Episode 155 - Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard (Suspense)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Jack Mooney
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 February 2016
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
February 14th isn't only Valentine's Day. It's also the birthday of radio's most famous comedian, Jack Benny. The perpetually 39 year old Benny was born February 14, 1894. His landmark radio program was a popular hit for over two decades, and he remains one of the most influential comedians of the twentieth century. In honor of his birthday, we're celebrating the legendary funnyman with one of his dramatic turns at the microphone. We'll hear Benny going for drama instead of belly laughs in a mystery from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills - Suspense." Benny stars in "Murder in G Flat" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1951).
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The And here he is Jack Benny. |
| 0:23.0 | Thank you. |
| 0:25.0 | Thank you. |
| 0:30.0 | Thank you, thank you. |
| 0:33.0 | Hello again, this is Jack Benny talking and Don, isn't it amazing how you can travel? |
| 0:41.0 | If you ask any old time radio fan to name their favorite comedy shows, |
| 0:45.0 | the Jack Benny program is sure to be at or near the top of their list. |
| 0:50.0 | The long running series was just about a perfect and consistent provider of laughs for much of the Golden |
| 0:56.8 | Age of Radio, and at the center of its hilarity was the man himself. Born February 14th, 1894, |
| 1:05.0 | Jack Benny was one of the most popular and influential names in comedy |
| 1:10.0 | in the 20th century. |
| 1:11.0 | The master of comedic timing and reactions, Benny kept audiences howling |
| 1:16.8 | on radio for over two decades. And his comedy is so funny, so timeless, and so character-driven. It can be enjoyed by brand-new |
| 1:25.7 | listeners today. Like many of his contemporaries, Jack Benny got his start in Vaudeville, |
| 1:32.4 | he performed as a comedian and a violinist. |
| 1:34.7 | It was on the Vaudeville circuit that he met and befriended the Marx brothers, and also |
| 1:39.7 | where he met his wife Sadie. She would later take the name Mary Livingston and appear alongside Jack from his vaudeville days |
| 1:47.8 | onto his radio program. |
| 1:51.4 | In 1929, Benny signed a film contract with MGM, but he didn't find success on the big screen, and he was released from that contract. |
| 2:01.0 | In the emerging medium of radio, then he saw an opportunity, and he made |
| 2:06.3 | his first appearance at the microphone in 1932 on Ed Sullivan's radio show. He famously introduced himself, |
| 2:14.5 | This is Jack Benny talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, |
... |
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