FastSaying

European fascism changed comedy in America. Jack Benny explained, 'During World War II, attitudes changed. Hitler’s ideology of Aryan supremacy put all ethnic humor in a bad light. When the black man’s fight for equal rights and fair play became an issue after the War, I would no longer allow Rochester to say or do anything that an audience would consider degrading.' Benny’s attitude toward race relations was enlightened. Starting in 1940 he refused to play any segregated venue. In the 1960s when his agent scheduled a world tour, Benny chastised him for booking a gig in apartheid South Africa and refused to appear.

Related Quotes

Jack Paar took a vacation at the end of May 1958 and Johnny Carson filled in, hosting The Tonight Show for the very first time. It was a historical moment that at the time was dismissed. 'With Carson navigating, it was wholesome, intelligent and mostly dull,' wrote Variety. 'The experience of his helmship will never go down as memorable either for a Carson appearance or for an edition of the show.
— Kliph Nesteroff
comediancomedyjack-paar
He hit the circuit in 1917 as 'Frank Fay, Nut Monologist,' and resistance was immediate. Variety critically stated, 'Fay needs a good straight man, as before, to feed his eccentric comedy.' A comedian standing alone onstage? Unheard of. Doesn’t this guy know anything about showbiz? To stand still and tell jokes was a foreign move. To perform without some kind of gimmick was considered amateurish.
— Kliph Nesteroff
comediancomedyfrank-fay
Frank Fay [...] became renowned as the first of the great comic emcees—and in many minds the first stand-up comedian.
— Kliph Nesteroff
comediancomedyfrank-fay
Frank Fay turned into the most consistent stand-up comic of the late 1920s and essentially changed the art form. Crowds and critics eventually came to accept a man standing alone, cracking wise. No longer did Fay bill himself as a 'Nut Monologist.
— Kliph Nesteroff
comediancomedyfrank-fay
No small part of the club's audience consisted of would-be comics, as well as the leading comics of the day. In fact, there were so many gagsters around that it was difficult to know who was part of the act and who was just sitting in.
— Kliph Nesteroff
comediancomedianscomedy