IJBFC Chat - July 12, 2015
(Name of message originator above the timestamp)
Laura Leff
4:57 PM
Hey folks
Brad from Georgia
4:57 PM
Hiya, Boss@
Scott D. Vroegindewey
4:58 PM
Hi Laura! LTNS! I
missed you and Brad!
Laura Leff
4:58 PM
Welcome back, Scott!
Scott D. Vroegindewey
4:58 PM
Thank you, Laura!
Laura Leff
4:59 PM
And I see we have another
Brad in the house!
Brad from Georgia
4:59 PM
Mr. Jolson!
Scott D. Vroegindewey
4:59 PM
Brad from
Georgia. I hope your doctor isn't Dr. Nelson.
Laura Leff
4:59 PM
Nyyaaaahhhhh (someone had
to say it)
Josef Silvia joined the
room
Laura Leff
5:00 PM
Hi Josef!
Brad from Georgia
5:00 PM
"Doctor, will this
hurt?" "YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!"
Josef Silvia
5:00 PM
Hi Laura!
Laura Leff
5:00 PM
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO will
it?!?!
Brad from Georgia
5:00 PM
Hi, Josef!
Josef Silvia
5:00 PM
HI Brad!
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:00 PM
Hi Josef! Man,
the old group is present! I missed you guys so much.
Josef Silvia
5:01 PM
Hey Steve, sure is. Missed
everyone as well. We're all here.
Laura Leff
5:01 PM
Not quite all...had a few
regulars reach out and tell me that they couldn't make it tonight.
Brad from Georgia
5:01 PM
Missed you, too, Scott. Any
problems with this here now newfangled chat room?
Laura Leff
5:01 PM
Ha
Josef Silvia
5:01 PM
Somewhat
Laura Leff
5:01 PM
Do tell
Brad from Georgia
5:01 PM
Well, at least there's no
Halloween moon....
Josef Silvia
5:01 PM
Yes, thank goodness.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:02 PM
I am not tech savvy, but
this one was a piece of cake to enter.
Laura Leff
5:02 PM
*Laura rubs her foreheaad*
What issues are you having
Josef?
Josef Silvia
5:02 PM
None.
Brad from Georgia
5:02 PM
It resisted me when I first
tried a few months ago, but by sheer willpower I overcame it.
Laura Leff
5:02 PM
Oh got it...sorry, thought
you were saying "somewhat" to having issues with the chat room.
Brad from Georgia
5:02 PM
Think I had to update
something or other. I forget now.
Josef Silvia
5:03 PM
That I'm aware of. My
computer hasn't spoken to me about it's issues yet
Laura Leff
5:03 PM
OK...so who listened to the
show for tonight?
Brad from Georgia
5:03 PM
I did.
Josef Silvia
5:03 PM
I Did!
Laura Leff
5:03 PM
Josef - And its analyst
can't tell you.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:03 PM
Not me,
sorry. But I will go with the flow.
Brad from Georgia
5:03 PM
Ya know, today it wouldn't
be all that recherche to see a guy in a beauty salon.
Laura Leff
5:03 PM
OK, thoughts on the Burns
and Allen show for tonight?
Heck I see guys in my nail
salon regularly.
Brad from Georgia
5:03 PM
Well, I'm ashamed because I
jumped the gun.
Barbara and I go to the
same haridresser.
Laura Leff
5:04 PM
And I don't live in the
Castro.
A lot of them are there
with their wives.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:04 PM
LOLO Laura, a little SF
humor there?
Laura Leff
5:04 PM
So is there a sense of what
that would have meant back then?
Mike!!!!
Josef Silvia left the room
(user disconnected)
Laura Leff
5:04 PM
OK, *now* he has issues.
Michael Amowitz
5:05 PM
Jello, I must be going! Off
to dialysis fun in minutes
Laura Leff
5:05 PM
Scott - Yep.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:05 PM
Fat thumb: LOL.
Michael Amowitz
5:05 PM
Hi LL, all
Brad from Georgia
5:05 PM
Flash to the Simpsons:
Fidel is telling his henchmen, "The Americanos aren't so bad. I theek they
like me. They named a whole street in San Franceesco after me." (Aide
whispers to him) "Eet's full of WHAT?"
Brad from Georgia
5:05 PM
Hi, Michael!
Laura Leff
5:05 PM
Brad - Har har
Michael Amowitz
5:05 PM
Congratulations, Brad, I
see you have excitement coming too
Laura Leff
5:05 PM
OK, who can give Mike a
good laugh in a few minutes?
What, are you trying to
tickle him?
Brad from Georgia
5:06 PM
Oooh, do I. Back when I was
48 I had my first one without anaesthesia (I didn't know!). Even seeing myself
on screen didn't do anything for me....
Laura Leff
5:06 PM
(See how hard it is when
someone says "be funny?")
Phil Curry joined the room
Laura Leff
5:06 PM
Hi Phil!
Michael Amowitz
5:07 PM
I'm already set for the
night...some guy named Frank is working my dialysis tonight
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:07 PM
It would be a nice touch if
Cuba would have an embassy on Castro St.
Brad from Georgia
5:07 PM
Philsey!
Laura Leff
5:07 PM
Mike - Not Frank Nelson...?
Michael Amowitz
5:07 PM
Why Yeeees
Laura Leff
5:08 PM
You know what's
ironic? I've been wanting to go to Cuba for a while, see it before
it gets ruined by American chains. And just last night I found the
tour I want to take.
Michael Amowitz
5:08 PM
Now just hold still...this
won't hurt as bit
I didn't run the show as I
didn't know I'd be here this late
Laura Leff
5:08 PM
Well done...I actually
heard Frank's voice in my head saying that line...
Brad from Georgia
5:08 PM
Okay, all serious-like: Am
I wrong, or was the quartet -- "Swantet" -- backing up Jimmy Cash's
"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" really the Sportsmen?
Friend of mine went to Cuba
last spring, LL. She loved it.
Laura Leff
5:09 PM
If it was, it didn't catch
my ear as them.
Brad from Georgia
5:09 PM
I'd be willing to bet it
was.
Laura Leff
5:09 PM
But in '43, it could have
been
I'll have to listen to it
again.
Mahlon was trying to get
them as much work as possible.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:09 PM
When you go, Laura, say hi
to Desi for us.
Laura Leff
5:10 PM
Anyone know who was the
musical director for the B&A show?
Scott - Babaluuuuuuuuuu
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:10 PM
Laura, was it Meredith
Wilson?
Laura Leff
5:10 PM
Scott - I don't know who it
was, but that's a good guess...I think he did do that for them...
you may be right
Phil Curry
5:11 PM
Google it
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:11 PM
Was HE...sorry
Brad. I forget you teach English.
Brad from Georgia
5:11 PM
Did you know that Procter
and Gamble, makers of Ivory Soap, sued Lever Brothers, maker of Swan Soap, for
swiping their idea of a soap that floats?
Didn't work out for them.
They lost the suit and had to pay damages.
Laura Leff
5:11 PM
Did anyone other than me
think the repeated line of Jack saying, "Well, what a surprise..." was
overdone?
Josef Silvia joined the
room
Brad from Georgia
5:11 PM
Yes, a problem when Jack
was on other shows, even George and Gracie's.
Laura Leff
5:12 PM
Brad - I noticed the
comment about the "soap that floats" and wondered about that!
Josef Silvia
5:12 PM
I did, Laura, way too over
done.
Laura Leff
5:13 PM
What would Jack's writers
have done with it, theoretically?
Brad from Georgia
5:13 PM
Swan Soap is no longer
around--it was a gentle whipped soap (like Ivory) that floated. Gimmick was you
could use it both for dishes and also for babies...I am not kidding here.
Laura Leff
5:13 PM
I have a vintage box of
Super Suds that says, "Floods of suds for dishes and duds."
Michael Amowitz
5:13 PM
I miss Swan, but somehow
overlooked the Swantettes when catching Burns and Allen in the past
Laura Leff
5:14 PM
Wal I Swan
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:14 PM
Ivory is 99 44/100% pure,
too...right?
Laura Leff
5:14 PM
Scott - Sure is.
Brad from Georgia
5:14 PM
BTW, when did "beauty
shops" become "beauty parlors"? I suspect today they're all
salons. Phil Harris would be so disappointed. He never could spell.
Laura Leff
5:14 PM
Good
question. The latter makes me think of "massage parlor."
Brad from Georgia
5:14 PM
Scott, I knew a girl like
that once. 56/100% of the time she was a delight.
Josef Silvia
5:15 PM
I think Jack's writers
might have made the comment a bit sharper with less redundancy.
Laura Leff
5:15 PM
I think of exchanges where
Mary is trying to spill the beans on something about Jack, and he fights a
little, and then loses.
Josef Silvia
5:15 PM
exactly.
Brad from Georgia
5:15 PM
Gracie's smug comment about
blackmail--"Cute of me, huh?" got a nice laugh.
Laura Leff
5:16 PM
Or they might have had Jack
come up with something clever to get either Gracie or the announcer to leave...
What do you all think about
her making up a story about a baby?
Brad from Georgia
5:16 PM
It went with Gracie's ditzy
persona.
Phil Curry left the room
(user disconnected)
Laura Leff
5:16 PM
I just don't buy the show
from that point on. Jack and George talk about how close they are,
and Jack would know if George had a baby on the way.
Brad from Georgia
5:16 PM
In a TV show today, they'd
push it--the woman would have to borrow a baby, etc.
Laura Leff
5:17 PM
Sounds like Jack borrowing
an Oscar
You know, this is a 1943
show and there's barely a word about the war.
Gracie references an Army
band (Major Bowes), but that doesn't even have to be war related.
Josef Silvia
5:18 PM
Gracie's writers always
went for the ditzy side, but that goes a bit far. I always feel like evry time
Burns & Allen had Jack on, they just didn'tknow how to give him good
material.
Brad from Georgia
5:18 PM
I did think the exchange
between Jack and George--"You're my dearest friend, George. You're like my
brothe--with George echoing him up until the last bit was nice.
Laura Leff
5:18 PM
Agreed.
What other thoughts on the
show for tonight?
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:18 PM
Jack seemed to have a way
with kids. I am thinking about the Beverly Hills Beavers.
Brad from Georgia
5:18 PM
Bill Goodwin does say that
Swan is "a great wartime buy."
Laura Leff
5:18 PM
Aha...good point.
Josef Silvia
5:19 PM
Scott, I love the show
where the Beavers play the characters
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:19 PM
Me too,
Josef. They nailed it!
Laura Leff
5:19 PM
Jack is one person who can
work with kids and animals.
Brad from Georgia
5:19 PM
Best joke in my opinion:
George says he will sing without pay; Jack says, "I wouldn't THINK of
it." George says Okay, pay me. Jack says "I wouldn't think of THAT,
either." Great timing on the gag.
Josef Silvia
5:20 PM
I thought they could've
gone further with coaxing George for Jack's show. It was a good set up.
Brad from Georgia
5:20 PM
George did love to sing,
didn't he?
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:20 PM
They had such a great
rapport.
Josef Silvia
5:20 PM
They did.
Laura Leff
5:20 PM
Down in the garden where
the red roses grow, oh my, I long to go...
Pluck me like a flower,
cuddle me an hour, honey let me learn that Red Rose Rag...
I have a 1972 (IIRC) album
called "George Burns Sings"
Cover is supposed to look
like Sgt. Pepper.
Josef Silvia
5:21 PM
I have an album where
George sings but never opened it. Couldn' do that to myself.
Brad from Georgia
5:22 PM
I did think the
"baby" bit was funniest when Jack thought Gracie was expecting a
second and George thought they were still talking about song titles.
"What's the second one gonna be called?" George: "Moonglow."
Jack: "Moonglow . . . Burns?"
Laura Leff
5:22 PM
Josef - Which one?
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:22 PM
I like his song "I
Wish I Was 18 Again." Even though it isn't grammatically
correct.
Brad from Georgia
5:22 PM
I wish I were eighteen
again, and knew grammar.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:22 PM
And so is my
typing.
Josef Silvia
5:22 PM
It's from the 80s called
George Sings, something like that. Picked it up from a record shop a few months
ago.
Brad from Georgia
5:23 PM
BTW, that "Moonglow"
exchange is a great example of situational irony.
(I have Pandora on, and
Leonard Cohen is singing his "Hallelujah." I can play that on the uke,
but I can't sing like Cohen. So I do it like Bob Dylan.)
Laura Leff
5:24 PM
If it's from the 80s, it
could be George Burns in Nashville. What's the cover look like?
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:24 PM
You go,
Brad. We would love to see a YouTube video of it.
Josef Silvia
5:25 PM
I also loved the line
"I may be blood and guts but that's just guts." from Jack.
Laura Leff
5:25 PM
Pandora headquarters are in
my current client's building. I don't think anyone who works there
is over 30.
Brad from Georgia
5:25 PM
Here's a picture of the
album cover: http://www.amazon.com/George-Burns-Sings-Buddah-STEREO/dp/B0060S4CZ0
Josef Silvia
5:25 PM
It's purple with George
holding a cigar.
Laura Leff
5:26 PM
Thanks Brad
Josef - Oh, that's Eighteen
Again.
Michael Amowitz
5:26 PM
I got as far as Jack's
banter with Gracie ... 18 Again was a great song
Laura Leff
5:26 PM
I was actually pretty
partial to his Nashville album.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:26 PM
George could had sang
"I'm Eighteen" by Alice Cooper.
Michael Amowitz
5:26 PM
Must head out
Laura Leff
5:27 PM
Take care,
Mike. Be well.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:27 PM
Be well, Michael.
Michael Amowitz
5:27 PM
Best to all you swans!
Michael Amowitz left the
room (user disconnected)
Brad from Georgia
5:27 PM
Yeah, here's "Eighteen
Again." http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Was-Eighteen-Again/dp/B000QTCXB4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1...
Thanks, Michael! Stay well.
Laura Leff
5:27 PM
Honk honk...oh sorry,
that's a goose.
Josef Silvia left the room
(user disconnected)
Brad from Georgia
5:28 PM
Who let Harpo in?
"Love likes a gander,
/ And adores a goose."
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:28 PM
Laura....I would rather
hear you honk than that silly raven you posted.
Laura Leff
5:28 PM
Well, Brad, I know you are,
well, "preparing" for tomorrow...and Scott, I'm sorry there aren't
more folks on tonight (or surprise guests like last time)
Scott - Nevermore.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:29 PM
Laura. No
worries. It's summer. People are traveling.
Laura Leff
5:29 PM
I actually liked that raven
a lot as I've been a devoted Poe fan much of my life.
Exactly.
Brad from Georgia
5:29 PM
I will endure. Like Uncle
Tonoose, I strong like bool.
Laura Leff
5:29 PM
I'm thinking of making the
August chat the Jack Benny 101 chat
Brad from Georgia
5:30 PM
Let's do it! The 101, I
mean. I'll take care of the other business myself....
Laura Leff
5:30 PM
OK. Going to
use "money or your life" for discussion.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:30 PM
Classic!
Brad from Georgia
5:30 PM
See how many get the punch
line right!
Laura Leff
5:31 PM
God
Don't get me started...if I
had a nickel for every time I've heard it misquoted.
Josef Silvia joined the
room
Laura Leff
5:31 PM
Gee...I don't think Jolson
has ever been so quiet in his life!
Brad from Georgia
5:31 PM
The late Bob Asprin nailed
the routine when he and I did it impromptu at DragonCon once. He hugged me
afterward! "I always wanted to be Benny!" he said. He was a funny guy.
Laura Leff
5:32 PM
At least he didn't give you
a headache.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:32 PM
I like to hear Ronald
Colman reading the prize-winning letter from the contest I Can't Stand Jack
Benny Because....
Brad from Georgia
5:32 PM
Is that why your head is
ailing?
Josef Silvia
5:32 PM
Sorry guys, computer
issues. And I said I wasn't having any
Laura Leff
5:32 PM
Scott - That's a great
show.
Josef - You jinxed
yourself.
Brad from Georgia
5:32 PM
Ah...Charles Trenet is
singing "La Mer," one of my favorite songs, on Pandora.
Josef Silvia
5:32 PM
No kidding.
Laura Leff
5:33 PM
We're actually on the verge
of calling it good for this month, since we're short a number of regular folks.
Brad from Georgia
5:33 PM
I agree with Scott. Great
taste in show.
Shows.
Shows what I know...
Laura Leff
5:33 PM
Win place or...
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:33 PM
Laura...I forget, did that
winner ever appear on the show?
Josef Silvia
5:33 PM
Which show?
Brad from Georgia
5:33 PM
There's no business like
shoe business...
"I can't stand Jack
Benny because..." wrap up
Laura Leff
5:33 PM
Scott -
No. You may be thinking of the winner of the Walking Man contest.
Brad - Ah, you know
12/30/45 is my favorite ep.
Brad from Georgia
5:34 PM
That's a good one, too--did
Colman do the announcement?
Tracy Allred joined the
room
Josef Silvia
5:34 PM
Oh yes, with Isaac Stern as
a Guest Star as well. and Coleman announcement
Laura Leff
5:34 PM
Hi Tracy!
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:34 PM
That's it, Laura.
Josef Silvia
5:34 PM
Hi Trcy!
Tracy Allred
5:34 PM
Hi!
Josef Silvia
5:34 PM
*Tracy
Laura Leff
5:34 PM
Brad - Announce the winner
of Walking Man?
Brad from Georgia
5:34 PM
Tracy! Hiya.
Yes, LL.
I don't remember.
Scott D. Vroegindewey
5:34 PM
Hi Tracy from Kansas City!
Laura Leff
5:35 PM
Brad - No, I think that
would have been the host of the program, whose name is escaping me at the
moment.
BRB
Scott D. Vroegindewey left
the room (user disconnected)
Josef Silvia
5:37 PM
While we were on the Ronald
Coleman subject, it got me thinking of my favorit e show of his. The one where
he dreams that he is Jack Benny
Laura Leff
5:37 PM
Josef - Ah yes...another
excellent show.
Any other comments on the
show for tonight?
Brad from Georgia
5:38 PM
I always loved Dennis's
impersonation of Colman.
Laura Leff
5:38 PM
Oh yeah, it was dead on!
Josef Silvia
5:38 PM
I just love the line
"I could have been born Jack Benny, what a nauseating thought!"
The Colman's pretty much
hit it out of the park every time they were on.
Laura Leff
5:39 PM
I wonder what a script of
Fred dreaming that he's Jack would be like...
Brad from Georgia
5:39 PM
I liked Fibber McGee's
"off-mike" appearance when Gracie phoned him. I haven't listened to
many Fibber/Molly shows, though.
Laura Leff
5:39 PM
Josef - Agreed, because
they played it straight. That made it all the more funny!
Josef Silvia
5:39 PM
Yes!
Laura Leff
5:40 PM
Hey Tracy, I apologize but
we were on the verge of wrapping up since we've got a small group this month.
Josef Silvia
5:40 PM
The script was hammed up
enough, all they had to do was read the lines.
Brad from Georgia
5:40 PM
Best advice I ever got from
a director: "When you play comedy, play it like it's drama."
Josef Silvia
5:40 PM
Same here
Laura Leff
5:40 PM
And Jack gave the Colmans
exactly that direction.
OK, anything
else? Or call it good for this month?
Brad from Georgia
5:41 PM
I loved playing the Rabbi
in "Fiddler on the Roof." He has six lines--and I got laughs on five
of them.
Josef Silvia
5:41 PM
But Jack's impression of
Colman isn't nearly as funny as Colman's impression of him.
Brad from Georgia
5:41 PM
I'm good if you guys are.
Looking forward to next month!
Laura Leff
5:41 PM
Yes, I have another friend
who played that role and loved it.
Josef Silvia
5:41 PM
I'm good. See you guys next
month!
Laura Leff
5:41 PM
Josef - Jack and an English
accent didn't seem to mix well. Exhibit A - Charley's Aunt
OK, thank you folks!
Josef Silvia
5:42 PM
Very true!
Brad from Georgia
5:42 PM
My son played the Rabbi in
high shcool.
See you next month!
Brad from Georgia left the
room (user disconnected)
Josef Silvia
5:42 PM
See you then!