Comedy Teams on The Radio

[happyfilmluvguy]

The motion pictures gave comedy teams the ability to visually show their gift to make people laugh. But on the radio, gave them a whole different perpective and challenge. Groucho Marx had no problem, having his witty humor. Burns and Allen were made for vocal comedy, as were Abbott and Costello. What other comedy teams can you think of that were on the radio? What's your favorite one?

 

[CharlieH.]

Well, there are Fibber McGee and Molly, Amos & Andy and the whole Jack Benny cast (Jack, Mary, Rochester, Ben Bernie and all the lads, the Jello guy...).

My favourite? Jack Benny and the cast of the show.

 

[Dismuke]

There was also Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. If you think about it, radio is a rather odd sort of a gig for a ventriloquist.

But they aren't my favorite. Burns & Allen is very definitely my favorite. Gracie Allen cracks me up to no end. I have the vast majority of the surviving radio broadcasts of theirs - and I kind of ration how often I allow myself to listen to a "new" one. It would be kind of a sad world if it got to the point that there would never be a "new" Burns & Allen program for me to listen to. Some seasons of the program, however, are funnier than others. I think it must have had a lot to do with the writers who were on staff at any given time. And, unlike a great many other entertainers of the period whose performances tend get BETTER the further one goes back (I find this is especially true of music) I actually like the LATER Burns & Allen peformances from the television era the best. I wish someone would release all of them on DVD. You can occasionally find a couple of performances here and there on those cheapo $1 DVD reissues at dollar stores and even at Wal-mart on occasion. Any time I am in such a place, I look to see if I can find any episodes I don't have.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I wrote an entire book about Amos 'n' Andy -- but when they started out they weren't so much a comedy team as a *dramedy* team, telling long serialized stories that had as much drama to them as they did comedy. When they changed their format to a half-hour live audience sitcom in 1943, a lot that was special about their work was lost.

The same can be said of most of the other team acts that started out doing 15 minute serials -- Lum and Abner, the Easy Aces, Vic and Sade. They were small programs, telling stories about well-developed characters rather than throwing out vaudevillian jokes and gags, and when they were forced into the sitcom mold, the qualities that made them unique, that made them more than just "comedy teams", were obliterated. Which was, I submit, a very great loss.

 

[Sunny]

I'd contend that Abbott & Costello weren't actually ideal for radio. Their verbal humor was of course perfect, particularly the "Who's on First," "Up and Down," "Horse's Fodder," "Hertz U-drive" routines. But their movies and TV appearances relied just as much on visual humor and slapstick. They were remarkably talented in combining the audio and visual humor. I enjoy their radio shows, but after a while all the gags seem the same. Limiting them to just radio is like leaving out half of the equation.