[78-L] RCA Victor humour

[David Lennick]

I'll take even phoned-in Letterman, but yeah..especially last night's show with 
Charles Barkley (a tall good-looking basketball player) and Lindsey Vonn (a 
tall good-looking skier). Total waste of my time.

And my generalization about RCA Victor humor (or even humour) didn't extend 
back to the 20s-40s but was more concerned with my disappointment with many of 
their comedy albums from the 50s and 60s, frequently by performers who did much 
better work elsewhere.

dl

On 10/29/2013 5:12 PM, Jeff Lichtman wrote:
> Carson's was at his best when ad libbing (e.g. his reaction to Ed Ames' tomahawk throw).
>
> Letterman has been coasting for years. When he first started on NBC, he was doing a kind of parody of a talk show. Some of his humor came from the idea that you could put anyone on TV - like Mujibur and Sirajul, two people with utterly no talent for being in front of a camera. You never knew what you'd see on his show. Now it's become very predictable, and less funny as a result.
>
> Getting back to RCA humor:
>
> I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones - Willie Bryant and His Orchestra, Bluebird B-6436
>
> I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas - Johnny Johnson and His Orchestra, Victor 22564
>
> Swat the Love Bug - Bob Skyles and His Skyrockets, Bluebird B-7998
>
>
>> Johnny Carson's humour lost some of it's effect because he seemed to want to make it clear that he was reading cue cards - obviously looking down below the camera during his routines.  David Letterman, on the other hand, often brings his cue card operator into the routine which adds to the humour.
>
>                         -        Jeff Lichtman
>                                  jeff at swazoo.com
>                                  Check out Swazoo Koolak Photography
>                                      at http://swazoo.com/
>
> _________________________