I'm proud to say I did the best gookie of any girl in my elementary school. Haven't done it in about 40 years, but I just threw a gookie in the bathroom mirror and I must say the half-frame reading glasses actually enhance it. Yeah, I still got the touch.

*smirks, then throws another gookie for good measure*
posted by Quietgal at 7:11 PM on June 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

Yes indeedy, this is wonderful. Viva Gookie!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:58 PM on June 28, 2008

no gookie post is complete without a link to wakko.
posted by krautland at 8:50 PM on June 28, 2008

What a great story. I loved the Marx bros. so much as a kid (and still do), and Harpo was my hands down favorite. Thanks.
posted by Devils Slide at 9:30 PM on June 28, 2008

That, of course, is an excerpt from Harpo Speaks, arguably the finest book by or about the Marx Brothers - certainly the most pleasant. The book has plenty to recommend it, but is worth it for his hilarious and frequently touching descriptions of his long time friendship with Alexander Woollcott.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:51 AM on June 29, 2008 [2 favorites]

Must be Harpo week. Kronos_to_earth just sent me this, regarding a Harpo connection to our hometown!
posted by nax at 5:04 AM on June 29, 2008

Harpo does the gookie face, then plays the harp.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:02 AM on June 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

I don't get it. When you do the gookie face you have to cross your eyes. Crossing one's eyes makes it rather difficult to get a good look in the mirror. So, one can never get a straight on look at oneself while practicing Gookies in the mirror. At least, I can't. So I never quite know if I'm doing it right or not.

So how can one look in the mirror while throwing a Gookie?
posted by ZachsMind at 6:45 AM on June 29, 2008

arguably the finest book by or about the Marx Brothers

Seconded.

::throws a Gookie::
posted by briank at 7:05 AM on June 29, 2008

ZachsMind: one sees two gookies, for twice the awesome.
posted by Quietgal at 10:30 AM on June 29, 2008

This is great, but the bit that always kills me is when Harpo will lift one leg and put someone else's hand under his thigh, so the other person is suddenly holding his leg. It's so smooth and nonchalant that the other person has to take a second to realize he's holding Harpo's leg before throwing it down in disgust.
posted by arcanecrowbar at 4:36 PM on June 29, 2008

Gods, yes, arcanecrowbar. The leg bit. Harpo just makes it seem so... possible.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:49 PM on June 29, 2008

Me likee, miss l.
posted by Dizzy at 7:14 PM on June 29, 2008

the bit that always kills me is when Harpo will lift one leg and put someone else's hand under his thigh, so the other person is suddenly holding his leg.

I think that starts with a handshake -- you pull the victim's hand under your thigh and hang it there. I've always wanted to throw that in a business situation but have (not yet) had the guts.
posted by msalt at 10:58 AM on June 30, 2008