The Art of Audio #13: "Abbott & Costello in the Catskills!"

The Joe Bev
Experience

The Art of Audio #13

"Abbott & Costello in the Catskills!"

Joe Bev & friend doing "Who's on First?
at the 1976 Nostalgia Convention at The Staler-Hilton Hotel 

The first time I performed Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?" was in 1975 at a high school play audition. I was a 16 year old kid with braces and a peach fuzz mustache trying to be Bud to my 17 year old friend's Lou.

Joe Bev performed "Who's on First?
on WOR-TV's Joe Franklin Show in 1976 

In 1976, after winning a contest at the first Nostalgia Convention at The Staler-Hilton Hotel in New York City, my partner and I performed Abbott & Costello all around the New York-New Jersey area and even did "Who's on First?" on WOR-TV's "The Joe Franklin Show". (I had my braces removed the day before.)  You can hear audio of my Joe Franklin appearance here.




I stopped performing Abbott & Costello after my partner and I had a falling out. That was in 1980. You can hear the NPR story I did about it here.


In 2006, I was walking down a lonely corridor during the Oldtime Radio Convention at the Holiday Inn in Newark, New Jersey--when Joe Franklin walked past me. He had not seen me in 30 years. Without skipping a beat, he said, "Bihler & Bev, Who's on First."  


This year, when I was cast as the MC of a Borscht Belt comedy show here in my home of the Catskills, I was asked to pick a character to play. I chose to host the evening as Bud Abbott. Now I needed a Costello. My old partner was out of the question.


Luckily, I found Bob Greenberg, an enormously talented comedian who has been doing Lou Costello his whole life with other Abbotts. Like me, Bob is a trained professional actor with major credits including Saturday Night Live.

Joe Bev & Bob Greenberg as Bud Abbott & Lou Costello

In 1993, Bob had also been on the last week of TV's "The Joe Franklin Show" where he did impressions of Lou Costello and Curly Howard.


For three nights, Bob & I performed not only "Who's on First?" together but wrote and improvised an entire night of hilarious audience pleasing comedy surrounding the music acts, dancers and magician. 


We had never met before and only spoke on the phone twice. Yet we BECAME Abbott & Costello on stage! We looked like them, sounded like them, we listened to each other and improvised many great moments, and worked the audience as if we had been together forever. Our chemistry together was electric! We clicked!


See us performing "Who's on First?" here.

Bob and I even created a new Abbott & Costello bit we call "Luzon Station" and gave the two-hour show a subplot and a title: "Abbott & Costello in the Catskills". 


All three nights were sold out and we had to turn people away. The success has led to more! "Abbott & Costello in the Catskills" will soon be heard on NPR stations and released as an audiobook! 


You will get to hear excepts from it when Bob is my special guest on this week's Comedy-O-Rama online radio broadcast, Saturday, April 14th at 1:00 pm (Eastern) on Cult Radio-A-Go-Go.



Now, Bob and I are ready and willing to become Abbott & Costello anywhere, anytime, for anyone!


We can custom tailor a show to any need and write new material to fit any occasion, plus deliver authentic and exciting performances of Bud & Lou's classic routines, including Who's On First, Susquahanna Hat Company, Niagra Falls, Job as a Loafer, Loan me $50, Cow's Utter, Lou Hates Mustard, and Jonah and the Whale.
         
Want to meet Abbott & Costello in person? Just give us a call at 845-647-9475, and shout, "Heeeey, Aaaaaaabbott!!!" We'll be right over! :-)

Best to you all,

Joe Bev.

Joe Bevilacqua is a veteran award-winning actor, writer, author and producer. His audio is available at Amazon, iTunes, and Audible for Kindle, Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPod or iPad download, or CD purchase or rental. Find out more!

The Art of Audio #12 “A Valentine From Graham Nash's MAC”

The Joe Bev
Experience

The Art of Audio #12

“A Valentine From Graham Nash's MAC”

It was February 12, 1996, two days before Valentine's Day when I received an e-mail from one “Lorie Kellogg, height 5'4”, brown hair, single, living in Los Angeles”--with photo attached. It was an unsolicited singles ad from a women working for Graham Nash and sent from his MAC Laptop.




Here is “A Valentine From Graham Nash's MAC” from our "A Waterlogg Double Feature: 'The Joe Bev Valentine Treat' & The Comedy-O-Rama Hour Valentine Special 'Cupid Comes to Camp Waterlogg' Audiobook on sale for Valentines Day.

NEW ON AMAZON
FOR VALENTINES DAY

NEW ON AMAZON
FOR VALENTINES DAY

I recognized her name immediately. Six months earlier, I had given up a good job as Senior Radio Publicist for WNYC, New York City's National Public Radio station, and was now living in the Beverly Hills garage apartment of Myrtis Butler, the widow of Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi  Bear, who had been my mentor, to try my hand at animated cartoon voice-over acting in Hollywood.

NEW ON AMAZON
FOR VALENTINES DAY

I was reading the Internet newsgroup la.wanted and saw a post from Lorie Kellogg, looking for a roommate. I e-mailed her that I didn't “need a roommate” but was “looking for new friends to show me around LA.”

One of the reasons I wrote her was her named, Kellogg, reminded me of the cereal company that had sponsored the original Yogi Bear cartoons. Maybe I thought she was heir to the Battle Creek fortune. (She's not.)

Four months later, no reply from Lorie Kellogg.

When I received the unsolicited ad, I remembered, “She's the one who blew me off!”I decided to punish her with an excruciatingly long e-mail with all the sorted details of my life, from my father beating me as a child to loving Buster Keaton movies.

To my surprise, she wrote back. After a few nights talking on the phone, Lorie suggested, “Let's meet at My Father's Office.”

I thought, “We haven't even met and she wants me to meet her dad already?”It turned out “My Father's Office” was a micro-brewery and bar on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.

We met on February 17, 1997. Lorie wore a yellow dress with pink flowers and turquoise tights and black leather sandals with a slight heal, her medium length wavy brown hair doted strategically with yellow, pink and turquoise plastic butterfly-shaped barrettes. I wore a pale yellow short-sleeved Izod shirt, cream-colored pants and sneakers, and sported a mustache and a lot more hair than I have now.

NEW ON AMAZON
FOR VALENTINES DAY

We had our micro-brew and talked passionately about art, comedy, film, music, ecology, health, and other subjects we seemed to have in common. Lorie told me she loved Robin Williams and, as a child, sat, upside down, with her head on the couch and her feet in the air, after watching “Mork and Mindy.” I told her when I was three, in 1964, I piled up the living room furniture cushions on the couch, in size order, so it resembled a tugboat, climbed on top and watched Cap'n Jack McCarthy present 1930s black & white Max Fleischer “Popeye” cartoons on WPIX-TV, New York's local channel 11. 

While Lorie was in the restroom, I thought, “This is the one.”

As she climbed into her car, she thought, “I'm gonna break this guy's heart.”

The next day, Lorie called and invited me to her house to watch Charlie Chaplin's “Modern Times” on video, which we did.


Two weeks later, she invited me to watch Graham Nash rehearse. Well, sort of. Nash was performing on stage in Philadelphia and Lorie and crew were in a building on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, in “The Valley,” as Los Angelians have dubbed it.

Nash was performing an autobiographical rock concert in which he stood before a large screen composed of a number of smaller screens, and clicked a portable mouse to bring up images, broadcast over the Internet, of his childhood attic bedroom during World War II and other pictures of his personal past.

Lorie sat at a bay of large Silicon Graphics computers, hand on her mouse, “in case” Graham's failed. (I'm sure she did a lot more than that. At the actual concert, a camera in Studio City was turned on Lorie and crew and they took a bow for the audience, who saw them projected on stage in Philadelphia.)

After the rehearsal, the crew broke for dinner and were told to be back in an hour for a second run-through.

NEW ON AMAZON
FOR VALENTINES DAY

Lorie suggested we find a place to eat down Ventura Boulevard. We chose a Moroccan restaurant named "Marrakesh Express" which happens to also be a song written by Graham Nash, and performed by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, on their 1969 self-titled debut album.


No sooner had we pull up pillows and sat down on the floor when a zaftig belly dancer emerged to personally annoy me. I shooed away the wiggling stranger five times before she finally moved on to her next victim, leaving me to woo my new girlfriend. 

We returned to rehearsal to discover the second run-through had been canceled.

“Wanna come back to my place? asked Lorie.“Sure,” I replied.

Darkness fell over the Santa Monica Mountains as I followed, in my 1995 aqua blue Chevy Cavalier, Lorie's 1991 navy blue Ford Escort wagon, out of “The Valley,” over the Sepulevda Pass, to West LA.


Inside Lorie's apartment, we did “the pre-kiss dance”--I stepped forward; she stepped back. I stepped back; she stepped forward, four or five times, until I leaned in for our first kiss.We “made out” on her couch for maybe twenty-minutes, when Lorie stopped, looked me in the eyes, smiled and confidentially announced, “OK. Here's the deal. You can either shave off your mustache and stay the night... or leave now.”

NEW ON AMAZON
FOR VALENTINES DAY 

Without skipping a beat, I enthusiastically asked, “Where's the razor?”


Lorie walked her dog, Duchamp, named after the French painter Marcel  Duchamp (1887—1968), while I stared in her bathroom mirror. No sooner had I had shaved off the right half of my mustache, when I remembered that two days before, I had seen a live taping of a sitcom called “The John Cryer Show,” in which Cryer's character had a beard. In the plot, his girlfriend worries that something is wrong with their relationship, she thinks it might be the beard and asks him to shaved it off, which he does. He comes out of the bathroom, they kiss and she looks at him, says, “No, it just must be you,” and leaves. 

I bravely shaved the left side.

Lorie and I fell in love and moved in together a few weeks later and we've been nearly inseparable ever since, all because of that Internet valentine from Graham Nash's MAC.

To quote the recommendation letter Graham Nash wrote for her at the end of his concert tour, “Lorie is a rare combination of a mother hen and Einstein.”

NEW ON AMAZON
 FOR VALENTINES DAY

Best to you all,

Joe Bev.

Joe Bevilacqua is a veteran award-winning actor, writer, author and producer. His audio is available at Amazon, iTunes, and Audible for Kindle, Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPod or iPad download, or CD purchase or rental. Find out more!

NEW REVIEW for TANKS of FURY- voices by Joe & Lorie

AS MENTIONED ON BOB CAMPS BLOG....
http://bobcampcartoonist.blogspot.com/2011/12/tanks-of-fury-iphone-app-review.html


Joe & Lorie were very happy to have performed voices for Bob Camp's (co-creator or Ren & Stimpy) new iPhone Game, co-created by Mark Greenbaum.

NEW REVIEW

Tanks of Fury: Storming the Beaches (With Humor and Class)

 December 22nd, 2011  Luke Patrick

Price: $0.99

Tanks of Fury: iPhone App Written Review

Reviewed by Luke Patrick

In our time here at the iPhone App Review, we’ve seen our fair share of war simulations and physics puzzlers. However, rarely have we seen an app that seeks to combine the two playing fields, much less one that does it well, as Tanks of Fury, by developer Iversoft Solutions, does. This arcade title for the iPhone gave us plenty of opportunities to both exercise our laugh muscles and destroy enemy unites—and all without leaving our armchairs! All in all, if you’re looking for a quirky, creative, and not-quite-baked app that combines the best of projectile shooting and witty one-liners, Tanks of Fury is your new best mate.

Concept and Gameplay 

As stated, Tanks of Fury is somewhere between a classic arcade shooter and an Angry Birds clone, allowing for the best of both worlds to nest and take root. The app has players piloting their own tank—though its helmed by a captain of their choosing—into various missions, requiring them to pull back the turret and launch projectiles in a physics-based way that most reminds us of Angry Birds Seasons. However, there are no pigs to be found here. Instead, the player must punch their way through 16 solid levels, each presenting a new objective. These missions were varied, and came with enough detail that we never once found ourselves bored with the proceedings. As though they thought we might doze off, though, the developers have included a wealth of power-ups and defensive skills to keep us on our toes. And in most cases, we did need these additions: The game comes with two unique difficulty modes, but in our experience, the whole thing can be categorized as hard. 

Design and Graphics 

Tanks of Fury for iPhone

Still, the challenge didn’t stop us from enjoying the app’s excellent design. The characters are well animated, and the physics engine at work here behaves organically, as we like it. However, we did have some difficulty seeing our targets: More often than not, the view screen is somewhat limited, requiring us to slide back and forth from our station to the front lines, hoping our shots were aimed properly. That being said, we had no problem controlling either the placement of our tank, nor its actual firings. All in all, it’s a tight package, though one we might (literally) like to see more of.

Overall Value 

At the end of the day, Tanks of Fury clocks in at $0.99 in the App Store, which is a bargain in our books. For that measly dollar, players can enjoy all 16 levels, including the menagerie of tank commanders and missions. At that price, the app is a solid steel, especially with the challenging arcade gameplay. All in all, it’s a four star rating for Tanks of Fury, as well as a hearty recommendation from us here at the iPhone App Review.

Tanks of Fury requires iOS 4.1 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

The iPhone app reviews rating: 

OUR FAVORITE EPISODE OF REN & STIMPY
SPACE MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Review for Son of Harpo Speaks! A Family Portrait

BUY HERE ON AMAZON

Another great review!

Son of Harpo Speaks!
A Family Portrait
Written & Narrated By Bill Marx
Produced by Joe Bevilacqua

"A pleasant surprise"

 "I have long been a fan of Harpo Marx, having read Harpo Speaks, so I was naturally curious as to the point of view of his son. I bought the book on a lark, hoping that it would be, if not at least interesting, then perhaps it would have some funny family stories. To my delight, the book was insightful, fun and yes, interesting. Bill Marx has a good speaking voice and the stories are presented in a way that make you feel as if you are sitting on the couch in his home, sipping a warm beverage and speaking to him in person. I enjoyed it and am very happy that I have this in my collection. I will recommend this to friends and know that they will enjoy it as much as I have."  

- J.A., Audible listener, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, 01-06-12

OTHER GREAT AUDIO BOOKS FEATURING BILL MARX:

The Best of Cartoon Carnival,
Volume One

 Yabba Dabba Doo!:
The Alan Reed Story

Watch Harpo in Action...

Harpo Marx & Milton Berle 1959 Kraft Music Hall

The Art of Audio #8: "Liquid Comedy 103"

The Joe Bev
Experience

The Art of Audio #8

"Liquid Comedy 103"

It was 1964. I was 5. Dressed like a cowboy--hat, gun, holster, boots. I follow my mom into Tom's Pork Store in Newark, New Jersey. I kicked the sawdust on the floor as I rushed over to the gumball machine in the corner. I put in a penny, turned the knob and out slid a gumball. I popped it in my mouth and turned.

Kenny Savoy, Tom Giannazzo and me
Listen to one of our "Camp Waterlogg" specials here!

"You cowboy?" another 5 year old near the counter asked me.

"Yup," I proudly replied.

"No. You cry-baby," the kid answered.

That was my first encounter with Tom Giannazzo, the son of the pork store owner, and my oldest friend and a founding member of Liquid Comedy.

More about Tom here.

As Tom put it on Facebook recently:

"Weren't we in the womb together? Seems like it goes back that far. I'm sure my knuckle-prints were all over the yard sticks Mrs. Coughlin (our third grade Catholic school teacher) used on you. Or was it one of the crazy penguins? Mrs. Mango? Maybe it was at the Home for Sons Abused by Italian Fathers (The SAIF House)?"

That is Tom's style of humor. If Jim Folly is Chico and Kenny Savoy is Harpo... then Tom Giannazzo is Groucho! (I guess that makes me Zeppo. Hmm.)

Master Sergeant Tom Giannazzo's
23 Years of Service

In fact, in one of our early sketches, a parody on TV's M*A*S*H called M*A*S*S, took place in a Catholic rectory and Tom played Father Hawkeye in a Groucho voice.

Little did we know at the time that Tom would go on to have a successful 23 year career in the United States Airforce. He traveled the world, ran a TV station on Guam, and was a military advisor to a number a major motion pictures and TV series, including Stargate SG-1,  Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Sum of All Fears, and The Perfect Storm.

Tom was interviewed for Stargate SG-1: Bonus Disc 3

Tom knew movies even back in college. In 1978 we spoof Star Wars in our stage show. Ours was Star Wars Tonight, a merging of the blockbuster hit with the then popular TV show Fernwood Tonight, which starred Martin Mull as Barth Gimble and Fred Willard as Jerry Hubbard, the show itself a spoof of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Liquid Comedy, circa 1979.
Listen to us on XM Radio!

In our version, Tom was Barth Vadar and I was C3PO Hubbard. Tom wore a Darth Vadar mask. I wore a plastic mop pale on my head with a face drawn on it in magic marker. Our R2D2 was a dented metal garbage can with flashing lights attached. Our guest, Baby Irene (played by Kathy Higgins) tap-danced with three legs (the third was stuffed and sowed onto to Kathy's dress and she flipped it back and forth as she proclaimed "tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap".




 

Listen to another of our
"Camp Waterlogg" specials here!

Tom Giannazzo is now semi-retired and living in Florida with his wife and son. I say semi because I keep dragging him back to work! I'm just now planning new weekly broadcasts of The Comedy-O-Rama Hour: "Camp Waterlogg" to premiere Spring 2012.

Tom Giannazzo's Film & TV credits.

You can be sure there will be juicy parts for Tom Giannazzo (the only man I know who can clap with one hand).

Tom may be may earliest friend by not my earliest memory. THAT is a Christmas story--the year I saved Macy's. But you'll have to wait until you tune in next time...




Best to you all,

Joe Bev.

Joe Bevilacqua is a veteran award-winning actor, writer, author and producer. His audio is available at Amazon, iTunes, and Audible for Kindle, Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPod or iPad download, or CD purchase or rental. Find out more!