Kermit in a costume from a Muppets Tonight episode.
"The Varsity Drag"
Snuffy and Bird doing shtick.
"Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)"
"Top Banana"
Bert and Ernie's Word Play
Vaudeville was a form of theatrical entertainment popular in the United States of America and Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its popularity in the American landscape faded with the introduction of both radio and motion pictures. Vaudeville, unlike Broadway Musicals, was composed of a series of unrelated acts grouped together onto a single billing performance. An evening's show could be an amalgamation of comedians, animal acts, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, musicians, dancers, and more.
The most popular form of entertainment in America for many years, vaudeville played mostly in a series of Vaudeville Houses owned by a single corporation, such as the Orpheum or Pantages Circuits. One of those houses became The Muppet Theatre. The Muppet Show has much of its foundation in vaudeville, as well as the English music hall, with comedy bits ranging from Blackouts to sketches like "Veterinarian's Hospital." Even the practice of yanking acts off stage with a giant cane found its way into Muppet productions, such as with Robin attempting to sing "They Call the Wind Maria," and Mary Louise's Muppet Show auditions.
The Muppets have also performed many songs which were staples of the circuit, including "For Me and My Gal," "Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay", and "The Bird on Nellie's Hat." Many of their earliest television appearances were on shows with their roots on the Vaudeville stage as well, including The Ed Sullivan Show.
Many of the most popular entertainers of the twentieth century began their careers in vaudeville. Bob Hope, George Burns, Señor Wences, Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Buddy Rich, Chet O'Brien, Pearl Bailey, The Three Stooges, and The Marx Brothers all got their starts playing the circuit, many at a very young age.
References[]
The Muppet Show[]
- Fozzie Bear and Milton Berle sing "Top Banana" in episode 203 amidst a string of vaudeville shtick.
- Statler and Waldorf performed "The Varsity Drag" in episode 208 of The Muppet Show. They reused the same attire in episode 409 for "Take Ten Terrific Girls" (actually about burlesque, a competitive form), and the outfits inspired the Vaudeville Statler and Waldorf Action Figures.
- Sam the Eagle looks through a microscope at a water drop -- and is horrified to see Kermit the Protozoa and Fozzie Amoeba performing vaudeville shtick in episode 409.
- Fozzie and Pops perform the vaudeville number "Once in Love with Amy" in episode 512.
- Episode 520 with Wally Boag is a salute to vaudeville.
- Some of the most famous Muppet vaudeville acts include Lew Zealand and his Boomerang Fish, The Flying Zucchini Brothers, Angus McGonagle the Gershwin-gargling Gargoyle, and Bobby Benson and his Baby Band.
Sesame Street[]
- A series of Big Bird and Snuffy bumpers were created, with Big Bird and Snuffy performing a vaudeville act which transitions to the next segment. Like an actual vaudeville show, their bits followed a range of acts, from musical performers and balancing acts to comedians, a dancing elephant, and a bird caller.
- Another Big Bird and Snuffy segment features them on the vaudeville stage, performing a song about S words and telling gum-wrapper jokes.
- In a third bit, Big Bird and Snuffy present the Spanish Word of the Day (teléfono) in vaudeville fashion. (First: Episode 3992)
- Gordon and Bob don straw hats, hold canes, and arrive with zany music as they appear in part of a series of quickies in Episode 0165.
- Vaudeville duo Herman Happy and Stanley Sad sing a song about how they live up to their names in animated segments on Sesame Street. (First: Episode 0772)
- In another animated Sesame Street segment, a vaudeville act of two SAME people ends when one of them falls off the stage. (First: Episode 0778)
- Maria, Luis, and Gordon dress in vaudeville attire and sing a song about writing things down, to teach Forgetful Jones how to remember things. (First: Episode 2295)
- Many Sesame Street songs were performed with a vaudeville flair, including "Big Round Nose," "Pigeons and Cookies and Trash," "Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)," "Three," "The Sneeze Song," "That's What Friends Are For," "Mr. Between," "Nose Song", and "Fur."
- In The Sesame Street Dictionary, Cookie Monster appears to tell jokes in the vaudevillian style throughout the book.
- The characters Chet and Snooks are nods to old-time vaudeville comedy teams; they are also named after Sesame Street crew members and former vaudevillians Chet O'Brien and Mortimer "Snooks" O'Brien.
- The video Bert & Ernie's Word Play is formatted like a vaudevillian show, featuring Bert and Ernie hosting with straw hats and canes and exchanging jokes.
Other references[]
- Statler and Waldorf accuse Fozzie Bear of taking all his jokes from vaudeville in the July 3, 1985 edition of The Muppets comic strip.
- The Great Doc is the great-great-uncle of Doc on Fraggle Rock, and was a vaudeville magician who toured the country, playing such theaters as the Victoria and the Schubert.
- Pepe & Seymour performed a vaudeville comedy act and try to tell the El-if-i-know joke in episode 107 of Muppets Tonight.