Swinging the Alphabet

By Mark | September 11, 2010

I was going to post this great video of Jon Stewart exposing FOX News for having manipulated video of President Obama so that it looked as though he was saying that he would be raising taxes across the board on everyone, but, as it seems to be everywhere online today, I thought that I’d go with something a little different. This is one of my favorite Three Stooges bits.

This entry was posted in Media, Politics and tagged alphabet, deceptive video manipulation, FOX News, Jon Stewart, Republican lies, Sean Hannity, swing, The Three Stooges, Violent is the Word for Curly. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

7 Comments

Brackinald Achery

Posted September 11, 2010 at 10:21 am | Permalink

That’s pretty Dada.
Knox

Posted September 11, 2010 at 4:26 pm | Permalink

It’s nice to see the boys take a break from beating the shit out of one another. It’s amazing to me that some of the Vaudevillians, like the Howard brothers, lived as long as they did. It’s got to take a toll on your body.
Larry Seven Larry

Posted September 11, 2010 at 9:22 pm | Permalink

Our generation has Jackass. It’s a poor substitute. The Stooges had class, and they were brilliant at working out their bits. Today it’s just guys stapling their scrotums to their legs. Al Qaeda is right about us.
Frits

Posted September 12, 2010 at 7:24 am | Permalink

Let’s see the kids from Jackass pull off something like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3s8sEYzHWQ
Edward

Posted September 12, 2010 at 8:55 am | Permalink

I find the history of the Stooges fascinating. The following comes from the Wikipedia entry on Ted Healy:

Healy was born in Houston, Texas as Charles Ernest Lee Nash, and was known as Lee. In 1912, as teenagers, Nash and his childhood friend Harry Moses Horwitz (later known as Moe Howard of the Three Stooges) joined the Annette Kellerman Diving Girls, a vaudeville act which included four boys. The work ended quickly, however, after an accident on stage. Nash and Howard then went their separate ways. Nash developed a vaudeville act and adopted the stage name Ted Healy.

Healy’s act was a hit, and he soon expanded his role as a comedian and master of ceremonies. He added performers to his stage show, including his new wife Betty. When some of his acrobats quit in 1922, Moe Howard answered the advertisement for replacements. Since Howard was no acrobat, Healy cast his old friend as a stooge (someone who impersonated a member of the audience who is called on stage). In the routine, Howard’s appearance on stage would end with Healy losing his trousers.

Howard’s brother Shemp joined the act soon after as a heckler in 1923, with Larry Fine joining in 1925. Healy’s vaudeville revues (with names like A Night in Venice, A Night in Spain, and New Yorker Nights) included the trio under various names, such as Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen, but never as Ted Healy and the Three Stooges[citation needed].

Moe Howard took a break from show business in 1927 after the birth of his daughter. The group reconvened in 1928 and appeared in several Broadway productions, leading to an appearance in the 1930 film Soup to Nuts. In 1931 the Stooges broke from Healy after a dispute over a movie contract. They began performing on their own (using such monikers as “The Three Lost Souls” and “Howard, Fine and Howard”), often using some of the material from the Healy shows. Healy subsequently sued the Stooges for using his material. However, the copyright was actually held by the Shubert Theatre Corporation (for which the routines had been produced)—and since the Stooges had the Shuberts’ permission to use it, Healy lost the suit.

Healy then hired a new set of stooges, consisting of Eddie Moran (soon replaced by Richard “Dick” Hakins), Jack Wolf, and Paul “Mousie” Garner. The Howard-Fine-Howard Stooges rejoined Healy’s act in 1932, but Shemp quit the act shortly thereafter, soon to be replaced by his younger brother Curly Howard. The reunion did not last, however, and in early 1934, Howard, Fine and Howard parted ways with Healy for good.
Ben G

Posted September 12, 2010 at 8:49 pm | Permalink

I’ve been coming to this site for over five years, waiting for a post on Ted Healy and his Stooges.

Check out this footage of them with a very young and sexy Joan Crawford:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBNOwvz5QoA

There’s also some great archival footage here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHOx01sgGts&NR=1
Alice

Posted September 12, 2010 at 9:51 pm | Permalink

The Daily Show segment is brilliant. It’s hard to believe that other news channels don’t point out the selective editing that takes place at Fox News. As much as I love the Daily Show, this isn’t something that we should have to rely on them for.