Thursday, October 20, 2016

Channel Zero Returns Tomorrow Night!!

In these dark & perilous times, Channel Zero wishes to Manfully Step Up and Say: "HAPPY 126th BIRTHDAY GROUCHO MARX!!" And to mark the occasion we will be fairly wallowing in Groucho's robust television legacy ncluding his 1965 guest host stint on "The Hollywood Palace" featuring a Reunion with his favorite comic foil Margaret Dumont, South African Diva Miriam Makeba & a rock-n-roll duet with his daughter Melinda Marx. Also on the bill, Groucho's infamous appearance on "Whats My Line" in which the famed comedian reduces a staid 1950's game show to mirthful ruins. Plus a Surprise or Two….   The Somerville Theatre (Micro Cinema) Friday October 21st 8pm (sharp!) 55 Davis Square Somerville Ma. 617 625 5700 Admission: $7.50 (cheap!) I don't know if Groucho and his brother's invented improv but they certainly made heavy use of it thru their careers. Groucho in particular had no fears of spontaneity whatsoever,years of touring in vaudeville had sharpened the act's collective and individual response times to an absurd degree. Allegedly when The Marx Brothers were starring in "Animal Crackers" it was a truism on Broadway that you could see the show twice a week and never was it played the same way. Groucho, Chico, Harpo and yes even Zeppo would improvise extensively night after night. That comes from a place of fearless built on experience... These days we have clowns who aspire to The Imperial Purple, lets take a moment to remember a real comedian who aspired only to a crown of "wow gags".

Channel Zero Returns Tomorrow Night!!

In these dark & perilous times, Channel Zero wishes to Manfully Step Up and Say: "HAPPY 126th BIRTHDAY GROUCHO MARX!!" And to mark the occasion we will be fairly wallowing in Groucho's robust television legacy ncluding his 1965 guest host stint on "The Hollywood Palace" featuring a Reunion with his favorite comic foil Margaret Dumont, South African Diva Miriam Makeba & a rock-n-roll duet with his daughter Melinda Marx. Also on the bill, Groucho's infamous appearance on "Whats My Line" in which the famed comedian reduces a staid 1950's game show to mirthful ruins. Plus a Surprise or Two….   The Somerville Theatre (Micro Cinema) Friday October 21st 8pm (sharp!) 55 Davis Square Somerville Ma. 617 625 5700 Admission: $7.50 (cheap!) I don't know if Groucho and his brother's invented improv but they certainly made heavy use of it thru their careers. Groucho in particular had no fears of spontaneity whatsoever,years of touring in vaudeville had sharpened the act's collective and individual response times to an absurd degree. Allegedly when The Marx Brothers were starring in "Animal Crackers" it was a truism on Broadway that you could see the show twice a week and never was it played the same way. Groucho, Chico, Harpo and yes even Zeppo would improvise extensively night after night. That comes from a place of fearless built on experience... These days we have clowns who aspire to The Imperial Purple, lets take a moment to remember a real comedian who aspired only to a crown of "wow gags".

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Zimmerman in Stockholm....

Congrats to Bob Dylan for grabbing off the Nobel Prize for Literature....well deserved indeed. So does this mean that the Late Phil Ochs is in line for a Posthumous Pulitzer? And doesn't John Lennon deserve some consideration from one of these tentpole awards?? On a serious note I am sure that Dylan's address in Stockholm might make for interesting prose give a lifetime dedicated in service to the muse of poetry....but that creaky little voice of his....I'd sooner they hired almost anyone else to read it...The Late Gary Owens might've been a better choice in that regard. :) KIDDING I KID Congrats Bob!