SHOW BUSINESS - COMEDIANS - 3

PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS ARCHETYPAL NERD:
Storyline: The dismounted jockey takes a mild ride on his own odd steed, after exploring the possibilities of partnership on the comedy circuit, and finding he would rather go it as a lesser, albeit, single rider.
Rick Moranis (Frederick Alan Moranis) (1953) - Canadian/American comedian. Outer: Of Jewish descent. Worked part/time as a radio engineer while still in high school, then hosted his own comedy show on radio, unconsciously repeating his jockeying of his previous existence, switching from horses to discs, while using the name Rick Allen. 5’2”, unprepossessing-looking, bespectacled. In his mid-20s, he began performing improvisational comedy on stage, worked briefly in L.A. doing the same, then went home and started writing for and appearing on Canadian SCTV, gaining notoriety as one of the McKenzie brothers, Bob and Doug, along with Dave Thomas. The duo were a pair of one-joke beer-drinkers, which gave him his movie debut at 30, Strange Brew, a film he co-wrote and co-directed. Married artist Ann Belsky, 2 children. Played variations off his nerdy image, including star turns in Little Shop of Horrors and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Had an active film career, mostly in supporting roles, and while never a household name, he was always able to hold his own with more high profile comedians. After his wife died of breast cancer in 1991, he began writing songs to ease the sense of loss. Stopped making movies in the mid-1990s, to concentrate on being a single parent, and found he didn’t really miss film at all. In 2005, he recorded his first album of self-penned dead-panned comic songs, “The Agoraphobic Cowboy.” Inner: Good sardonic sense of humor, preferring subtly in his written work which extends to op-ed pieces. Second banana lifetime of expressing his comic gift in a comic body, while turning loss and sorrow into song. Robert Woolsey (1889-1938) - American comedian. Outer: Impoverished upbringing. Father died when he was 7, and his mother had to support her brood of 6, with several dying young, Began his working life as an exercise boy, then became a jockey, but had to retire from racing at 18 after he was thrown from a horse, and broke his leg, unwittingly acting out a old showbiz petition for good luck. 5’5 1/2”. Did a variety of odd jobs, including being a bellboy, where he met some actors, who encouraged him to launch a comic career, then entered show business via the theater, and eventually was performing in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, touring both North American and the British Empire. Married an eccentric dancer in his late 20s. Began starring on Broadway in his early 30s, and also wrote plays, before teaming up with fellow comic Bert Wheeler in his late 30s. The success of the duo led to a motion picture career. Wore glasses, smoked a cigar, and acted the wise guy to Wheeler’s innocent, although their material was obvious and dated, depending more on form than substance. Proved popular, nevertheless, in vaudeville and numerous comedies of the 1930s for the undemanding audiences of the time. Far less successful without Wheeler in their separate ventures. Died of a kidney disease. Inner: Looked and acted like fellow comic George Burns. Slightly less cartoonish than many of the screen teams of the time. Reined-in lifetime of exploring teamwork as a means of comic art, although far less inspired than the top tier of funny people working simultaneously with him.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN:
Storyline: The compleat misanthrope finds self-destruction as the best revenge against a world in which he feels he is an angry prisoner.
Sam Kinison (1953-1992) - American comedian. Outer: Father was a Pentecostal preacher, and he had an uncomfortable childhood traveling with his family on the revival circuit. 3rd of 4 boys, with two brothers committing suicide.. Short and heavyset, he followed in his father’s professional footsteps for 7 years during the 1970s, then took his all-abiding anger into the comedy realm, after losing his interest in God. Spent 5 years working up his screaming preacher act, before receiving his first big break from comic Rodney Dangerfield, who featured him on an HBO special when he was in his early 30s. Married and divorced twice, he continually used the 2 unions as a source of bitter material. Donning a beret and a large overcoat, he would harangue his audience with his skewed perceptions of both their spiritual and societal beliefs, painting a bleak picture of our largely soul/less world. Took on the sobriquet of ‘The Beast of Burden,’ running fiendish riffs about starvation, marital abuse and violence. When banned from the Comedy Workshop in Houston, he staged a mock crucifixion across the street. His career took off after a censored appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” in his mid-30s, and he suddenly found himself a comedy celebrity, albeit not without his vociferous detractors. After doing concerts and making albums, he made his film debut in 1986 in his mentor Dangerfield’s Back to School, and was set to star in his own vehicle, when problems on the set brought it to a halt, costing him in turn his huge salary, then his manager, and finally, his brother, who shot himself during a family reunion. Critics harped on his cocaine abuse, while those who took offense at his raps in his audience grew, and his career quickly waned. Began to play to undiscriminating heavy metal fans, who liked his various ‘anti’ stances, and started experimenting with singing while his humor slipped into the pure gross-out realm, as befit his new audience. Picketed by homophiles, he saw himself plummet once again by his late 30s, as his screaming act began to get far too predictable. To add to his emotional squalor, his girlfriend was raped by his 300 pound bodyguard, while the comedian slept nearby, not even waking when she fired off 4 shots, all of them missing her target. Finally quit drinking, and married a 3rd time to Maliki Souiri, a dancer, and was trying to reign in his act, but a week after the wedding, he was killed in an auto accident near Needles, California, when a drunk teenage driver hit him head on, while heading for a concert in Nevada. Emerged with only minor injuries from the accident, but then collapsed and died at the scene, while his wife and the other driver survived. Inner: Enraged, perceptive, and ultimately willing to change. Secret desire to be normal, despite his abnormal amount of anger. Needled lifetime of acting out his self-acknowledged Beast to see what revelations it would bring him. Ted Healy (Charles Earnest Lee Nash) (1896-1937) - American comedian. Outer: From humble origins. In 1908, his family moved from Texas to NYC, where he completed his education. Originally wanted to be a businessman, but he found the lure of the stage too strong, and in 1919 launched his career in amateur shows, doing impromptu burlesque jokes. 5’10 1/2”. Changed his name and turned professional, and soon developed into an audience favorite with his patter, songs and impressions, while using a crushed hat as his trademark. Married Betty Brown, a singer and dancer, in 1922, and she joined him as a comedy and dance team. Began using stooges in his act, ultimately employing childhood friends Moe and Shemp Howard (Howie Mandel), who along with vaudeville violinist Larry Fine became the Three Stooges. Their act relied on violence, causing the former and the latter to eventually leave him, after they found his abrasive personality and bossiness far too difficult to work with. Nevertheless, he became the highest paid vaudevillian in the country. Appeared on Broadway with Shemp Howard, before the quartet reunited for 2 more Broadway shows. Took the lion’s share of their combined salary, making $6000 a week, although critics found him unfunny. A heavy drinker, who frequently got into brawls, he switched over to films in the early 1930s, and the group broke up once again, affecting one more reconciliation, for a series of features and shorts, before a permanent rupture in their partnership ended it in 1934, while his wife had earlier divorced him in 1932 because of his constant infidelity. Appeared in several more films on his own, and became Hollywood’s highest-paid supporting comedian and character actor, but he continued in a downward spiral, and despite his successes, found himself constantly broke because of his drinking and gambling. Remarried in 1936 to Betty Hickman, one son from union. Out celebrating the latter’s birth, when he got into a fight with 3 college students, who beat him unconscious. Found on the street by comedian Joe Frisco, who took him back to his apartment, where he died of a heart attack from his injuries. Inner: Angry, pugnacious, extremely self-damaging. Liked to toss telephone books out hotel windows to scare people. The singular respect he showed was for his audience, otherwise everyone else was target for his mayhem, save for children. Frequently gave Christmas parties for poor urchins, spending hundreds of dollars on presents for them, otherwise, he was as uncharitable as he could be. Cocked fist lifetime of uninhibited expression of his deep, dark side, and ultimately reducing himself to pulp over it.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS PHOBIC STOOGE:
Storyline: The fear-flecked funnyman continues his neurotic obsessions, while turning his natural proclivity for entertaining into a long-running career in various comic genres, and his own disorders as a spur to make light of everything else.
Howie Mandel (1955) - Canadian/American comedian and TV host. Outer: Of Jewish descent. Father was a lighting manufacturer and realtor. Expelled from high school for impersonating a member of the school and signing a construction contract, he became a carpet salesman, before opening his own carpet business. 5’9”. Began his career as a standup comedian in Toronto, with one of his bits, blowing up a latex glove and wearing it as a cockscomb, which became a signature routine until a perforated sinus ended it. On a dare on a trip to LA in 1979, he stepped up to an open mike on an amateur night at the Comedy Store, and quickly became a regular there. The appearance led to a game show, “Make Me Laugh,” as well other TV and stage appearances, and what the carpet world lost, the entertainment world gained. In 1980, he married Terry Soil, a high school friend, two daughters and a son from the union. Spent the entire 6 year run of TV’s “St. Elsewhere,” between 1982 and 1988 as a resident doctor, and followed that turn with an animated children’s show, “Bobby’s World,” which he created and produced, as well as voiced, enjoying a further 8 year run with it. TV would be his primary vehicle, with his film fare far less than memorable. Fed into the Navy’s paranoia with an inappropriate routine at the Naval Academy in 1993, following sex scandals in that service. Thought about quitting show business the following year, then enjoyed a run on Showtime with his own series, but failed in 1998 with an eponymous talk show, while continuing his high profile career, doing standup, guest appearances and commercials. A complete germophobe, he shaved his head through a desire to have one less area of his body attracting disease, before taking over hosting duties for “Deal or No Deal,” in 2005, which became a five day-a-week syndicated game show for 4 seasons. Added “Howie Do It,” a hidden camera reality series in 2009 to his ubiquitous TV presence. Constantly on the road and performing, while dealing with his fears and obsessions without allowing them to over/run his life. Hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat in 2009, which probably shook him to the core, although recovered from it, and in 2010 took over David Hasselhoff’s chair on “America’s Got Talent.” Inner: His terror of germs leads him to publicly fist pump rather than shake hands, while his shaved head is part of his mysophobic fear of viral contamination. Neurotically unable to use any bathroom but his one at home. Family man, warm and friendly. Obsessive-compulsive lifetime of continuing to use his dreads as a means to spur his sharply-defined sense of humor, in a direct continuance of the positive and negatives of his previous go-round in this series. Shemp Howard (Samuel Horowitz) (1895-1955) - American comedian. Outer: Of Lithuanian ancestry. Mother was a real estate entrepreneur and father was a clothing cutter. Third of five brothers, including Moe and Curly (Dave Chappelle), the foundation of the Three Stooges comedy act. A prankster as a child, who got his nickname early on through his mother’s mispronunciation of his name. Unlike his sibling Moe, he never seriously entertained the idea of a career in show business, despite being a cutup. Wound up with his sibling in trade school, learning to be a plumber, although all his subsequent failed efforts at earning a living left him with the singular alternative of the comic theater. Began with Moe in amateur productions, although they both got the hook with their first performance. Nevertheless, they continued entertaining locally at dancehalls, before forming a blackface vaudeville act. Drafted during the WW I period, although was soon discharged for bedwetting. Continued on the vaudeville circuit with Moe, before hooking up with Ted Healy (Sam Kinison), a former schoolmate, in 1922. Became one of his audience stooges along with Moe and Larry Fine in a highly successful act that was marred offstage by Healy’s abusive personality. In 1925, he married Gertrude “Babe” Frank, one son from the union. Costarred in Soup to Nuts, then left Healy with the others to become the “Three Lost Souls,” only to rejoin him for another show in 1932. Went off on his own, as his youngest brother Curly replaced him, and fashioned his own career in two-reel comedies, as well as playing Knobby Walsh in the Joe Palooka series based on the comic strip fighter. In 1937 he opened the “Stage One” nightclub in Hollywood with a partner, and became a comic support in a host of Hollywood features. When Curly had a stroke, he rejoined the Stooges in 1946, and continued with them, making numerous shorts. Suffered a mild stroke in 1952, although continued working with the Stooges. Died of a heart attack in a taxicab, while returning home from a boxing match, slumping over into a friend’s lap in the middle of telling a joke. Inner: Extremely neurotic, with a host of phobias, including fear of heights, driving, flying, dogs and water. Known as a gracious host and Hollywood part-giver, as well as a warm, caring friend and family man, and, despite his antics, somewhat introverted. Uninterested in the larger world, or business, preferring sitting at home and watching TV, when not performing. Slapstick lifetime of dealing with a host of fears through an innate gift for comedy, an ongoing motif of his, as a combination of obsession, compulsion and simple good cheer.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS NITWIT TURNED INVENTIVE WIT:
Storyline: The highly inventive venter turns from slapstick and screwball antics to lacerating social commentary, showing the same proclivity for innovation in all he does, while evincing a curious ambivalence towards fame and success, despite his many gifts to entertain.
Dave Chappelle (1973) - American comedian, screenwriter, actor and producer. Outer: Of African-American descent. Both his parents were college professors, his father serving as an instructor in music and voice at Antioch College and his mother teaching at Howard Univ., among other schools, while also serving as a Unitarian minister. Grew up in Silver Springs, Maryland, and following the separation of his parents, remained in the Washington area with his mother, where he went to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. 6’ and slim. Moved to NY afterwards, and was booed off the stage at the Apollo Theater to inaugurate his comedic career. Undaunted, he established himself on the city’s comedy circuit and at 20 made his film debut in Mel Brooks’s Robin Hood, although later turned down a part in the megahit Forrest Gump, deeming it demeaning. Despite numerous pilots, and an early series, his initial forays into TV were disappointing and frustrating. Following his father’s death in 1998, he thought about giving up entirely on his comedic career, and converted to Islam. Subsequently abandoned TV for the movies, including one effort he co-wrote and starred in, Half-Baked, a paean to pot-smoking, one of his ongoing escapes, along with cigarettes. Married Elaine Erfe, a Filipina in 2001, 2 sons from the union. Settled with them in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where his father had taught, to purposefully distance himself from any kind of show business milieu. Launched “Chappelle’s Show,” on the Comedy Central network in 2003, a sketch comedy show which would feature his acute observational humor in the tradition of his two comedic heroes, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. The show was a huge success, earning the plaudits of Pryor, while setting a sales record for its first season DVD. Given a $55 million contract for two more years, despite feeling sketch comedy was too limiting, much like film shorts, and that the time he was putting into it was curtailing his desire to pursue his standup career, a format he much preferred. Walked off the show at the start of season three, and went to South Africa, in a display of his pique at the direction of the show, while rumor abounded of both drug and mental problems. Following his hiatus, he returned to standup and pursued other avenues of expression, including a documentary, “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” in which he hosted a rap concert in Brooklyn. Inner: Genial, principled, addiction-prone, and sensitive to stereotyping. Extremely sharp-witted, taking great delight in puncturing the images of well-known black figures. Questing jester lifetime of taking his innate comedy genius to the next level as an astute commentator trying to keep a sense of perspective around excess fame and success and how it affects his own acute comedic sensibilities. Curly Howard (Jerome Horowitz) (1903-1952) - American comedian. Outer: Of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. Mother was a real estate entrepreneur and father was a clothing cutter. The youngest of 5 brothers, with siblings Moe and Shemp (Howie Mandel) becoming comedians. Called “Babe” by the family, which was later transmuted to “Curly,” through a misheard remark when he began his professional career. Quiet as a child, and a good athlete, as well as a dancer, he accidentally shot himself in the left ankle at 12, causing a slight limp, which he would employ in his subsequent exaggerated walking, since he was terrified of surgery to correct it. 5’5”. Never graduated high school, and did odd jobs, while watching his brothers stooge act for the angry and abusive Ted Healy (Sam Kinison), without participating in it. Originally red-haired with a waxed mustache. Entered show business as a comedy guest musical conductor, and quickly overshadowed his band, showing himself to be an extremely inventive comedian from the outset. In 1930, he married Julia Rosenthal in a brief union, which was undone by his constant fascination with the feminine, that was usually reciprocated. In 1932, he replaced his brother Shemp in the stooge trio, reluctantly shaving his head and mustache to do so. Shortly afterwards, his brother Moe, Larry Fine and he separated from Healy and redubbed themselves, “The Three Stooges,” and in 1934 began making shorts for Columbia Pictures, which would soon enshrine them in the comedic pantheon of the 20th century. Soon outshone the other two, with a childlike act and a verbal repertoire of “nyuk-nyuk-nyuk” and “woo-woo-woo,” among other expressions. Improvisational, he often would create routines with the camera rolling, so that by decade’s end, the trio had come up with a host of classic shorts. Off-screen, he proved quite the opposite of his manic self, needing alcohol to loosen up his otherwise reclusive character. Married a second time in 1937 to Elaine Ackerman, one daughter from the union, which ended in divorce 1940. The dissolution of his marriage caused a huge weight gain, and hypertension, thanks to a feeling of being extremely unattractive because of his shaved head, despite always being a magnet for the opposite gender. Continued making shorts and during WW II, the group constantly entertained service personnel, while he proved uncontrollable in his various appetites, and extremely childlike in his handling of his finances, with his brother Moe serving as a father figure and superego for him. His discomfort around his fellow humans would be assuaged with his great love for dogs, particularly strays, whom he would collect and find homes for, while touring. His lifestyle, however, resulted in a minor stroke as well as other physical ailments, although hardhearted studio chief Harry Cohn (Suge Knight) refused to allow him time to recover, as his work showed a decline in both energy and imagination. In 1945, he married Marion Buxbaum in yet another short-lived union of only three months. The publicity surrounding it caused him further deterioration, and his last dozen films showed him in steep decline, with the focus of the group’s antics now on Larry and Moe. In 1946, he suffered a major stroke, and moved to a motion picture rest home. His brother Shemp returned to the group to replace him, and he would only do two more brief cameo appearances, one of which was cut. In 1947, he married yet again to Valerie Newman, in what would prove his one union of true love, which produced a daughter, as well as a subsequent acting career for his wife. Suffered a massive stroke the following year, which left him paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. Had a third stroke in a nursing home in 1951, and also began declining mentally to complement his lost physicality. His brother refused to commit him to a mental hospital, and he wound up in a sanitarium, where he died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Inner: Rarely give interviews. Gullible and childlike, and easily seducible by one and all. Highly gifted in a number of spheres, including music, although completely undisciplined in everything he did. Unending childhood lifetime of give woo-woo-woo voice to his extraordinary comic sensibilities, only to ultimately self-destruct around his own imagined sense of frailty and failure.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS DOWN-TO-EARTH STAR:
Storyline: The bonhomie homey searches for beauty in the truth of her comic perceptions, while expanding her own horizons of possibility by taking a far more unconventional stairway to stardom.
Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Johnson) (1955) - American comedian. Outer: Of African-American descent. Raised by her mother, a nurse and Head Start teacher in the Chelsea section of NYC. Poor but never hungry as child. Acted in a children’s theater at 8, but fell into a self-destructive cycle of drugs as a teenager, including heroin, while dropping out of high school. 5’5”. Married at 18 to Alvin Martin, her drug counselor, daughter from union, divorced 5 years later. Did odd jobs, including hair and make-up at a funeral parlor, before heading for San Diego without her husband, and living on welfare. Later joined the Blake Street Hawkeyes Theater, where she changed her name, honoring whoopie cushions and a Jewish ancestor. Developed a one-woman show of brilliantly realized characterizations called “The Spook Show,” in her late 20s, and was discovered by director Mike Nichols, who brought her to Broadway, and her career took off. Made her film debut in 1985 in The Color Purple, for which she won a Golden Globe. In 1990, she won an Academy Reward as Best Supporting Actress for Ghost. Also appeared in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as a psychic bartender. Briefly married again in her early 30s to David Claessen, a cinematographer, while slipping back into drugs for a while. Took up with actor Ted Danson, who left his wife and children for her. The duo got much flack when he appeared in blackface at a roast for her, and told offensive jokes they both wrote together. Married Lyle Trachtenberg, a union organizer in her late 30s, divorced a year later. Had her own syndicated talk show, although she was criticized for being too nice. An Academy Reward hostess in 2002, where her comments spurred considerable controversy, and frequent Comic Aid hostess, as well as commercial spokeswoman. Also did the Tonys that year. The busiest actress in Hollywood during the 1990s, appearing in 37 films, as well as serving as executive producer and center square for the popular TV show, “Hollywood Squares,” before eventually opting out when the syndicators couldn’t meet her mega-million dollar demands. A 5 year relationship with actor Frank Langella, whom she had earlier admired from afar, ended because of her excessive schedule. Launched an eponymous TV series in 2003, and a one-woman show on Broadway the following year, as well as a satellite radio show in 2006, to complete her sweep of the entertainment industry, as a high profile high-humored commentator on the American spirit, with an expressed desire in her latest outing to reintroduce manners to an unmannerly country. Is also one of a handful, and the only comedienne, to win an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy for her efforts. In 2007, she was chosen to replace Rosie O’Donnell on morning TV’s “The View.” At the same time, she announced she is retiring from acting, after more than 40 films, since she no longer receives scripts. A self-confessed info geek, she launched “Head Games,” in 2009, on the Science Channel, dedicated to trivia competition. Inner: Candid, honest, earthy and perceptive. Believer in ghosts, feels the spirit of comedienne Moms Mabley behind her. Harbors a fear of flying, despite being quite fearless in all other realms. Sharp-tongued lifetime born of humble beginnings in order to deepen her cutting observations on the human comedy. Flora Finch (1869-1940) - English/American comedian. Outer: From a music hall and traveling theatrical family. Began her career as a Shakespearean actress and had a respected stage career in London, and also appeared on the American vaudeville circuit. 5’9,” thin and hatchet-faced. Made her film debut in 1908 with Mrs. Jones Entertains. Came to Hollywood in her mid-40s, and became part of the first successful comedy team in silent film his/story when she hooked up with comic John Bunny (John Goodman) for a series of over 250 shorts, in which she played the slim, excitable counterfoil to her round, drunken, philandering husband. After he died at the height of their fame together, she continued doing shorts, after forming her own Flora Finch Film Company, although couldn’t find an audience for herself as a single. Married. She also appeared on stage and did bit parts, but slowly faded into oblivion, unable to maintain her career. Made 74 films all told. Retired in 1939 and died of rheumatic fever brought on by a streptococcus infection the following year. Inner: Good-humored, eccentric. Cross-cultural lifetime of beginning as a serious actress, before finding her true metier in a low comedy partnership, only to flounder on her own when it terminated, giving her the impetus to create a more integrated sense of career via hardship and high humor to transcend it, the next go-round in this series.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS BIG-HEARTED FUNNY GIRL:
Storyline: The hearty healer employs laughter as her own best medicine, while eschewing intimacy with males, after a go-round of extreme disappointments with them, in order to take total control over her emotional life, and realize her full power as a woman and a cultural force unto herself.
Ellen DeGeneres (1958) - American comedienne and talkshow host. Outer: Of French, Irish, German and English descent. Mother was a real estate agent, and father was an insurance salesman. One brother, Vance, who became an actor and rock’n’roll guitarist. Raised in a largely non-communicative and fear-filled home, which inhibited her. Originally a Christian Scientist. When she was 16, her parents divorced, and she tried to countervail her mother’s immense sadness over it by continually trying to make her laugh. Harbored a desire to be a singer-songwriter, but was innately shy, despite having a great desire to be famous. After her mother remarried another salesman, the family moved to Texas, where she went to high school. 5’7” and slim. Went to the Univ. of New Orleans for a semester, where she studied communications, before dropping out, to become a paralegal. Realized well beforehand that she was attracted to her own gender, and came out to her mother when she was 20, much to the latter’s initial shock, but kept that side of herself hidden from everyone else. Did a whole variety of jobs, including painting houses, shucking oysters, and tending bar, before turning to standup comedy, tuning her sharp-honed wit and sense of observation to everyday elements. Paid her dues for several years in small clubs and coffeehouses, gradually building up a following, which allowed her to tour nationally. In 1982, she was named “The Funniest Person in America,” by the cable network Showtime, after a series of regional competitions. Eschewed negativity and mean-spirited put-downs for upbeat commentary, although inwardly felt she wasn’t really being honest with who she really was. Did some filmwork in supporting roles, although her most natural medium would soon prove to be TV. Became the first female comedian on “The Johnny Carson Show,” to be invited over to the couch following her act, in a rare tribute to her abilities. After appearing in supporting roles in a pair of short-lived sitcoms, she was rewarded with her own series in 1994, which came to be known as “Ellen.” Hosted the Grammys in the mid-1990s, and in 1997, both she and her character publicly came out to much publicity, although the show subsequently went overboard on her newly revealed status, and it was canceled the next season for lack of viewer interest, because of its obsessive one-note comedy. Returned to the standup circuit and was able to maintain her career afterwards with no ill effects, with a concert tour, a book and film voiceover work in Finding Nemo. Had a high profile relationship with actress Anne Heche, which ended in similarly public manner three and a half years later, but rebounded as hostess of the Emmy Awards in 2001, in the difficult aftermath of 9/11 and America’s invasion of Afghanistan. Able to triumphantly make light of the dark atmosphere, although unable to transliterate it into a second try at a sitcom, where her character was openly same-sex from the outset. Her Emmy appearance, however, ultimately let to an eponymous talkshow in 2003, which proved to be her true métier. Won 15 Emmys in her first three seasons, including an unprecedented three in a row for Outstanding Talk Show, and the show has gone on to become a staple of daytime television. Sings and dances with both her guests and audiences, and for thirty-year high school class reunion, flew the entire class out to California for the show. After a four year relationship with photographer-director Alexandra Hedison, she became involved with actress Portia de Rossi in 2004, whom she married in 2008. Hosted the Emmys again after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and in 2007, reached a comic pinnacle by being tapped to host the Oscars to general critical applause. Made tabloid headlines later that year in a tearful plea for the return of a puppy she adopted and then gave away contra her agreement, leading to death threats for the rule-bound agency who had retrieved the animal, and an avowal on her part not to involve the volatile public in her private affairs again, because of the extraordinary power of television. In 2008, she was made a spokesmodel for Covergirl cosmetics, in a precedent-setting move by the giant company, which usually employs much younger exemplars of its beauty ideals. The following year, she was added to the judge’s bench on “American Idol,” replacing Paula Abdul. Inner: Extremely sensitive, and largely nonpolitical, with a great desire to make people happy. Do-over lifetime of integrating her public ability to entertain with her private emotional life, in a far more satisfactory go-round of bringing the both sides of herself comfortably together. Fanny Brice (Fania Borach) (1891-1951) - American comedian and singer. Outer: Of Jewish descent. Father was Alsatian, mother was Hungarian. Her sire owned several saloons, which her mother helped to run. 3rd of 4 children. Although she was raised in middle-class splendor, replete with servants, she liked to have people feel sorry for her. At 10 her parents separated, and she moved with her mother and siblings to Brooklyn. With her younger brother, she used to tearfully ask directions to go home to Brooklyn at Coney Island and would be rewarded with subway fare, which they would use to have a good time. Sang for pennies in saloons, won a $10 prize in a Brooklyn amatur contest at 13 and was a professional at 14, earning $30 a week in amateur contests, while appearing in light stage shows. 5’7”, 130 pounds, and red-haired, with a long, narrow face. Changed her name to Brice when she embarked upon the stage fulltime, rising from the chorus line to featured singer and dancerby 1909. Did Jewish dialect comedy on both vaudeville and in burlesque, while singing novelty numbers. Married a barber at 18, but they separated after only three days, and divorced in 1913. Homely but high-energy, she made her first appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies when she was 18, and starred in all but 2 of them over the next 13 years, when she signed with the rival Shuberts. Did impressions and memorable comedy routines, parodying both vamps and ballet dancers alike. In 1918, she married gambler and con man Nicky Arnstein who went to jail before their marriage for two years and during it for another two in 1924 and 1925, after being convicted of taking Wall Street for over $5 million in securities. 2 children from union. Divorced him in 1927 on charges of adultery and married diminutive showman Billy Rose, 2 years later. Divorced him a little less than a decade following for his compulsive unfaithfulness. Appeared sporadically in films, beginning with My Man in her late 30s. Developed her signature character, Baby Snooks, on Broadway in her mid-40s, and rode it for the rest of her career, becoming a popular radio figure with its vaudeville humor, beginning in her mid-50s. Was planning on translating the oversized infant character to TV, but died of a cerebral hemorrhage before she could. Immortalized in celluloid in Funny Girl, where she was played by Barbra Streisand. The film was produced by her son-in-law, Ray Stark. Also an an artist, designer and decorator. Inner: Honest, candid, truthful, extremely generous. Had a great fascination with people. Unfortunate self-epigram was, ‘I never loved a man I liked and never liked a man I loved.’ Choice-challenged lifetime of poor selections in partners, while exhibiting a great heart and an exuberant talent, which would make her turn to her own sex the next time around, while expanding into the talk-show realm, giving her greater and more direct access to her audience.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS INDIGNANT CLOWN:
Storyline: The hardy foil helps create a classic screen partnership then goes it alone in rediscovering the unpartnered actor and comic within, in a career geared towards exploring his singular performing abilities.
Oliver Platt (1960) - American actor. Outer: Father was in the diplomatic service. Raised in Asia, Africa and Washington, D.C. Middle of 3 brothers. Distantly related to both Princess Diana and Orson Welles. 6’3 1/2”. Educated at Tufts Univ., with a major in drama, then trained at Shakespeare & Co. Appeared on and off-Broadway, on TV and in films, as a secondary player in a variety of both comedy and drama, before finally teaming up with Stanley Tucci, his crypto-pastlife partner, in The Imposters, to try to unconsciously recreate the same alchemy they had earlier achieved, although it never found its audience. Married Camille Campbell in 1993, 3 children from the union. Continues, like his former parter, to work in both comedy and drama, with an emphasis on the former, once more playing with a large frame, although without the temperamental fuse that ignited the laughter the duo so easily elicited. In 2000, he was given the starring role in the TV melodrama, “Deadline,” which was soon cancelled. Continued his TV fare, filmwork and the theater, as a highly dependable character actor, with a great desire to constantly amplify his craft. Nominated for a Tony in 2006 for his work in “Shining City.” Inner: Good-natured and agile. Expanding lifetime, like his former partner, of stretching his abilities in various directions, while maintaining the same large body and a more even-tempered approach to both comedy and drama, and keeping the same first name as an unconscious link to the past. Oliver Hardy (Norvell Hardy) (1892-1957) - American comedian. Outer: Father was a prominent lawyer and Confederate Civil War veteran who died when his son was 10 months old. Expected to follow in his professional footsteps. Had little interest in school and began singing professionally at 8 with a minstrel show, then appeared in stock as well as forming his own singing act, touring the South with it. Known as “Babe” his entire life, because of his boyish looks. Went to the Univ. of Georgia, but dropped out and opened a small movie theater in his late teens. 6’1” and lover 300 pounds. In his early 20s, he joined the Lubin company in Jacksonville, Florida, as a supporting player, playing villains in one and two reel comedies, then support to a string of popular comic silent stars, as well as serving as a gagwriter. Married Madelyn Saloshin, a concert pianist, in 1913 and divorced in 1920. Made his first film, the aptly titled, Outwitting Dad in 1914. Did a bit part in 1917 in a vehicle in which his future partner, Stan Laurel (Stanley Tucci) starred, although the two would not be put together for nearly another decade. Married actress Myrtle Lee Reeves in 1921, in an unpleasant union which saw his wife become an alcoholic, divorced 16 years later. Corpulent, with a faux dignity, which made him a perfect villainous foil, but his movie roles were largely secondary, and his true talents were largely wasted, until he went to work for producer Hal Roach in 1926, and director Leo McCrary teamed him up with Laurel, seeing the comic potential of their opposite physicalities. Less creative than his partner, he, nevertheless, played off of him perfectly, using his comic sense of dignity and exasperation to register outrage at the escalating difficulties their lame-brained partnership always managed to create out of the simplest of situations. Laurel & Hardy became the most successful comic team that the first century of films produced, and the duo went on to do some 100 shorts and features together, although they parted ways with the Roach company in 1940, looking to gain more control over their material through working with some of the major studios. Quite the opposite happened, and by 1945, they had run their course. Contracted his last marriage in 1940 to Virginia Lucille Jones, in what would be his only satisfying union. No children from any of his couplings. Made two tours of British music halls in 1947 and 1954, and tried one European venture which failed miserably. Had a heart attack in 1955, and subsequently halved his weight to 150 lbs, although never stopped smoking. While planning a comeback in a color film, he suffered a massive cerebral thrombosis from which he never recovered, falling into a coma for several weeks and dying from its aftereffects, leaving his former partner bereft and unable ever to perform again. Inner: Warm, kind, generous, quite the opposite of his short-fused screen persona, with a deep love for his partner, which was felt in return. Perfect foil lifetime, like Laurel, of finding his ideal performing partner and creating with him a classic oeuvre that transcended its time.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS SHARP-WITTED DIMWIT:
Storyline: The fey foole creates a classic character in partnership, then delves deeper into his theatrical sensibilities for a far more well-rounded career in the dual callings of both comedy and drama.
Stanley Tucci (1960) - American actor. Outer: Father was an art teacher, mother was a secretary, sister also became an actress. Educated at SUNY, where he majored in drama. 5’6”, slim and balding. Had his first acting job on Broadway in 1982, with “The Queen and the Rebels,” and has been working nonstop ever since. Began his film career in 1987 in Who’s That Girl, and went on to play mostly saturnine villains, before finally realizing his ambitions for both writing and directing, as well as starring. In 1995, he married a social worker, 3 children, including twins from union. The same year, he scored a surprise hit as an independent filmmaker with Big Night, as co-writer, co-director and star. Teamed up afterwards with Oliver Platt to create the 1930s farce, The Imposters, unconsciously tapping into the Laurel & Hardy magic they managed to co-create at roughly the same age. The film drew comparisons with the earlier duo in its attempt at re-exploring classic screwball comedy, although never found its audience. Continues to explore his various hyphenated talents, on stage as well as in film, rather than settling for a singular classic character as he previously had done, with a notable star turn on Broadway in “Frankie and Johnny,” where he became involved for a year with his co-star Edie Falco, before trying to make amends with his marriagem which ended afterwards with the death of his wife from breast cancer. Also part owner of a successful restaurant in upstate, New York. In 2006, he took on a TV series starring role as a brain surgeon on “3 Lbs.” Inner: Modest, focused, warm-hearted. Stretch lifetime of expanding his abilities considerably from the beloved dimwit character he had earlier created into a much more rounded entertainment force, while, like his former partner, maintaining the same first name as an unconscious link to the past. Stan Laurel (Arthur Stanley Jefferson) (1890-1965) - English/American comedian. Outer: Mother was an actress, father was a combination actor/director/producer/playwright. 2nd son of 4 sons and a daughter. Made his stage debut at 16 as a boy comedian in Glasgow, Scotland, and then spent the rest of his teens working in British theater and music halls, playing the gamut from drama to comedy, while also clowning and dancing. 5’10”, 150 lbs. Joined the Fred Karno company at 20 and became Charlie Chaplin’s understudy in their first American tour that year. When the company returned 2 years later, he served in the same role, and then stayed behind in America to work in vaudeville under the name he would henceforth be known by. Began his film career in 1917 in Nuts in May, and then did some 76 shorts and silents, including a turn in Lucky Dog in which he starred, and an unknown named Oliver Hardy (Oliver Platt) played a bit part. Played a clown in oversized clothing who was a total societal misfit in his early screen outings, while continuing his vaudeville career. Wrote many of his early comedy routines, as well as co-directed, often spoofing popular films of the time. Had a common-law marriage with actress Mae Dahlberg, who was married to another actor at the time, from 1919-1925. His 2nd marriage to actress Lois Nielsen was from 1926-1935. Signed a contract in 1926 as a writer/director, but returned to acting, and the following year, he began his prolific partnership with Oliver Hardy, which would redefine screen comedy. The duo played off their opposing physicality, with the short-tempered Hardy in constant exasperation over his partner’s dim-witted, head-scratching, oblique, weeping approach to all their self-created problems. Appeared in more than 100 films together, including 27 features. Wrote most of them with a team of writers, after producer Hal Roach came up with the initial idea. Briefly married a third time to actress Virginia Ruth Rogers, between 1935 and 1936, and a fourth time to fiery Russian opera singer Vera Shuvalova from 1938-1939, although his real emotional union was with Hardy. Began in conjunction with producer Hal Roach, working under his aegis until 1940, when the duo decided they needed more freedom, although they received considerably less money under the larger studios, and finally ended their film collaboration in 1945, with one final unfunny effort in 1950. Remarried his earlier wife Ruth Rogers from 1941-1946, and his final marriage was in 1946 to Ida Kitaeva, which produced his only child. Became a diabetic, and suffered a stroke in 1955, although recovered from it. Toured the British Isles with a music hall revue after WW II, and made another tour in 1954. Although they planned a comeback in color films, Hardy suffered a stroke and never recovered from it, dying in 1957. Absolutely devastated by his death, he refused to perform again, although he continued as a comedy writer. In 1961, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, and made one of his few public appearances to accept it. Died at home of a heart attack. Inner: Despite his screen character, quite the opposite, a perceptive clown with a brilliant sense of character who understood completely the rhythms of classic comedy. Warmhearted, modest, well-loved, with a deep connection to his brother of the screen. Personally answered every single piece of fan mail he received. Perfect chemistry lifetime of finding his ideal foil to create an undying body of work that will live as long as film comedy does.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS CHARMING CHAMELEON:
Storyline: The uncanny mimic easily slips into imitative characters, but never loses her central sense of self in the process, creating a series of successful careers dedicated to the proposition that flattery is the sincerest form of imitation.
Tracey Ullman (1959) - English/American comedienne. Outer: Mother was of Gypsy descent. Father had been a Polish soldier, who served as a translator among the post WW II displaced Polish community, while doing a variety of jobs. One older sister. While reading a bedtime story to his daughter, he had a heart attack and died. Developed a need to uplift and entertain after the loss and was encouraged by her mother to perform in front of adults. Felt she was ‘an ugly child,’ with her singular redeeming feature being able to slip into dozens of different personalities through her adeptness at mimicry, including friends, neighbors and family members. As a teenager, she attended the Italia Conti Stage School in London on scholarship, then worked as a dancer, going as far afield as Berlin, where she appeared in “Gigi.” Had her first breakthrough playing a born-again Christian nightclub singer in the play “Four in a Million.” Through her award-winning performance, she gained a TV series, “Three of a Kind,’ in which she did parodies and impersonations, making her a big British star. Made her film debut in 1983 in Give My Regards to Broad Street, and also launched a successful singing and recording career, which enabled her to cross the Atlantic and enter American TV. Married Allan McKeown, a producer, in 1983, daughter and son from the union. Launched the eponymous, “The Tracey Ullman Show,” in 1987, which ran for 3 seasons, as a half-hour sketch comedy in which she played several different characters each show, utilizing her miming, singing, dancing and acting abilities. Immersed herself in American culture, picking up accents and peculiarly American peccadilloes, although the demands of the show made her curtail it. Made her American movie debut in 1991 with I Love You to Death, and has continued in comedies, although TV remains her primary medium. Had her own cable show, “Tracey Takes on,” for three years in the late 1990s on the American side of the Atlantic, where she continued as a unique impressionistic figure, able to imbue her various characterizations with both her comic perceptions and her uncanny capacity for catching the essence and accent of her portrayals. Won 7 Emmys all told for her TV efforts. Became an American citizen in 2006, while still maintaining a home in London. Wrote a best-selling knitting book, called “Knit 2 Together,” while her various endeavors made her Britain’s wealthiest comedienne, with a net worth estimated at some £75 million. In 2008, she inaugurated yet another eponymous show, “Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union,” finding American culture and personalities an endless source of material, for her increasingly sharper sense of observation. Inner: Inexhaustible store of voice impressions, with a highly pliable face, allowing her to remold herself into anyone she wishes to be. Mirror, mirror on the wall lifetime of continuing her exploration of her singular abilities at imitation, allowing her to once again fashion a highly successful career around her unique talents, while searching for herself amidst the many manifestation she projects. Marie Tempest (Mary Etherington) (1864-1942) - English singer and comedienne. Outer: Father was the illegitimate son of a solider, who became an improvident alcoholic who worked as a stationer, mother was the daughter of a draper. After her parents went their separate ways, she was raised by her maternal grandmother, who had married a servant. The latter later presented herself as an aristocrat, although her knowledge of society was second hand, gleaned from her husband’s labors. Educated in a Belgium Ursuline convent, via her mysterious grandfather, which made her fluent in French, then studied music in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Made her operatic debut in 1855 in “Bocaccio,” then toured the U.S. and Canada for 4 years afterwards, as well as all over the world. Sung in comic opera for the first 15 years of her career. Had a fetching stage personality, a winsome face and a fine singing and speaking voice. In 1885, she married Alfred Izard, a student pianist, divorced 4 years later. One son from the union. The same year, she married Cosmo Stuart, the grandson of a duke, who wrote one of her most popular comedies, “The Marriage of Miss Kitty,” 2 children from union. In 1900, she renounced musicals and spent the rest of her career as a comedienne, playing well-bred, sharp-tongued matrons. In 1914, she embarked on a nine year worldwide tour. After the death of her husband in 1921, she married William Graham Browne, a producer and actor the following year, and he served as his constant adviser the rest of his life. The duo also appeared together on stage. Her later career allowed her to make fun of the earlier Victorian vehicles that established her career. In 1935, she celebrated her golden jubilee on the stage, with none other than the king and queen in attendance. The performance raised £5000 towards an eponymous ward at a London hospital. Absolutely devastated by her husband’s death in 1937. Made a Dame of the British Empire in at the same time. Afterwards, her memory began failing, and she felt totally alienated from the world at life’s end. Inner: Sprightly comic, elegant and compulsively neat. More a creature of disciplined than natural talent. Footlit lifetime of neatly dividing her career in twain, giving her youth to singing, and her maturity to matronly comedy, while proving an audience favorite over a 50 year period.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS MASTER MUGGER:
Storyline: The rubber-faced fool focuses his antic anger to such degree he becomes a $20 million man, as he had once wished, while trying to make his cartoon characterizations palatable to the appetites of a far more reserved Hollywood establishment than the uncritical palates of his wider audience.
Jim Carrey (1962) - Canadian/American comedian. Outer: Father was an accountant, who was also a frustrated performer as a sax clarinetist, with a zany sense of humor. Mother was the depressed child of alcoholics, and suffered from all sorts of ailments, both real and imagined, while constantly talking of her ills. Youngest of 4 in a Catholic household, raised in the Toronto area. The family were all comedians, indulging in food fights and prankster capers to countervail an over/riding sense of parental incompetency. Began cutting-up early in school, realizing the power of outrageous behavior. His father lost his job when he was 13, and became caretaker to his sick wife. All the kids, as well his sire, had to work as janitors and security guards in a tire-rim factory, and for a while the family lived in a tent and VW camper. Dropped out of school in the 9th grade, experienced great anger, including breaking into houses with a brother and stealing alcohol. Began performing routines written with his father in a Canadian comedy club, and developed a successful act built around impressions. 6’2”, rangy, with a handsome, albeit rubbery face. Moved to Los Angeles at 19, and began supporting his parents, who had moved into his apartment, through stand-up impressions at the Comedy Club, although eventually rebelled, and shipped his progenitors back to Toronto, while continuing to support them. Began taking acting lessons, before returning to the stage as a total improviser, eschewing impressions for the far more dangerous spontaneity of on-stage creation. At 20, he starred in a short-lived network comedy, then began getting movie roles before becoming, in his mid-20s, the only male white cast member of TV’s “In Living Color,” where he created several indelibly repellent characters. Married in his mid-20s, daughter from union, although the marriage collapsed as soon as he had his movie breakthrough in 1993, as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. The film was a surprise mega-hit, and each of his movies that followed, including The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber, proved irresistible to the paying public, making him Hollywood’s highest paid comedic star. When he reached the $20 million plateau, however, he experienced his first failure, although his mugging, and elastic-faced zany style has continued to prove immensely popular, making him a figure to whom both adults and children can readily relate. In his mid-30s, he married actress Lauren Holly, although the relationship proved rocky, with the duo divorcing and then getting back together again, before splitting anew. Took up with actress Rene Zellwegger afterwards, while taking on more fleshed out roles in The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, a biopic on the life of comic Andy Kaufman, with whom he shares birthdays and in which he totally lost himself in the role. His career has been up-and-down since then, as he slowly works on comprehending his own cartoonish character and surreal upbringing while trying to maintain his stronghold on America’s risible sensibilities, and stretching his abilities as an actor with more challenging projects. Added spiritual enlightenment to his mix, while firing his longtime agent, and taking up with comedienne Jenny McCarthy, in a deliberate attempt to expand himself beyond his earlier singular career focus, and dwell in his own sense of light. Proved to be a healing force in her autistic son’s life, allowing him to self-heal, as well, although the couple eventually separated amicably after 5 years, with no explanation other than dual twitter messages from each. Inner: Manic, also depressive, high-strung, immense anger, although with the power to channel it into frenetic humor. Able to serially drop successful modes of expression and try new things. Avid reader of self-help books. Open and reflective, albeit as soon as the camera starts whirring, a bundle of amped-up kinetic energy. Agitated lifetime of achieving mega-stardom as a mugger, while trying to grow and expand as an actor, a person and a vehicle for higher consciousness. Al ‘Fuzzy’ St. John (1893-1963) - American comedian. Outer: Nephew of comic Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle (John Belushi). Began his career as a boy trick bicyclist, and proved to be an adept acrobatic tumbler. 5’6”, 150 lbs., with blues eyes and blonde hair. Never had any stage experience, instead, went immediately into filmwork. Married Flo Belle Moore in 1914, divorced 9 years later, one child from the union. At 20, he joined Mack Sennett’s (Quentin Tarantino) Keystone comedies, where he often played second banana to his uncle, mugging his way through silents. Usually played country hicks in oversized pants with plaid shirts and suspenders. Followed his uncle when he left Sennett, and continued to act as his second banana support, until the former’s career fell apart. In the early 1920s, he began to write and direct his own comedy shorts, which were moderately successful. Married June Price Pearce in 1926. In his early 30s, he started to play character parts in feature films, then rejoined his uncle at the advent of the sound era in a brief series of comic shorts. In his late 30s, he began a new phase as a grizzled Western sidekick in countless low-budged oaters, which earned him the nickname of ‘Fuzzy,’ from his ongoing role as ‘Fuzzy Q. Jones.’ Retired from the screen in his late 50s. While working in a Wild West show in Georgia, he suffered a fatal heart attack, waiting to go on. Inner: Second banana lifetime of learning the ropes, as it were, about his potential on screen as a secondary character, before coming back full blast as a major comic star on his own.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS WRY COMMENTATOR:
Storyline: The sassy satirist parlays a ready wit and a penchant for cheeky daily commentary into a memorable run as America’s favorite public railer-in-reisidence, as a means of productively dealing with his own angst and anger.
Jon Stewart (Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz) (1962) - American comedian, actor, writer and producer. Outer: Of Jewish descent. Mother was a teacher and educational consultant, father was a physics professor at The College of New Jersey. One older brother, and later two younger half-brothers from his father’s second marriage, after his parents’ divorce in 1971. Lived with his mother, while experiencing competitive tensions with his sire. Went on to the College of William & Mary, where he majored in chemistry, then psychology. A member of the soccer team, he was also a fraternity brother, until hazing turned him off Greek lettered life. Continued feeling profoundly alienated all through his school years, before holding several bureaucratic jobs, as well as a host of transient positions. 5’6”. Moved to NYC in 1986 to embark on a stand-up comedy career, although it took him a year before he worked up the courage to stand in front of a live mike. Made his debut at The Bitter End, while changing his last name, and in 1989, he got his first TV job as a writer. In 1991, he started hosting TV shows, but lost out to Conan O’Brien in 1993 as a late night network replacement for the departing David Letterman. Rebounded with a popular eponymous talk show on MTV, which was bought as a syndicated network show. However, it was relegated to impossibly late time slots, and was canceled in 1995. Made his film debut in The First Wives Club, although wound up on the cuttingroom floor. Subsequently played a couple of filmic leads and supporting roles, although his cinematic activity would remain secondary to his TV career, which also saw him play himself on “The Larry Sanders Show,” as well as other sitcom appearances. Launched Busboy Productions in the mid-1990s, which would largely remain a reflection of its audio logo, “Oops. Sorry.” Became a guest host for Tom Snyder on the Late Late Show, but eventually grew tired of the yawning hours offered him by the networks, and returned to a far more reasonable time slot on cable TV, with “The Daily Show” in 1999, where he was also a writer and producer, while replacing a host who, ironically, decided to fill a slot as Snyder’s permanent stand-in. In 2000, he married Tracey McShane, after proposing to her via a crossword puzzle concocted with the aid of Will Shortz, the crossword editor of the NY Times. His wife was a graphics designer, who returned to school to become a veterinarian. Both would subsequently share a great love for animals. Son and daughter from the union. Under his stewartship, “The Daily Show” would switch from entertainment-driven commentary to news-oriented fare, while steadily increasing in viewership, until it became a primary news source for many in his audience, who preferred his satirical take on the day’s events over the networks and cable’s more sober-sided reportage. Won the first of his 10 Emmys in 2001 for his efforts, while finding the Bush administration’s violent and corrosive antics perfect fodder for his wit and commentary. Won a pair of prestigious Peabody Awards for his faux journalistic coverage of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Following no set political agenda, he prefers a scatter-shot skewering of everyone, with his ultimate goal of providing laughs and release from the tensions of the day, rather than framing any of his satirical commentary towards specific political viewpoints. Despite his apolitical politics, he has upon occasion made news, with several memorable shows, including a tearful memorial to the fallen World Trade Center, shortly after it disappeared from the NYC skyline in 2001. His “America (the Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy In Action,” a mock high school textbook, which was written along with his staff, proved to be a huge bestseller in 2004. An appearance on “Crossfire,” lambasting his hosts, proved excellent internet fodder, and probably fed into the subsequent cancellation of that noise-infested program. In 2006, he fronted the 78th Academy Awards to less than stellar effect, as a rare non-industry host, although was invited back two year later to make amends, which he did, much in the same manner he had improved on his hosting duties following a dud showing at the 2001 Grammys, with a more sparkling repeat the following year. In between he came in 4th in a Pew poll as America’s most admired journalist. Through his popularity, he has been able to wield a relatively big shtik culturally as a critical voice, taking it to the bloviators on business channel CNBC during the financial crisis in 2008 and 09, and considerably undercutting their influence. Inner: Natural managing editor, with a good eye for getting at the heart of a story, and parsing information down to its essence, both comedic and otherwise. Sees comedy as catharsis, and his show as genuine release for troubled times. Workaholic and hypochondriac. Are you insane?! lifetime of channeling his anger, neuroses and general sense of alienation into a highly productive run as an imitation newsman, with far more credibility than those who pursue the same profession seriously. Lew Lehr (1895-1950) - American commentator, comedian and writer. Outer: Graduated Bucknell Univ. and initially became an architect and real estate broker, before realizing a longtime ambition to perform and turning to the stage with musical comedy and vaudeville. In 1920 he married Anna Leonhardt, whom he met while she was performing under the name of Nancy Belle. Overweight with a pointed mustache, and a predilection for mugging. At the beginning of the Depression, he began writing shorts in which he starred, and soon was serving as the editor, writer and commentator for segments of Fox Movietone News, providing comic relief to the unhappy events of the time. His sardonic and somewhat acrid outlook was featured in “The Dribble-Puss Parade,” which reflected his travels around the U.S. looking for oddball stories. Also enlivened sporting events with his commentary as well. In the late 1930s, he began appearing on musician Ben Bernie’s program, as well as other radio fare, eventually winding up on “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One,” which would also be the title of one of his joke collections. Became a familiar enough character to be caricatured in several Warner Bros. cartoons, and enjoyed a long run as a comic favorite doing some 300 shorts. Best known for his catchphrase, “Monkeys is the cwaziest people,” although his fame did not outlast his era. Inner: Time specific comedian, whose antics were transient rather than universal. Building block lifetime of honing his wit and muggery to the era in which he found himself, as an alleviator of temporal tensions through a fine eye for the absurd and eccentric.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS COLLEGIAL & COLLEGIATE COMIC:
Storyline: The writerly wit makes the transition from information pleaser to crowd pleaser, thanks to a propensity for solid preparation and a good capacity for growth, allowing him to join the rarified fraternity of late night closers of TV’s entertaining day.
Conan O’Brien (1963) - American TV host, producer and writer. Outer: Of Irish Catholic descent. Grandfather was a policeman, mother was an attorney, father was a physician, epidemiologist and professor of medicine at Harvard. 3rd of 6 children, with two older brothers, two younger sisters and a younger brother. Also cousin to comedian Denis Leary. Loved comedy, but felt somewhat inadequate as a youth because of his thinness, which he capped off with a giant pompadour. Served as managing editor of his high school newspaper, and, after graduating valedictorian of his class, he went to Harvard Univ., where he was noted as a prankster, while writing for the Harvard Lampoon, and serving as its president for two years, a feat only accomplished by one other, 85 years before. 6’4”, gangly and red-haired. Received his B.A. in History and Literature, while graduating magna cum laude. Moved to Los Angeles afterwards to work as a writer for HBO’s “Not Necessarily the News,” while also doing improv on the comedy circuit. Had an instinct for hooking up with shows that would be canceled, and wound up returning east to become a writer for “Saturday Night Live” for several seasons, followed by a similar stint with “The Simpsons.” When David Letterman left “Late Night,” he was asked to be executive producer and find a replacement for him, which he did with himself, beginning in 1993. It would take several years, however, before he truly became comfortable behind the mike, finally finding his audience among younger viewers. The possessor of an off-the-wall sense of humor, he would use himself as a primary target of his jokes, while using mime, impersonations, running gags and his gangly physicality to good comic effect. The fall of the World Trade Center in 2001, would see him re-embrace his earlier faith. Despite his success, he would have difficulty in launching other shows through his production company Conaco. Has appeared as himself and done voiceovers for numerous cartoons and sitcoms. After living with crew member Lynn Kaplan for 5 years during the 1990s, he married advertising exec Liza Powel, whom he had met on his show, in 2002. Daughter and son from the union. Hosted the Emmys several times during the decade, while also enjoying an audience for his own show of some 2/5 million. In 2006, he found himself in the unusual position of being stalked by an obsessive priest, who had attended Harvard the same time he did. A subsequent trial wound up with the latter being sacked from the cloth. Returned to Los Angeles to become the 5th host of “The Tonight Show,” on its 55th anniversary in 2009, replete with his sidekick Andy Richter and drummer Max Weinberg. Lasted 7 months, to mediocre ratings, before his predecessor, Jay Leno replaced him, much to his public pique, despite a huge buy-out of $45 million all told, and a refusal on his part to move back a half hour to accommodate the network’s dealing with their double failure around the two of them. Just prior to launching a 30 city tour, he announced he would be moving to cable and TBS to launch a four night a week talk-show, which he would own, beginning in November, allowing him an easy rebound from his clumsy exit from network TV. Inner: Self-deprecating, and far more the concept and sit-down idea man than standup comic. Amateur musician and progressive Democrat. Cerebral, circumspect and nonconfrontational. Cogitatively comic lifetime of finding a perfect niche for his pseudo-sophomoric skills, and thoroughly enjoying the long ride given him for them. Franklin Pierce Adams (1881-1960) - American columnist and radio personality. Outer: Parents were recently arrived German-Jewish immigrants. Oldest child of a drygoods merchant. At 13, he changed his name from Franklin Leopold Adams to Franklin Pierce Adams after the 14th U.S. president, as a way of Americanizing himself. Began writing early on, and after public elementary school, went to a private school, where he received a solid grounding in Latin, which he would later employ in translating Roman poets into English. Spent one year at the Univ. of Michigan, before finances curtailed his higher education, although he would later be given an honorary degree there. Came home to Chicago, and began selling insurance to help his family. One of his first customers was humorist and writer George Ade, who inspired him to become a journalist. After penning some humorous verses for the Chicago Journal, as well as a slim volume of poems, he quit his job to become a fulltime writer with the Chicago Tribune in 1903. The following year, he moved to NYC, and began writing for the New York Evening Mail, becoming one of its columnists. While there, he immortalized the double-play combination of the Chicago Cubs, Tinker to Evers to Chance, in the poem, “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.” Married showgirl Minna Schwartze in 1904. No children from the union, which ended in divorce in 1924. In 1913, he moved over to the New York Tribune, where his column was given the name by which he would subsequently be known, “The Conning Tower.” The latter referred to the superstructure of a submarine, from which the vehicle could be commanded once it surfaced, an apt metaphor for his own subterranean and subaquan sense of humorous insight and satire. Wrote under his initials FPA, while covering culture, society and current events, in his widely-read daily column. During WW I, he served in the army, while contributing to the military paper, “Stars and Stripes,” which brought him into contact with several of the future prime players of The New Yorker magazine, who would play central roles in the NY’s literary scene. Switched allegiance to the New York World in 1921, and after its close in 1931, returned to the redubbed New York Herald Tribune. In 1925, he married socialite Esther Root. The duo had three sons and a daughter, before going their separate ways around 1950. Despite expressing tender feelings towards his children in his poetry, his focus was always outside his family life, and his progeny saw him as aloof and distant. Exerted enormous influence, particularly in the cultural sphere, with his recommendations guaranteeing a readership or viewership for those who impressed him. During the 1920s, he was an integral part of the group of writers and wits who gathered for lunch around the Round Table at the Algonquin Hotel, and impressed one another with their verbal sallies and bon mots. Used his column to push the works of his fellow Algonquinites and others, since it was a must read for both their potential audiences, as well as the heads of the city’s various publishing houses. In 1938, he extended his media reach into radio, becoming one of the panelists on the popular “Information Please,” posturing as a literary expert, with poetry and the works of Gilbert (Harold Pinter) & Sullivan (Elton John), among his areas of expertise. Enjoyed a decade-long run on the show, whose contributors won an encyclopedia if they could stump his fellow panelists. By the end of the 1940s, he began showing signs of what may have been Alzheimer’s disease, where his memory failed him and his temper often got the best of him. After his second divorce, he lived alone in an apartment, before he became totally unable to care for himself, and he wound up in a nursing home, where he died. Aside from the various collections of his writings he sporadically issued, he also translated the Roman poet Horace (T.S. Eliot), as well as other classical writers. Despite his eminent popularity during his active life, he wound up a figure of his time, totally forgotten by subsequent generations. Inner: Witty, convivial, opinionated, and far more into his career than his domestic life, with a hidden anger that belies most wits, which finally came out in his uncontrolled endlife. Always had a cigar firmly clamped in his mouth as an adult. Conning tower lifetime of playing well to his contemporary audiences, both in person and in print, before ultimately sinking into his own angry abyss, and allowing his dark psyche to emerge periscope-like as the singular manifestation of his true self.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS SCOTTISH SONG AND JOKESMITH:
Storyline: The good-humored highlander knows how to mine commercial gold from his cheeky, cultural sensibilities, treating the wayning world to his ongoing brand of progressive retro wit.
Michael Myers (1963) - Canadian/American comedian. Outer: Parents emigrated from England to Canada. Grew up in a lower middle-class milieu, with his extended family mostly railway workers and miners. Father had been a British army cook who became an Encyclopedia Britannica and insurance salesman, and also had a goofy sense of humor, singing pop songs all the time, while barring people from the house when he felt they were unfunny. His mother was a performer who had given up her career to raise 3 sons, while remaining a delightful eccentric. Youngest of brood. Wanted to be an actor/writer/director from an early age. His father used to wake up his sons to watch late-night British comedies and spy films. He eventually died from Alzheimer disease in 1991, and his son was deeply influenced by him. 5’7”. Began appearing in commercials at the age of 8. Did one with Gilda Radner, then later saw her on “Saturday Night Live,” and vowed to follow in her footsteps. After high school, he joined the Second City troupe in Toronto, which was considered ‘a college for comedians.’ Spent 8 years with the troupe, first in Toronto, then Chicago. Also unsuccessful in England during that period, trying to break into movies. Joined “Saturday Night Live” at 26, and created numerous characters for the show, most memorably, Wayne Campbell, who shot an underground TV show called ‘Wayne’s World,’ in his basement in Aurora, Illinois, along with pal Garth, played by Dana Carvey. The success of the sketch carried over into 2 popular movies, which he co-wrote. Made ‘Not!’ a disclaiming byword of popular parlance. Married screenwriter Robin Ruzan at 30, and quit “SNL” 2 years later to pursue a movie career fulltime, although not before taking time off from his career to read, travel and play, as well as deal with the profound sense of loss he felt at his father’s death. The duo later separated in 2006. Specializes in immature characters, and his unique humor has made him both a popular TV and film figure. Invented British retro-spy Austin Powers, based on his father’s humor, which had a successful film series run, beginning in 1999, and quickly achieving cult status. Has also explored dramatic roles, although his niche is cultural comedy. Inner: A perfectionist who develops his projects slowly, he often spends years between them, to allow his processes their full expansion. Strong work ethic, cheeky sense of humor, and at heart, a silly person, his parents’ son. Tuned to his times lifetime of expanding his abilities, with his father acting as a reflection of his life past in this series, in order to spur him on to build on that foundation and augment both his talents and audience. Sir Harry Lauder (1870-1950) - Scottish singer and comedian. Outer: Of humble origins, his father was a potter, who died before he was 12. The eldest of 8, he worked as a child laborer in a flax mill, where he won singing competitions. Spent 10 years laboring and singing in coal mines, when fellow workers urged him to take his act overground. Started to appear in music hall revues, singing songs that he wrote, which were comedic and either Irish or English, before performing in a kilt. Quickly became a well-loved figure, mixing comedy with songs. Small and grouchy-looking, his success defied analysis, depending, as it did, more on energy, than it did on personality. Much of his humor was of the obvious variety, but he knew how to deliver both a song and a joke to best affect, employing his strong Scottish burr. At the height of his popularity, he worked 4 houses a night. With a large repertory of his own songs, he toured the world, despite reflecting a fanciful, rather than the real Scotland. Best-known for the song, ‘Roaming in the Gloaming,’ which he later used as the title of the first of 4 sets of reminiscences he wrote. Married in 1890 to Ann Vallance, the daughter of the underground manager of a mine. One of his brothers subsequently married one of her sisters. One son from the union who died in 1916 in WW I. Performed both in America and Europe, earning $3000 a week during the early 1900s, as one of the highest paid performers in vaudeville. Given a hero’s welcome each time he came to the United States, making 22 American tours all told. Cultivated a stingy image for laughs, although was strongly motivated by the high salaries he earned. Entertained the troops in France during WW I and gave many concerts for war charities. Lost his wife in 1927, and did sporadic filmwork in his later career, although he was far better known for his stage presence. Knighted in his late 40s, and virtually a national institution in Scotland. Entertained troops during WW II, as well. Performed until he was nearly 80 and died of arterio-thrombosis and kidney disease a year after retiring. Inner: Kindly, though stingy, with a gift for friendship. Subterranean Scottish lifetime of literally rising from the underworld to become a much-beloved star, based more on his delivery than his personality or talent.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS SELF-STYLED MISSIONARY:
Storyline: The libertarian controversialist knows how to stir up his audiences with a combination of projections and paranoia, as he gives voice to his crypto-iconic status as the previous generation’s poster boy for unyielding conservative ideals.
Glenn Beck (1964) - American media personality. Outer: From a family of bakers of Scandinavian descent. Father ran a bakery called the Sweet Tooth in a small town. Had two sisters and two brothers. When he was 15, his mother, who suffered from addiction and manic depression, drowned, after his had parents divorced, in what may have been a suicide. Later a stepbrother killed himself, while his other male sibling had a youthful but fatal heart attack. Raised a Roman Catholic and grew up in working-class environs in the northwest, suffering from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Fascinated by radio from an early age, he won a contest for an hour of radio airtime when he was 13, and a year later was a late-night and weekend disk jockey at a trinity of stations, one Christian, one rock and one country, although was fired for missing shifts at all 3, at the tender age of 14. His internal anger and rage led to drugs at 16, while feeling he was an egomaniacal fraud destined for the same end as his mother. Began his full-time career immediately after graduation and enjoyed early success, becoming the nation’s youngest morning top-40 DJ at 18, before moving about the country, ultimately winding up in New Haven, Conn. After coming to Washington, he married Claire, and had two daughters, the older of whom has cerebral palsy. Despite his easy rise, by the age of 30, he was addicted to both alcohol, drinking a gallon of Jack Daniels a week, and drugs, to the point where he fell through a window while intoxicated, permanently injuring his back. His marriage disintegrated into divorce in 1994, as he began looking for redemption through religion, and recovery through the ministrations of AA. Entered Yale Univ. as a theology major, although only lasted a semester, while his career bottomed out. Met his second wife, Tania, a former fan of his, in 1998, and married a second time the following year, with an adopted son and a daughter from the union, while converting to Mormonism and being baptized as such at the same time, after exploring various religious possibilities. Decided to become a talk-show radio host, and in 2001, he launched himself as such in Florida. By 2002, he was a nationally syndicated figure, after his libertarian views found a large audience, who enjoyed his storytelling skills, and his carelessly entertaining way with facts. That combination allowed him to rise to number three in talk radio, with a projected audience of 5 million. Added cable TV to his c.v. via CNN in 2006, finding a similar niche as a political entertainer, as well as a modest audience tuned to his particular prejudicial take on world events and pop culture. In early 2009, he joined Fox News, and quickly doubled and trebled his audience, while his rants and opinions became anathema to a far wider swath of people. Called Barack Obama a racist and lost much advertising revenue, although it was quickly made up in other quarters, thanks to his high ratings, and his ability to constantly tweak his critics. Gears his shows towards apocalyptic fears, and in the process has become a horror show host of sorts, playing off of America’s dread of foreign isms, while serving as a blackboard instructor for those who ascribe to his school of political conspiracies replete with elites plotting to seize control over all our lives, including pointy-headed professors and progressives. Creator of the 9/12 Project, based on his patriotic principles and values, as his star continues to rise as an agenda-heavy doomsayer and missionary for an America that largely exists in his own perfervid imagination. Founder and editor of “Fusion,” a conservative political magazine, and the author of several best-selling tomes, while also touring the U.S. in a stage show twice a year, beginning in 2005. In 2010, he gave the keynote address at CPAC, calling for purity of party to give it parity with the unspeakable progressivism of the liberal agenda. Raked in some $32 million in 2009, while broadly hinting that the true motivation behind all he does is a blinding bank account, and little else. Announced in 2010 he is starting Beck University, an online and uncredited affair, with Faith, Hope and Charity as touchstones for the various courses taught. Also announced he may be going blind from a genetic disorder. Inner: Highly emotional, with a penchant for easy public tears, and a hyperdramatic read of everything that makes anybody’s newscast, and a lot of things which don’t. Born again lifetime of losing, then finding himself as an entertaining voice of the Apocalypse, in his ongoing sense of mission to prepare America for the worst by appealing to its most untrusting, fearful and jittery elements. John Birch (1918-1945) - American missionary and military intelligence officer. Outer: Both his parents were Baptist missionaries. The eldest of six, with four brothers. Born in the Himalayas, and, at 2, returned with his parents to the U.S., growing up in New Jersey and Georgia. Showed himself to be an angry young zealot, and a great defender of his faith, which defined him. Went to Mercer Univ., a Southern Baptist school, where he organized a witch hunt against heretic professors who believed in apostate theories such as evolution, and then decided to become a missionary like his parents, enrolling in Bible Baptist Seminary in Texas. Tall and lean. Sailed to China in 1940, and began studying Mandarin, although was forced to flee to eastern China following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in late 1941. Used his time to establish new missions, and through a meeting with Air Force Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, whom he helped to safety after crash landing, he was recruited as an intelligence officer and commissioned a first lieutenant. Went to work for the OSS, the primary U.S. intelligence gathering outfit during the WW II era, and proved highly effective in pinpointing Japanese military locales through his network of Chinese informers. Aggressive in his continued pursuit of his missionary work, seeing himself as an evangelical above all else, and as anti-communist as he was anti-Japanese. Promoted to captain and given the Legion of Merit in 1944. The following year, he was taken prisoner 11 days after VJ day by communist soldiers in China, while leading a mixed group to a Japanese prison camp, and, after refusing to give up his revolver, was shot and killed. The rest of his party was imprisoned, but soon released. Became the first victim of the Cold War, and as such, an iconic hero to hardcore traditionalists, who formed the John Birch Society in 1958, using him as symbol of recalcitrant resistance to any ism to the left of democratic capitalism. Awarded the Distinguished Service Medal posthumously. Inner: Brash, aggressively religious, and fiercely focused on everything he did. Ultimately iconic lifetime of immortalizing himself through his unbending sense of mission as well as his unconscious sense of timing, making his a famous name that would far outlive his actions.
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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS OVERWEIGHT, OVERWROUGHT CLOWN:
Storyline: The hefty life of the party embraces death as the ultimate joke on himself in his inability to find any sort of balance between his appetite for food, fame and fortune and the restrictions that mortality always places on all three.
Chris Farley (1964-1997) - American comedian. Outer: From a close Catholic, church-going family. Middle of 5 children. His childhood heroes were the original male stars of “Saturday Night Live,” particularly John Belushi, whom he spent a brief lifetime trying to emulate. 5’8”, and heavyset. Brother Kevin would become a comedian as well. Educated at Marquette Univ., and then began his show business career doing stand-up comedy with the Second City troupe, like his inspirers, and eventually graduated to “Saturday Night Live,” in 1990, first as a support player and then one of its mainstays, through his 5 years with the show. Began his film career in 1992 with Wayne’s World, and then went on to star in several popular vehicles of his own, most notably Beverly Hills Ninja, often playing his large figure off of small comic, David Spade. A compulsion to be the on all the time, as well as an extremely addictive personality, led him to continually binge on food, drink, sex and drugs, particularly cocaine and heroin, causing him to balloon up past 300 pounds. Although he was in and out of drug and alcohol-rehab clinics, AA meetings and weight loss centers, he was incapable of maintaining any kind of discipline around any of his appetites. Often shy when not in an altered state, he spent his last weeks in Chicago, as a regular church-goer. After a drug’n’drink fueled four days of no sleep, he spent his last night with a prostitute named Heidi, smoking crack and snorting cocaine. Ultimately found dead in his apartment by his brother, clutching a baseball cap and rosary beads. The same age as John Belushi, who also exited via a lethal combination of narcotic intoxicants. Inner: Extremely child/like and vulnerable, without the ability to transmute the love of his audiences into a sense of self-love. Great need to be the center of attention at all times, and, despite continued warnings from friends and associates, totally heedless of his addictions and their deadly effect on him. Bottomless pit lifetime of emulating a self-destructive idol right down to his demise, in an ongoing binge of outer love and inner self-dislike, with no internal facility to control his behavior our desires. Norman ‘Chubby’ Chaney (1918-1936) - American comedian. Outer: Won a nationwide contest to be the heavyset star of the ‘Our Gang,’ series, and made 18 of them between 1929 and 1931. Had a trademark frown that swallowed his face alive. Returned to public school following his brief Hollywood run, but because of a glandular condition, he ballooned up to 300 pounds and had to be operated on to ameliorate his excess. Dropped down to 136 pounds after the operation, but never recovered from the complications that ensued, and died the following year. Inner: Well-liked, with a good sense of humor. Hindenberg lifetime of extreme discomfort in an overweight body, despite natural clowning abilities, necessitating an early explosive exit to try the exact same dynamics from a psychological, rather than a physiological sense of displacement.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS FAUX BLOWHARD:
Storyline: The posturing pundit parlays self-parody into iconic status for himself as the contrived answer to clueless media gasbags, while hiding a far more spiritual sober-sided side of himself, as an exemplar of the power of positive faith-infused thinking.
Stephen Colbert (1964) - American comedian, satirist and writer. Outer: Youngest of 11 children of an Irish Catholic family, with 7 brothers and 3 sisters. Mother had always wanted to be an actress, and was “a very big personality,” according to her son. Father was an introverted immunologist and the vice-president for academic affairs at the Medical Univ. of South Carolina. Grew up in a stimulating environment where questioning religion didn’t take away from a sense of spiritual devotion. Despite being raised in the South, he deliberately trained himself to sound neutrally American by imitating news anchors, in order to sidestep a TV stereotype that he saw of dumb Southern crackers. When he was ten his father and two brothers were killed in an airplane crash on the way towards enrolling the latter duo in a prep school. His household was suddenly reduced to two, with everyone else off to college or working and he and his mother subsequently moved to Charleston, where he felt completely disconnected and retreated into religion, fantasy, science fiction and role-playing games in order to compensate for his profound sense of father-loss. Beaten regularly at a new school, he soon discovered that joke-telling protected him. Participated in school drama and the school newspaper, and also fronted for a Rolling Stones cover band. 5’10 1/2” and bespectacled. Originally wanted to be a marine biologist, but a perforated eardrum ended that dream, and he wound up deaf in his right ear. Went to Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and continued to pursue acting, while studying philosophy. Two years later he transferred to Northwestern Univ.’s School of Communication in order to study Theater Arts. Initially, he had little interest in comedy, and did experimental plays, which led him to Chicago’s Annoyance Theater, a dramatic improv group that looked down on their comic brethren. After graduating in 1986, he found himself depressed and without faith, until someone handed him a Gideon Bible on the street, which reinvigorated his sense of spirituality. The only theater work he could find was with the comedic Second City troupe, working their phones and box office, which entitled him to take classes at their training center. Subsequentlye joined the troupe’s touring company, and hooked up with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello as writing partners, after an initial strained relationship with the latter. Married Evelyn McGee, who would occasionally play his mother in sketches he wrote for “Strangers with Candy.” One daughter and two sons from the union, who would later appear on “The Daily Show,” although he wouldn’t let them watch him on TV, for fear they’d misunderstand the irony behind his performances. Relocated to NYC, in the mid-1990s, for another insecure stretch, before finally getting a TV writing stint with VH1. Subsequently created a Comedy Central TV sketch series “Exit 57,” in 1995 with Sedaris and Dinello, which got good reviews, but barely lasted a season. Flitted between network and cable over the next year, then joined his previous partners in 1998 for “Strangers with Candy,” a parody of high school specials replete with off-kilter moral lessons, which gained a cult following. In it, he played a closeted and completely oblivious homophile his/story teacher, whose egregiously dense displays would serve as a basis for his later equally obtuse pundit character. The series would later take film form, to somewhat mixed reviews, as was the show, whose appeal was limited, albeit cultish by those who thoroughly enjoyed its off-the-wall humor. The previous year he joined the cast of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” as a parody correspondent, although the show didn’t really click with a large audience until Jon Stewart took over hosting and writing duties in 1999, when it began to serve as a much-needed counterfoil to the extended 2000 presidential election season. Developed a self-important opinionater character whose resolute ignorance resonated with audiences, winning him three writing Emmys in 2004, 2005 and 2006. His various bits got him his own spin-off series, “The Colbert Report,” in late 2005, in which he continued playing the character he had created. The show proved an instant hit for Comedy Central, subsequently embarrassing numerous politicians who appeared on it, until many became leery of subjecting themselves to its host’s devastating and dead-on wit. Earned an appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006, during which much of his delicious repartee about the Bush Administration and the media sailed right over the heads of its invited targets. Vaulted to the top of the NY Times bestseller list with “I Am America (And So Can You!),” and has also made guest appearances on a variety of both comedy and dramatic TV series, in keeping with the actor that lies behind all his performances. In 2008, he announced he would run for president as a favorite son in his native South Carolina, on the Democratic primary ballot, although the effort was thwarted, by those who took the designation far too seriously. Won a comedy album Grammy in 2010. Inner: News junkie, nominal Democrat and practicing Roman Catholic, with a strong moral sense, and a genuine desire to expose hypocrisy. Despite his Irish roots, uses a French pronunciation (Col-bear) for his name. Father-loss and deafness on his right, or male, side, seem to have opened him up to his deeper left-side sense of spirituality. Tries to live without fear and worry, seeing both as counterproductive. Role-playing lifetime of finding a perfect character to capture the public imagination, while rediscovering his deep sense of faith and abiding belief in the extraordinary in ordinariness. Irvin S. Cobb (1876-1944) - American writer, humorist and columnist. Outer: Both parents were descended from early Kentucky settlers. His maternal grandfather, Dr. Reuben Saunders, discovered a cure for cholera via hypodermically-induced morphine-atropine. Father was initially in the tobacco trade, then the steamboat business, before managing a river supply store. Second of 4 children. Grew up in his grandfather’s large house, and had an enchanted childhood filled with colorful characters, whom he would later explore and expand upon in his writings. Educated both publicly and privately, he augmented his studies with a ton of reading, ranging from the classics to dime novel trash. Suffered childhood’s end, when he was forced to quit school at 16 at the death of his grandfather died, because his father was unable to cope with it and turned to the bottle as salve for his loss. Began writing for his native Paducah Daily News at 17, and within two years, he was the country’s youngest managing news editor. Shifted over to the Louisville Evening Post afterwards. Unimpressive physically, and ultimately a caricaturist’s delight, with a rotund figure, jutting eyebrows, heavy jowls, a triple chin and a ubiquitous cigar in his mouth. Laura Spacer Baker, one daughter from the union, Elizabeth Cobb, who became a novelist. Moved to NYC and in 1904, he was hired by the NY Evening Sun, who sent him to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to cover the Russian-Japanese negotiations to end their 1904-1905 war. His personality-driven articles were syndicated and secured his next position at Joseph Pulitzer’s (Rudy Giuliani) NY World, where he became the country’s highest paid staff reporter. Began appearing in silent films, starting with The Arab in 1915, and continued playing sporadic roles into the 1930s. Covered WW I for the Saturday Evening Post, and later wrote about his experiences in “Paths of Glory.” Fairly prolific in his output, he contributed to a variety of periodicals, while also co-writing several Broadway productions, as well as providing the story for a host of motion pictures. His best-remembered works would be humorous tales of his Kentucky past, focusing on local color. With them, he eventually became the most widely read short story writer of his times. His first collection came out in 1915, and he would continue issuing them periodically. In addition, he also penned horror tales, and was ultimately rewarded for the universality of his efforts by being made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. Hosted the 1935 Academy Awards, and spent the latter part of his career as an after-dinner speaker and Chautauqua lecturer. Died of dropsy in his hotel apartment, and left instructions that his funeral should be cheerful. Inner: Enjoyed living well, and rarely exercised. Subject to irritability and occasional flashes of hot temper, despite his largely good-humored disposition. Staunch Democrat, but more and more conservative as he grew older. Corn-off-the-cobb lifetime of parlaying a highly companionable wit into a well-received multimedia career of self-expression, while living well as his own best revenge against a truncated magical childhood, that thrust him into adulthood before he could take the full measure and pleasure of it.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS UNINTEGRATED CHARACTER:
Storyline: The reincarnated racist finds himself in a body color he had earlier despised, and does his self-destructive best in trying to come to terms with the karmic repercussions of his new identity.
Martin Lawrence (1965) - American comedian. Outer: His mother raised her children in a housing project working as a cashier. His father, who was in the Air Force, left the family when he was 8. One of 6, and born overseas, while his progenitor was stationed in Germany. Hyperactive, flunked 2nd grade. Entertained his mother, and later an art teacher allowed him to tell jokes at the end of class in a trade-off for being quiet during it. 5’7 1/2”. Began as a stand-up comic, and parlayed his success into roles in two hit films, before becoming the star of Fox network’s first African-American sit-com, the eponymous “Martin,” but the success of the show turned him into a power freak, throwing tantrums, firing his manager, and making life unpleasant for those working with him. At 30, he married Patricia Southall, a former Miss Virginia, one daughter from union. After another hit turn costarring in Bad Boys, he began flubbing his lines and laughing hysterically over nothing in his next film, before being sent home by the director, only to pull out a gun at a carwash and wander the streets shouting. Despite recovering from the incident, his wife filed divorce papers on him, claiming she feared for her life. Later that year, the co-star on his show quit, charging him with sexual harassment, which was settled out-of-court, but also ended the show. Caused more headlines by collapsing in excessive heat on his front doorstep, then lingering twixt life’n’death for 3 days before recovering. Despite his ongoing problems, including being extremely difficult to work with, and causing continual havoc on his sets, he reached the $20 million per film mark as a top tier comedian at century’s new beginning, and remains a man at sea with himself. Attempted to explain himself in the concert film, Runteldat, while maintaining the desire to make people laugh as his ultimate motivation for everything. In 2010, he married his longtime girlfriend Shamika Gibbs. Inner: Manic energy, mixture of arrogance and anger, extremely insecure, blaming marijuana for many of his lapses. Skin-switching lifetime of continuing to search for maturity through a highly public profile, and a change of races, which ironically countered his racist views of his previous existence in this series. Carl Switzer (1926-1959) - American comedian. Outer: Father was a Nazified German who drilled into his son that he was a member of the master race, and was superior to everyone else. Began performing in early childhood, before joining the ‘Our Gang’ gang at Hal Roach studios under the nickname ‘Alfalfa.’ Freckle-faced with a squeaky voice, he became one of the mainstays of the series for 7 years, making some 60 shorts, although he was roundly disliked by his fellow child performers. Spoiled rotten and a constant practical joker and pest. Despite his antic off-key singing, he was trained in the vocal arts, and had begun his career as a chid singer. After the ‘Our Gang’ comedies, he worked in features, although as he grew older, there was less and less demand for him, and he wound up doing bit parts in films. Married Dian Collingwood, a Kansas City heiress for 5 weeks in his late 30s, then was arrested later that year for drunken driving, one child from the union. Exhibited strong and stronger antisocial behavior as he got older, turning on his friends, and often getting involved in fights. Became a fishing and hunting guide in California and eventually a bartender. Shot in the arm while exiting his car, although the assailant was never caught, then was arrested for chopping down 15 pine trees in a National Forest. Tried a comeback with a small role in The Defiant Ones, then had to wait for its release. While doing so, he was shot to death in the stomach by a former hunting-venture partner in the latter’s house when he came at him with a knife over a $50 reward for a lost dog. The shooting was subsequently ruled justifiable homicide. Died the same day as legendary director Cecil B. DeMille, in one final ironic upstagement. Inner: Racist, angry, totally self-involved, and a continual brooder. Closet Nazi lifetime of being programmed into an unjustified sense of his own racial superiority, before descending into his own rage when the world failed to support his inflated sense of self, causing him to finally self-destruct through it.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS ADOLESCENT ADULANT:
Storyline: The nimble buffoon employs the same strategies and tactics that had earlier served him well in fashioning a self-satisfying career two lifetimes in the making, giving his childishness play in public and its more mature counterpart in private, in an attempt to integrate the two via a great need for mass adulation.
Adam Sandler (1966) - American comedian. Outer: Of Jewish descent, and the youngest of 4. Born in Brooklyn, but raised in New Hampshire. Father was an electrical engineer. Close to his parents, idolizing the former. Initially wanted to be a fireman, but his draw towards clowning proved a far greater pull. Class cut-up and slacker while growing up. After impulsively jumping up and taking advantage of an open mike in a comedy club, he knew that laughter would be his professional pursuit from then on. 5’10”. In the 1980s, he worked on MTV game shows doing characters, in a quasi-performance artist mode, before landing a repeat role on the popular “Cosby Show,” mid-decade for a four year run. During that time he graduated NYU with a B.F.A. in 1988. Continued doing standup, and was steered into becoming a staff writer with TV’s “Saturday Night Live,” in 1990, and soon became a cast member, with a variety of characters, as well as a host of offbeat songs. Left the show in 1995, to pursue a film career, and quickly made himself into a brand, playing misfits and outcasts, who, nevertheless, triumph at the end, beginning with Billy Madison in 1995, which he also wrote. Within three years, he had reached a $100 million + plateau with his formulaic slapstick comedies, thanks in large part to the fanatic loyalty of the teenage boys and young men who identified with his variations on his singular themes, most of which would go on include fellow alumni from his SNL days. Having assured his success, he surrounded himself with a close coterie, many of whom are longtime friends, and avoids media contact, since his fans don’t read critics anyway, using TV shows to promote his films, which raised him to the $20 million per picture level. Able to expand into more dramatic roles as well, giving credible and much more critic-friendly performances in several subsequent films, playing off his fumbling and endearing earnestness. Formed Happy Madison Productions to develop scripts for fellow SNL alumni, as well as an online entertainment company, Shnorff.com, which produces animated and live-action programming. Has managed to match his screen career with comedy CDs, which play off his darker sensibilities, rather than the innocent he usually portrays on the screen, whose supporting characters act out his peccadilloes, so as not to offend the parents of his core audience. In 2003, he married model Jackie Titone, son and daughter from union, with the former appearing in several of his films. Inner: Goofy and shy. Hard-working, involving himself in every level of his product, from the script to cutting the trailer. Proud of his Jewish heritage, and a devoted NY sports fan. Realized lifetime of achieving his previous go-round’s goal of being comically heroic and childlike at once, and being well-rewarded for his triumphant efforts. Lou Costello (1908-1959) - American comedian. Outer: From Paterson, NJ., which he subsequently mentioned in many of his film or TV work. Originally wanted to be a professional athlete. 5’4”, and increasingly rotund as he got older. Began his working life in his teens with a variety of jobs. Fought as a boxer a few times, then went out to Hollywood with the hope of landing in films, but wound up as a laborer on several studio lots, and the only work he could get in front of the camera was as a stunt man. Entered comedy after a local vaudeville house put out a call for a “Dutch comedian.” Worked with several partners as the clown to their straight-man on the vaudeville and burlesque circuit, and married Ann Battlers in 1934, 3 daughters and a son from union. Met Bud Abbot in 1936, who was his physical opposite, tall and serious, while he was dumpy and clownish. Both ditched their partners and became a team, touring the vaudeville circuit. After a Broadway run with a variety review, “The Streets of Paris,” they graduated to radio, introducing verbal burlesque routines to an audience who had never heard them. They were a surprise success, thanks to their innate comic chemistry, and they quickly translated their popularity into film, beginning in 1940 with One Night in the Tropics, followed by Buck Privates, which was a megahit. With Abbott playing the dour chastiser, and himself the victim of the former’s snarls and slaps, as well as pratfall reactions to them, the two were able to transliterate vaudeville into the newer mediums, creating several classic routines, which they perfected, rather than created, including “Who’s on first?,” a convoluted baseball riddle. Both were very active during WW II raising millions for the war effort. The pair would make 34 films together, eventually becoming slapstick icons, with Abbott and Costello integrated into the titles of many of the later ones. Completely undisciplined in his performing, he would often ad-lib and extend routines, with his trademark, “I’m a ba-a-a-a-a-ad boy!” while his partner predictably tried to rein him in. Offstage, the roles were reversed, where he made most of the career decisions, privately playing the adult of the two, while publicly performing as if he were still an adolescent. Caught rheumatic fever, which is usually a childhood disease, in 1942, and he had to rest for nine months. The next year, his son, who would have been a year old the next day, drowned in a swimming pool accident. After hearing the news, he, nevertheless, went on to perform that night, but his marriage would be shaky forever after, thanks to his blaming his wife for not taking care of her responsibilities. Insisted afterwards that he wanted to play more sympathetic, heroic parts, and for the next 2 films, his partner acquiesced, taking a lesser role, as the team was almost renamed Costello & Abbot. Went back to their formulaic work, while retaining top box office status,during the 1950s, and had a season’s run on TV in 1952 and 1953, after forming his own production company, TV Corporation of America. The pair got into tax trouble, thanks to their lack of business acumen, and an accountant who couldn’t count right, and were hounded by the IRS. By 1957, Abbott, who had been afflicted with epilepsy for decades, no longer had the energy for the act, and the team, which had periodically been rancorous, despite an abiding affection both had for one another, finally split up. Made one film on his own, The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock, before dying shortly afterwards, of a heart attack, after uttering one final hallucinatory line of childish delight, “That was the best ice cream soda I ever tasted.” Inner: Expert tumbler, and far more physical than his seemingly clumsy persona projected. Evinced far more discontent than his public image, as well, often wanting what he did not have, rather than appreciating what he did. Slapstick master lifetime of publicly playing the amiable stooge, while keeping his anger private, allowing him to be a mass masochistic foil for his audience’s need for an entertaining whippingboy, who well knows how to hide his pain.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS ETERNAL HIPSTER:
Storyline: The truth-telling trickster cleans up his inner act through a far more solid, loving upbringing, and, in doing so, is able to bring his perceptive, biting commentary to a far wider audience without thoroughly undoing himself in the process.
Chris Rock (1967) - American comedian. Outer: Of African-American descent. Father was a truck driver, mother was a teacher who worked with the mentally handicapped. Oldest of 7, parents also took in foster children. Brother Tony became a comedian as well. Enjoyed a loving home and close family, who were his first audience. Wanted to be a famous comic from the age of 7. Grew up on a brownstone block in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn but was bussed to an all-white school, where he was “smacked around like a hockey puck,” before being switched to a neighborhood school. Learned his verbal skills through ranking sessions with friends, as well as listening to comedy albums, particularly Richard Pryor. Thin and lithe, 5’11”, 140 lbs, grew up on rap music, and has turned it into his own scatter-shot commentary. Dropped out of high school at 17 to become a stand-up comic, later got his GED. Worked as a busboy, then was so frightened at his first show in 1984, he had to be pushed on stage, but became a regular at the Comic Strip, after camping out in front of it initially in his car. Inspired by the career of Eddie Murphy, whom he later met, and got him his debut role in films in Beverly Hills Cop II in 1987. Although he achieved some bit roles on TV, he spent years on the comedy circuit, listening to other comedians and performing, while landing parts in movies, including his own rap satire, CB4. His father’s death in 1988 was very traumatic, forcing him to help support the family. A 3 year stint on “Saturday Night Live,” beginning in 1990, cemented his career as a hip young comic, although he was accused of not giving his all for the show, which was followed by a half-year stint on “In Living Color.” Won a cable Ace award for an HBO special, ‘Big Ass Jokes,’ and received his anointment as ‘The Performer’ of his generation with “Bring the Pain,” skewering black culture and public personalities. A veritable panther on stage, prowling, stalking and striding before his audience, while using a preacher’s cadence to limn his incisive insights. Author of “Rock This,” huckster for several products, as well as host of his own HBO late-night show, the eponymous, “Chris Rock Show,” from 1997 to 2000. Won 3 Emmys, 2 for a 1996 special, and 2 Grammys for his various efforts. Married Malaak Compton, a public relations coordinator in his late 20s, one child from union. Experienced the death of fellow comic and close friend Chris Farley as unconscious reflection of his earlier self-induced demise. His movie career continues to expand his possibilities, as he credits his own sense of discipline with breaking through to the other side of himself, although he remains a Hollywood outsider. Made his directorial debut in 2003 with Head of State, although that medium remained elusive to his visual sensibilities, despite his scabrous wit. Hosted the 2005 Oscar telecast, in an attempt by the producers to reach a younger audience, although tempered his sensibilities in order to do so, while viewing the move as a further grounding for his own film career. Later that year, he launched a sitcom, as writer/producer/narrator, “Everybody Hates Chris,” based on his own childhood difficulties as a bussed student. Continually improving as a slash/slash/slash filmmaker, despite distinct limitations as an actor, as evinced by I Think I Love My Wife, a wicked 2007 remake of an earlier French New Wave classic. Inner: Self-acclaimed “duke of doubt.” Honest, wise and modest, with a much softer tongue in private, saving his scatology for public appearances. Warm, accessible, witty, perceptive. Healing lifetime of taking his hip brand of humor into African-American culture, and by springing forth from a solid base, has been able to explore it without self-destructing. Lenny Bruce (Leonard Schneider) (1925-1966) - American comedian. Outer: From a Jewish household, his mother harbored show business fantasies, while his father was an English immigrant who fit orthopedic shoes and ultimately became a physio-therapist. Neither parent was in love with the other when they married. Instead, his mother saw the world as her audience. His parents subsequently divorced when he was five, and he grew up under the heavy influence of his mother, who worked occasionally as a stand-up comic under the name of Sally Marr, and introduced him into her fantasy world, taking him to burlesque shows and imbuing his youthful imagination with show business as a universal metaphor, while also arranging the loss of his virginity. Served on a light cruiser during WW II, and on his discharge, his mother took him on “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,” when he was in his mid-20s. Tied for first place and began his career in strip clubs, doing impressions and acting as master of ceremonies, while changing his last name to Bruce. In 1951, he married Honey Harlowe, a Jewish stripper and singer originally named Harriet Jolliff, one daughter from the volatile union. The duo subsequently performed together, but the marriage ended after 7 years, thanks to a mutual taste for heroin that both developed. Lived in the night-world of musicians and club performers, while he honed his edgy commentary. Arrested once for impersonating a priest raising money for a leper colony, as one of his endless scams in a largely fly-by-night life. Worked briefly as a Hollywood screenwriter, and appeared in one low budget film, Dance Hall Racket in 1958, along with his wife. During this period, his comedy turned darker and darker, taking on the tenor of jazz music, as he riffed through taboo fantasies, building on observation and character, rather than just spraying jokes. Employed his stage as a confessional, working out uncomfortable truths, and using the appropriate street language for them. That language fell under legal guidelines for obscenity and he was arrested several times for his performances, as well as his ongoing drug use. Drained by his subsequent trials, in which he saw himself as a martyr for free expression, he began to obsess in his performances about his own legal plights, while self-destructing through heroin, the narcotic of choice of his generation’s night/world. Forced to declare bankruptcy in his mid-40s, he died the following year of a heroin overdose, slumped over in the bathroom, with a needle in his arm. Wrote his autobiography, How To Talk Dirty and Influence People, the year before he died. The film bio Lenny with Dustin Hoffman, revived interest in him after his death, while “Ladies and Gentleman, Lenny Bruce,” by Albert Goldman painted a bleak picture of him as drug-addled, self-involved and hell-bent on self-destruction. Served as a touchstone for later generations of comedians, who took his freedom of expression and freedom of fantasy and were able to fly even further with it. Inner: Obsessive, compulsive, never did anything half-way. Once said, ‘I’m not a comedian, I’m Lenny Bruce.’ Overdosed on everything that brought him pleasure or escape. Undisciplined lifetime of creating himself as a totally original commentator, only to ultimately fall prey to the larger paranoia at the heart of his acute perceptions.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS COMIC IN THE KEY OF B-SHARP:
Storyline: The madcap musician plays himself into a comedic corner in his earlier go-round, and so returns with his comic and musical sensibilities sharply divided, so as to enjoy twin careers in both realms, without the one taking away from the other.
Jack Black (1969) - American actor and musician. Outer: Of Jewish descent. Parents were communication satellite engineers who divorced when he was 10. Already doing LSD and coke by the 8th grade, he spent a year in a program for troubled youth. A rock’n’roll fan from an early age, with strong musical sensibilities, and an excellent singing voice. Attended a performance arts high school, before going to UCLA, where he joined Tim Robbins’s theater troupe, the Actors’ gang. 5’6 1/2”, overweight. In 1992, he made his film debut in Robbins’s Bob Roberts in a small role. At the same time, he befriended Kyle Gass, with whom he began writing music, before forming the mock rock duo, Tenacious D. Initially serious, their music soon turned to the satirical, as did their overweight preening take on rock idols, in a throwback to his earlier go-round in this series, once again finding an enthusiastic cult audience for his peculiar blend of expert musicianship and inspired tomfoolery. Gradually rose from comic bits playing “stony fat dudes,” to feature player in fare that never fully exploited his talent. Finally found a good vehicle for himself in High Fidelity in 2000, as a manic record store clerk, then achieved genuine stardom in 2003 in The School of Rock, which was written specifically to showcase him. Lived with writer/comedian Laura Knightley, before marrying Tanya Haden, a musician, two sons from union. Proved he could handle straight features with King Kong, then teamed with writer Mike White, to create the production company, Black & White films, whose first effort, Nacho Libre, in which he played a Mexican priest turned wrestler, proved him to be a serious contender as a heavyweight comic of the post-millennium. Inner: Largely nocturnal, with a great concern over how people will respond to him. Anxious, self-doubting, obsessive-compulsive and surprisingly shy for his blend of cocksure comedy. Nevertheless, smart and effortlessly funny. Repeat performance lifetime of compartmentalizing his talents in order to reintegrate around them, while trying to keep his own offbeat fears in harmonious check through pleasing others with his inspired antics. Spike Jones (Lindley Armstrong Jones) (1911-1965) - American bandleader. Outer: Father was a Southern Pacific Railroad agent. Got his nickname from being as thin as a railroad spike. Grew up in the Imperial Valley. Began his career at the age of 12 as a drummer with the Jazzbo Four. Because his parents disapproved of his career path, he had his own apartment at 16, while still in high school, supporting himself by playing professionally. Preternaturally thin. Formed his own Dixieland jazz band in 1934, Spike Jones and His Five Tacks, and eventually became a recording studio session man, playing drums for various vocalists. For kicks, he and his band-mates would do outrageous takes on the hit songs of the day, using all manner of sound to undercut them, including banging toilet seats, goat brays, cowbells, belches and gun-blasts tuned to ‘C-sharp.’ Married Patricia Middleton in 1935, divorced 11 years later, one child from the union. Formed Spike Jones and the City Slickers and scored his first hit during WW II, with “Der Fuehrer’s Face,” and went on to carve a unique niche for himself as a master of slapstick sound, despite being a first-class musician. Wore loud plaid suits, and was constantly chewing gum, while brandishing a gun, which he often discharged in perfect staccato harmony, with occasional birds falling to punctuate his humor. Employed top notch musicians, who also played it for laughs, as well as a bevy of comic singers, including Doodles Weaver, George Rock, and Sir Frederic Gas, whose falsettos, barking, obscene emanations and little boy voices were well-attuned to his brand of satire. Played off the ethnic humor of the time, mocking almost every group, and won the sobriquet of ‘King of Corn,’ a title he resented. Wished also to be taken seriously as a musician, but wound up far too pigeon-holed to get beyond his limited public’s expectations, who refused to listen to his earnest efforts. Married Helen Grayco in 1948, 3 children from the union, including Spike Jones, Jr., who later led a reworking of his band. Played in films, with his band doing set pieces, and had his own radio show by the end of the decade. Ventured into TV in the 1950s, with his own eponymous show in 1954, 1957 and 1960, but the advent of rock’n’roll made his brand of humor passe. Tried a comeback with a straight Big Band, but that era was over with as well. A heavy chain smoker, doing 5 packs of cigarettes a day, he eventually succumbed to emphysema. After his death, his work was revived, and found a whole new audience. Inner: Manic, disgruntled, extremely attuned to the variations of sound, from the highbrow to the lowbrow, but never quite finding satisfaction in his successes. Harbored a strong dislike of rock’n’roll, seeing nothing in it that could be satisfactorily satirized. Different drummer lifetime of being straitjacketed by his own off-the-wall humor, necessitating a return where he could divide his talents, so that each could be given full airing, without the one drowning out the other.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS ONGOING CONCEPTUAL COMIC:
Storyline: The prankster hipster continually moves comedy well beyond its boundaries, treating it first as an improvised jazz riff and then pure performance art, as he redefines funny to both himself and an increasingly larger and more appreciative audience.
Zach Galifianakis (1969) - American comedian and musician. Outer: From a large extended Greek family. Father was a heating oil vendor. One of three children. Enjoyed a boisterous childhood, including having his older brother periodically drag him naked across the front lawn and holding him upside down by his ankles to rid him of any inhibitions. Raised in the Greek Orthodox faith, although largely irreligious. A talented piano player, he initially wanted to be an actor, but deferred to his parents’ wishes and majored in Communication & Film at North Carolina State Univ., failing his last required course by a point, in an act of unconscious rebellion, before heading for NYC. 5’8”, cherubic, blue-eyed and eventually red-bearded. Worked as a nanny, housecleaner and busboy, while taking acting lessons, before finding his true métier in performance art comedy, beginning with a routine at the back of a hamburger restaurant. Made his TV debut in 1996 in “Boston Common,” playing a stoner, then moved to Los Angeles, where he did standup wherever he could. Had small parts in several films, although his career didn’t begin to take sharper public shape until after the turn of the century. Hosted his own talk show, “Late World with Zach,” in 2002, for nine weeks on VH-1, but felt extremely restricted with the straight format, and after its cancellation, struggled for several years. A conceptual comedian to the core, he interlaces his piano-playing with his innate physical sense of comedy, to play off audience tensions around the potential angry menace seemingly lurking behind every performance. Found Comedy Central to his liking in various guises, while building up a cult following on the club circuit for his zany antics, and using the internet and its video-sharing sites to cement his brand of indie comedy into the woof and warp of an audience looking to be shocked and surprised. Came to greater attention via The Comedians of Comedy, a 2005 documentary about like-minded absurdists, which firmly established his off-the-wall reputation. Did a series of ads for Absolut vodka, in 2008, in a red wig, in which he volcanoes into sheer rage in an absurdist setting, which would prove highly effective in selling the product, despite its anti-commercial essence. Parlayed his unique talents into big-budgeted Hollywood fare by 2009, and remains a work-in-progress, constantly looking to get under the skin of his audience. Inner: Silly, but with a sense of darkness about his loopy take on life. Likes to go where people feel uncomfortable, as a comic route, and is totally fearless about the material he uses. Subterranean Greek theater lifetime of delving ever deeper into his angry and absurdist comic sensibilities to see if he can bridge the difficult divide between niche and mass audience acceptance. Lord Buckley (Richard Myrle Buckley) (1906-1960) - American comedian. Outer: Father was an English immigrant. Mother was a gifted storyteller, and part indigenous American. Made his Northern California appearance two weeks before the great San Francisco earthquake. Grew up in a mining town, then worked as a lumberjack, before teaming up with a guitarist to do a musical comedy act on the medicine and tent show circuit. Wound up in the speak-easies of Chicago during the 1920s, and by the 1930s, had his own club, Chez Buckley, after gangster Al Capone (Pablo Escobar), who liked his insulting style with the customers, backed him. Appeared as Dick Buckley with a variety of shtiks, while always feeling a sense of protection around his increasingly outrageous act, although eventually was run out of town by the vice squad. Ran dance marathons the next decade, while also doing vaudeville, offending one-and-all and smoking marijuana on stage. Married several times, the last in the 1940s to Elizabeth Hanson, a dancer, son and daughter from the close union. Returned to Chicago, and worked with many of the jazz greats of the era, which led him eventually to his own inimitable storytelling raps, delivered to syncopated beats. Toured with columnist and pop impresario Ed Sullivan’s USO show during WW II, and appeared on the former’s very first TV “Toast of the Town,” in 1948. Arrested numerous times for marijuana possession, a stimulant he enthusiastically embraced, with Sullivan proving a benefactor there as well in getting him off. During the 1950s, after failing to break into films, he finally found his unique niche, as a performance artist, well before that genre had inculcated itself into American culture. Redubbed himself Lord Buckley, Lord of Flip Manor and Royal holiness of the Far Out, and began using the syncopation of jazz in his monologues, as well as his own sound effects, enjoying cult status among his fellow performers, with his routines on Jesus, “The Nazz,” and Mohandas Gandhi, “the Hip Ghan and his spinnin’ wheel,” as well as Willie the Shake, among others. Refashioned an accent that was part black and part BBC, and peopled his monologues with a make-believe royal court of equally absurd names. Managed to capture many of his routines on records, to immortalize himself in the minds of those too young to hear him in the flesh. Sported a pith helmet and velvet capes, while becoming more and more uninhibited in his behavior, seeing his life as an upbeat musical interlude. Once marched 16 nude people through the lobby of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Lived in Los Angeles in a shack he dubbed “The Crackerbox Palace,” while founding “the First Church of the Living Swing,” America’s first jazz church. Nomadic by nature, he spent his final years in Las Vegas, and then San Francisco. Went on his last tour in 1960, and after falling ill in Chicago, he continued on to NY, only to see his cabaret card confiscated by the city’s vice squad, on the grounds he lied about his previous arrest record. Subsequently suffered a fatal stroke brought on by extreme anxiety, malnutrition and kidney problems. Two days later, a huge to-do occurred between NYC’s culterati and its finest, resulting eventually in the abolition of the card system 7 years later. Lives on through his records, and has been an influence in the lives of both musicians and comics ever since. Inner: Eccentric, joyous and word intoxicated, in what he would call “hipsemantics.” Great lover of life, living it to his own peculiar hilt and lilt, without any sense of responsibility around himself or others around him. Hipster lifetime of turning himself into an absurdist musical dialectician to the delight of a small, but discriminating audience, only to ultimately play himself out around authority’s deaf ears.

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PATHWAY OF THE PERFORMER AS SMART-MOUTHED LASS:
Storyline: The jaundiced Jewish American Princess is silenced by a lisp in act one of her serial career, and more than compensates for it in act two, as an equal opportunity offender with absolutely no inhibition about her choice of target.
Sarah Silverman (1970) - American comedian. Outer: Of Polish and Russian Jewish descent. Her mother, Beth Ann Silverman, was George McGovern’s campaign photographer in 1972, and a local theater company founder. Father was a former social worker who became a retailer with a discount outlet called Crazy Sophie’s. Youngest of 4 daughters. One sister became a feminist rabbi, another an actress, and the third a screenwriter. 5’6”, darek-haired and dark-eyed. Made her stand-up debut in Boston at 17, then moved to NYC where she attended NYU, before dropping out in favor of open mike nights at various Manhattan clubs, which led to her becoming a fulltime performer at comedy clubs around the country. Began her national career with the 1993-4 season of Saturday Night Live as a writer/performer, although was fired after one season, when none of her bits ever aired. Despite being deeply upset by the snub, she continued as a sketch performer on cable TV with a couple of different shows, while establishing her unique performance persona, through her outrageous byplay around ethnic and religious stereotypes, seemingly advocating prejudices as a way of mocking them. Although she has played small parts in a number of films, her medium of choice is TV, in which she has far more freedom to develop her comic riffs. Hooked up with TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel in 2002, which would provide subsequent comic fodder for both, as well as back-and-forth separations, renewals and splits, and has continued as a high profile performer, appearing on any number of shows, sometimes in character, sometimes as herself, and occasionally as an award show host, while always stirring the pot with her off-the-wall commentary. In 2005, she released Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, a filmic record of her stand-up comedy act. Got her own eponymous cable show in 2007 on the Comedy Channel, with her sister Laura as a regular cast member. In 2008, she sponsored the “Great Schlep” viral video campaign to get young Jews to come to Florida to persuade their reluctant grandparents to vote for Barack Obama for president, which also got her a multi-million-dollar book deal, and a subsequent best-seller, “The Bed Wetter,” although her show was cancelled after 3 seasons, despite a Twitter campaign to save it. Inner: Like many funny people, subject to clinical depression, using prescription drugs to combat it. Refuses to marry until everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, is given the same accord. Big fan of Jerry Lewis. Second chance lifetime of finding a public voice, after earlier being denied it, and riding it for all the outrage and mischief she can muster, as a cheeky commentator on the foibles and prejudices of her times. Jobyna Ralston (Jobyna Lancaster Raulston) (1899-1967) - American actress. Outer: Mother was a portrait photographer who had dreams of a show business career for her daughter. Probably the same maternal figure as her succeeding go-round in this series. Named after Amazonian actress Jobyna Howland (Sigourney Weaver). Made her stage debut in 1909 in Cinderella, then went to acting school in NYC, before becoming a chorus dancer and singer on Broadway, beginning with Two Little Girls in Blue. 5’1” with a large-eyed pleasing beauty. Brefly married a childhood friend. When French comedian Max Linder (Jerry Lewis) saw her on stage, he convinced her to go to Hollywood. Made her debut in 1919 in Starting Out in Life and appeared in several of his films. Caught the eye of comedy director Hal Roach, who starred her in several of his one reel comedies. Her mother’s failing vitality convinced her to make Hollywood her financial mainstay in order to pay for her mounting health care. In 1923, she began working with silent comedy star Harold Lloyd, and their partnership in a half dozen films over the next 5 years would prove the highlight of her professional career. Able to employ her beauty and expressiveness as a perfect foil for him. Also did dramatic fare, co-starring with Richard Arlen in Wings, the first Oscar winner in 1927. Married him, one son from the union, Richard Arlen, Jr., also an actor. When talkies came in at decade’s end, however, her lisp curtailed any further work, and her career summarily ended in 1930. Spent the rest of her life in retirement. In 1945, she divorced her husband, and wound up the victim of rheumatism. Suffered a series of strokes during the last five years of her life, and died of pneumonia in a motion picture home for retired performers in an extremely sad coda for someone who had brought laughter to many much earlier on. Inner: Fey spirit, whose larger ambitions were frustrated. Silenced beauty lifetime of falling prey to a slight defect, before coming back with a vengeance and an outrageous mouth to more than compensate for fate’s unkind treatment of her.

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