Name the Top Banana

richlevy · 05-21-2007, 08:39 PM

There were a lot of great comedians, and the silent era had greats like Chaplin and Keaton, but for me the best were in the era when radio was moving to television and you had great comics working radio, TV, film, and stage.

I still love watching old episodes of they Honeymooners, Your Show of Shows, Sgt. Bilko, some of which were canceled before I was born. To me the golden age was from the 40's through the 60's.

I like the new guys as well, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, etc, but even they took a lot from the guys who stole all their best material from vaudeville.

Perry Winkle · 05-21-2007, 08:59 PM

Do Danny Kaye and the Smothers Brothers count? Either way, but a check next to all those in the poll... I went for Mel, just because he is comedy.

Edit: Sorry, Kaye is on there. My bad.

SteveDallas · 05-21-2007, 09:12 PM

Mel Brooks is wonderful and I love him . . . but he can't make the cut against Groucho Marx and Jack Benny. (I need to think a bit about who the winner is.)

Laurel and Hardy need to be in there somewhere too.

xoxoxoBruce · 05-21-2007, 09:31 PM

To many different styles and mediums to compare. How do you compare Brooks writing/producing genius to Lucy's TV genius to the Club monologists genius?

Trilby · 05-21-2007, 09:38 PM

I voted Mel but only b/c I couldn't vote the Mel/Groucho ticket. Tough, tough, tough one. They were/are all brilliant in their own unique way.

zippyt · 05-21-2007, 10:45 PM

Groucho #1
Mel Brooks Close #2
All the rest #3

Griff · 05-22-2007, 06:16 AM

Dude, no pythons?

Spexxvet · 05-22-2007, 08:23 AM

Chiquita.

Shawnee123 · 05-22-2007, 08:25 AM

Benny

jester · 05-22-2007, 11:16 AM

What about -

Foster Brooks
Dean Martin
Jerry Lewis

Trilby · 05-22-2007, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff

Dude, no pythons?

Pythons in a whole 'nother class.

No mere comics, they.

The Pythons are Gospel, man, Gospel! The bread that feedeth, the water that quencheth, the holy hand grenade that snuffeth the naughty in my sighteth---this is the Python!

Shawnee123 · 05-22-2007, 11:45 AM

Some olders who stand the test of time:

Johnny Carson

Bob Newhart

wolf · 05-22-2007, 04:53 PM

I have to go with Groucho. His sense of comedic timing was impeccable, and he could say the most awful things, even in the '40s and '50s, and get away with it.

Besides, I just really don't like Jackie Gleason at all.

bluecuracao · 05-22-2007, 05:12 PM

I voted for Lucille Ball. I Love Lucy still makes me laugh so hard, I cry.

richlevy · 05-22-2007, 08:05 PM

I picked comedians from the 'golden age' from 1930's through the 1950's. Newhart was a genius and invented his own style, but I wanted to list the guys who still had one foot in vaudeville and who were comics as well as comedians.

Mel Brooks was a writer and performer before he was a producer/director. A lot of these guys worked together as writers and performers on a number of shows. Of the group, Don Knotts and Lucille Ball were the youngest, and Lucy was a bit more reserved that Imogene Coca.

BTW, I'm not sure, but I believe that Don Knotts,Lucille Ball, and Gleason were the only non-Jewish performers on that list. This was not intentional, but during that period, most of the famous comedians were Jewish.

The reason I picked who I did was because these people had the timing, guts, and intelligence to work on the edge of comedy at a time when comedy was being broadcast live on TV and radio. A lot of these people were former vaudevillians who kept up that same frantic pace in a lot of their routines.

My personal favorites are Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks doing The 2000 Year Old Man

Brooks/Reiner doing the 2000 Year Old Man

Brooks/Reiner satirizing coffee shops

Holy S**t!!!! I never saw this one from Mel Brooks (probably NSFW simply because it would probably be offensive to someone)

View Poll Results: Who is the top Banana
Mel Brooks	6	40.00%
Danny Kaye	1	6.67%
Sid Ceaser	0	0%
Zero Mostel	0	0%
Carl Reiner	1	6.67%
Milton Berle	0	0%
Phil Silvers	0	0%
Don Knotts	0	0%
Imogene Coca	0	0%
Lucille Ball	2	13.33%
Howard Morris	0	0%
Groucho Marx	3	20.00%
Jack Benny	1	6.67%
Buddy Hackett	1	6.67%
Jackie Gleason	0	0%
Voters: 15. You may not vote on this poll

05-21-2007, 09:31 PM	#4
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	To many different styles and mediums to compare. How do you compare Brooks writing/producing genius to Lucy's TV genius to the Club monologists genius? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

05-21-2007, 09:38 PM	#5
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	I voted Mel but only b/c I couldn't vote the Mel/Groucho ticket. Tough, tough, tough one. They were/are all brilliant in their own unique way. __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

05-21-2007, 10:45 PM	#6
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	Groucho #1 Mel Brooks Close #2 All the rest #3 __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

05-22-2007, 06:16 AM	#7
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Dude, no pythons? __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

05-21-2007, 08:39 PM	#1
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	Name the Top Banana There were a lot of great comedians, and the silent era had greats like Chaplin and Keaton, but for me the best were in the era when radio was moving to television and you had great comics working radio, TV, film, and stage. I still love watching old episodes of they Honeymooners, Your Show of Shows, Sgt. Bilko, some of which were canceled before I was born. To me the golden age was from the 40's through the 60's. I like the new guys as well, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, etc, but even they took a lot from the guys who stole all their best material from vaudeville. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

05-21-2007, 08:59 PM	#2
Perry Winkle Esnohplad Semaj Ton Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: A little south of sanity Posts: 2,259	Do Danny Kaye and the Smothers Brothers count? Either way, but a check next to all those in the poll... I went for Mel, just because he is comedy. Edit: Sorry, Kaye is on there. My bad.

05-21-2007, 09:12 PM	#3
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Mel Brooks is wonderful and I love him . . . but he can't make the cut against Groucho Marx and Jack Benny. (I need to think a bit about who the winner is.) Laurel and Hardy need to be in there somewhere too.

05-22-2007, 08:23 AM	#8
Spexxvet Makes some feel uncomfortable Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 10,346	Chiquita. __________________ "I'm certainly free, nay compelled, to spread the gospel of Spex. " - xoxoxoBruce

05-22-2007, 08:25 AM	#9
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Benny __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

05-22-2007, 11:16 AM	#10
jester why so serious Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,712	What about - Foster Brooks Dean Martin Jerry Lewis

05-22-2007, 11:45 AM	#12
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Some olders who stand the test of time: Johnny Carson Bob Newhart __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

05-22-2007, 04:53 PM	#13
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I have to go with Groucho. His sense of comedic timing was impeccable, and he could say the most awful things, even in the '40s and '50s, and get away with it. Besides, I just really don't like Jackie Gleason at all. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

05-22-2007, 05:12 PM	#14
bluecuracao in a mood, not cupcake Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,034	I voted for Lucille Ball. I Love Lucy still makes me laugh so hard, I cry.

05-22-2007, 08:05 PM	#15
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	I picked comedians from the 'golden age' from 1930's through the 1950's. Newhart was a genius and invented his own style, but I wanted to list the guys who still had one foot in vaudeville and who were comics as well as comedians. Mel Brooks was a writer and performer before he was a producer/director. A lot of these guys worked together as writers and performers on a number of shows. Of the group, Don Knotts and Lucille Ball were the youngest, and Lucy was a bit more reserved that Imogene Coca. BTW, I'm not sure, but I believe that Don Knotts,Lucille Ball, and Gleason were the only non-Jewish performers on that list. This was not intentional, but during that period, most of the famous comedians were Jewish. The reason I picked who I did was because these people had the timing, guts, and intelligence to work on the edge of comedy at a time when comedy was being broadcast live on TV and radio. A lot of these people were former vaudevillians who kept up that same frantic pace in a lot of their routines. My personal favorites are Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks doing The 2000 Year Old Man Brooks/Reiner doing the 2000 Year Old Man Brooks/Reiner satirizing coffee shops Holy St!!!! I never saw this one from Mel Brooks (probably NSFW simply because it would probably be offensive to someone) __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama** Last edited by richlevy; 05-22-2007 at 08:11 PM.

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