“The test of a real comedian is whether you laugh at him before he opens his mouth,” said the great American theater critic George Jean Nathan (1882-1958).
He may very well have been referring to Bert Williams, the mime and comedian who later became the first black movie director.
“We?re fortunate to feature Bert Williams? silent film [tonight], ?A Natural Born Gambler,? ” said Stuart Hudgins, producer of An die Musik?s jazz film series, “Laugh Track ? Soundtrack ? Off Track: Classic Comedy.” The series explores through rare film footage the roots of American comedy and its close relationship to live jazz performances, both in the heyday of vaudeville and right through early television.
Williams? piece opens an evening that highlights through selected excerpts the ribald humor of Redd Foxx, Jackie “Moms” Mabley, Lord Buckley, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby and more. The connection between these comedians ? and illustrated by the film series ? is that they all, at one time or another, were opening acts for live jazz shows.
“These comedians were coming up in the same circuit as jazz players,” Hudgins said. “It was not uncommon for Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley to open for performers such as Duke Ellington at the Royal Theatre on Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Hudgins also will show sequences from the Groucho Marx early TV show “You Bet Your Life” and Lenny Bruce?s animated film, “Thank you, Mask Man.”
“The films, even though they are excerpts, all have a rhythm to them,” he said. “I don?t want to cut a joke in half.”
That many of the jokes are off-color goes without saying. These are the stuff of clubs, Hudgins said, hence the “Off Track” in the title.
“The jazz film series that Mr. Hudgins presents is a careful look into America?s past as it relates to the development of music [and] cartoons,” said George Manning, manager of jazz at An die Musik. “This part of the series will bring the contemporary audience in touch with the roots of American comedy.”
IF YOU GO
Laugh Track – Sound Track – Off Track: Classic Comedy
» Venue: An die Musik LIVE!, 409 N. Charles St., Baltimore
» When: 7 p.m. today
» Tickets: $8 all seats
» Info: 410-385-2638
