Vaudeville

society’s culture can be drawn from many sources such as Burlesque and Vaudeville. These two forms of variety shows emerged in American within twenty years of each other, but it had vastly different performances because of how they needed to adapt to the current culture of their times. These two forms of entertainment were different from each other, and they garnered and sought attention from different audiences. Burlesque was originally filled with parodies…

David Wright Emily Lane College Writing 1 4/17/15 Vaudeville (Where theatre all began) Many people love watching musicals, and plays but they were uncertain on where it all started. The answer to that is Vaudeville. Vaudeville is defined as a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. It was very popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880’s until the early 1930’s. When you think of a typical vaudeville performance it is usually known as a series of separate unrelated acts…

A Timeline of Laughter: Comedy Through the Years Audiences have been entertained by stand-up comedians for more than a century. From the vaudeville shows of the 1800s to the musical stand-up acts of modern times, the history of stand-up comedy is rich – and its evolution has consisted of a fascinating timeline filled with tears and laughter. Whether a person prefers comedy delivered with dry wit, ribald cynicism, or silly banter meant to engage the audience, there is something for everyone…

how Milton Berle's unique sense of humor, and personality made him the ruler early television. Specifically, it discusses how he incorporated vaudeville, other comedian’s material, and his New York nightclub training to entertain his audience. Lastly, this paper concludes by examining his impact on the television industry. 1. Vaudeville Vaudeville shows were variety stage performances that were popular in the in the mid-19th century and early 20th century.…

Flying acrobats, trained animals, strange oddities: all attributes of an astounding circus, yet where did these acts begin and what dark truths hide behind the breathtaking circus acts? Phineas Taylor Barnum spent his life remaking himself from a poor country boy into the city’s showman (Mansky). After moving to New York City, P.T. Barnum successfully opened the Barnum American Museum (“P.T. Barnum Biography”). He worked during a time where blue laws were prominent in the United States,…

Giving viewers another way of discrimination. In one of the lithographs we have seen was called Vaudeville in Harlem. In which we would see a quiet audience while they watched leaping frogs and monkeys. This interpretation the monkeys were minorities and the audience are white people. But that wasn’t the only portrait that Orozco has created to interpret the way that the white people would discriminate and feel more superior to the minorities. No one in that era was daring enough to paint…

Just about everyone and their momma has been offended by a joke. Taking offense has been around since the beginning of time. Comedy, as we know it today, started in Vaudeville; Vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment of the late 1800’s. It staged live entertainment and pulled in audiences from around the world. Vaudeville also created multiple genres of drama and comedy. Giving birth to stand-up comedy and popularizing inappropriate humor. Approaching serious issues with…

In Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, a woman fakes her death in order to leave her husband. She does this because she blames him for making her play a part for him in their marriage, and she wants him to pay. She feels as though, ever since she 's known him, she has been pretending to be the woman he wants instead of the person she is. While no such drastic measures are taken in “Crossroads: A Sad Vaudeville”, the woman does something very similar- she puts out a picture of herself that she has…

Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer. He was best known for his national radio and television acts between 1937 and 1971, and as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. Skelton, who has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, also appeared in vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist. Skelton began developing his comedic and…

Black Minstrel shows, Ethiopian Minstrelsy were a form of popular musical entertainment of the 1830’s-1940’s. The Black minstrel shows presented negative stereotypes of African Americans and southern plantation culture. Many stereotypes of African Americans were portrayed in these Black Minstrel shows such as African Americans were considered to be lazy, ignorant, sexual promiscuity, and have a lack of respect for time. Minstrel show characters were the mammy who portrayed to be heavyset and…