#Friars Club

[dopescissorscashwagon]

Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Dean Martin at the "Friars Club" (1957)

#Frank Sinatra #Nat King Cole #Dean Martin #Friars Club #1957 #1950s #Old Hollywood #Classic Hollywood Glamour #Old Hollywood Glamour

[oldshowbiz]

1993.

#ted danson #whoopi goldberg #blackface #1990s #friars club

[freddyfiddlesticks]

Look what I found buried in the back of a record store! For $10 I could have a triple-record set that is apparently worth a lot more lol. Only about 300 were released I think. It says $25 Donation which means that Friars Club members could purchase it with a donation. (Makes me wonder who first bought it and how it ended up for sale for 10 bucks??)

So many big names!!! Can't wait to hear what Milton Berle has to say...

#Friars Club #Testimonial Dinner #Beverly Hilton #1961 #Gary Cooper #old hollywood #vinyl #it's actually SO dusty #makes sense tho #dean martin #tony martin #tony's tux jacket is amazing

[starlightsweetheart]

#lucaya #maya hart #girl meets world #lucas friar #gmw #lucas x maya #lucas and maya #lucasxmaya #otp #Tumblr stuff but I found it on Pinterest #Zay is president of the Lucaya club #everyone loves maya #forever my otp

[thethirdromana]

Me reading up to Canto II, verse XIX of Marmion: wow, this is a surprisingly chill description of Catholicism for a Presbyterian in the early 19th century.

Me reading Canto II, verse XX-XXV of Marmion: ohhhhh never mind.

#marmion daily #marmion book club #i mean the drunken friar wasn't the most positive depiction #but in fairness there are drunken friars all over the place in medieval literature

[for-southendgirls]

Okay, so A Concept™:

After the success of her special and all the renewed interest in her work that follows, Deborah gets invited to be a roast honoree at The Friars Club. It’s a place that has always represented some kind of gilded, old boys’ club to her and a group that she would’ve probably been able to count herself a member of sooner had her original fall from grace never happened.

Unbeknownst to her, Ava gets invited onto the dais next to Deborah as one of the lesser-known (but more intimate closer) roasters of the evening, an honor usually bestowed onto a funny family member or best friend who is also in the business.

In typical roast fashion, a lot of the jokes are obvious low blows from comedians and stand-ups that Deborah hasn’t had much personal interaction with— but she has to admit they’re damn good. There are the more jocky, male comedians there to make fun of her plastic surgeries and passion for sequins, yet who thank her for being an inspiration with their closing lines. There’s the token, young female comic there to remind her of her age and make some obvious, weathered crevice jokes. They aren’t that smart, but they’re funny. The way the young woman, all primped and polished, falsied and fake tanned, as if she were filming a Real Housewives episode, has to lean in and really sell whatever she’s saying reminds her a lot of her younger self. It makes her smile in between gasps of laughter.

And of course, there are the mini-sets from old friends she hadn’t seen since her college road days. People she had all but forgotten about, yet who she silently kept up with all these years, whether through passing glances in seedy comedy club promoter offices or seeing familiar names in TV guide schedules for late night game shows. One or two of them had also become incredibly successful in their own right, their names completely inescapable to anyone in their line of work. She’s comfortable, but something keeps poking at her insides.

She tells herself it could be pride, or maybe nerves. Her heart feels like it’s going to bound out of her chest. Perhaps it’s the rush of emotion that comes along with finally getting to be in this space. She tries to play it cool, but Ava’s laughter is the only sound ringing in her ears through the entire night. It’s the first time Deborah sees her since that night, since before dropping the lawsuit, but she can hardly bear looking to the younger woman who sits beside her. She doesn’t realize that her loud cackle of a laugh is the only thing Ava can hear throughout the night as well.

When it’s Ava’s turn to stand at the podium and roast her old boss, she absolutely kills. They both knew she would. She’s wearing the dress she wore on the roof all those months ago, along with those $800 unisex Lurch Addams clompers that Deborah has to admit deep down that she loves. Still, the sight of her in that same tweed dress makes her forget how to breathe for just a moment as Ava stands up next to her, phone in hand (not paper like everyone else on the dais, damn Millennials), to read her material.

She talks about Deborah’s Cheesecake Factory mansion and wondering if there was an HR line for comics she could call after Deborah inquired about her sexuality. She somehow weaves that into Deborah’s gay ass obsession with her hands, despite the fact that the older woman’s are actually larger than her’s, a fact that is now something she’s gayly obsessed with. Parlays that into a joke about Deb’s tits getting them a larger dressing room at a Comedy Cellar rip-off in Idaho. She’s playing to the back of the room and it’s working. She’s a natural.

Her set has a clear theme: everything is larger with Deborah. She can’t just buy a bottle of Black Pashmina, she has to clear out every department store. She can’t just fade into obscurity, she has to fade into obscurity at the Palmetto. She can’t just tell people she loves them. She has to blow up their whole lives.

She ends her roast of Deborah with affection, as is customary. After all, roasting is a love language among comics and everyone is there because they love her. “See?” Ava says and gestures to the audience, then to herself.

Deborah can’t allow herself to cry in front of everyone, especially as she herself is up next. But she knows exactly what that feeling in her chest is now.

#hacks hbo #ava x deborah #avorah #deborah vance #ava daniels #ive been watching old friars club roasts #and jean’s photoshoot at the friars club itself #just all combined to give me this crazy idea #if anyone wants to fic it PLEASE BE MY GUEST

[waugh-bao]

One time a friend was saying she had to get up and introduce the speakers at some conference and I said “way to go Georgie Jessel.” Not a glimmer of recognition from anyone else there. So frustrating when there is no one around to get your 50-100 year old references. It’s like damn, I know this stuff would’ve killed at the Palace.

Story of my life. One of the older PhD students I share an advisor with tried to set me up with an early career historian of China because “you both like all that boring old people stuff.” And my mom and my sister teased 15 year old me mercilessly for having crushes like Claude Rains and late career Peter Cushing.

For reasons I honestly can’t remember or explain, other than that I think I was really pissed I couldn’t find a Fred Allen shirt to go with my Jack Benny shirt(s), I asked one of my friends who’s an artist if she would design one for me. Sent her some pictures and one of his catchphrases, submitted that to a custom printing website, and had two made (one for me and one for her). When I was on a break from LSE and went home to visit, one day both of us were wearing the shirts when we were walking down the street to get lunch in a city about half an hour from where we’re from. A very elderly man stopped us and said, “I just love your shirts! You’re such a cute couple.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell this poor, excited old man that she hasn’t got a clue who the hell Fred Allen is, and that we weren’t a couple.

#I think the only era in which I could have conceivably been a comedian was 100+ years ago #as artie lange once said to gilbert gottfried ‘you’ve got Dead Sea scrolls lines!’ #not the stones #ask response #anonymous #george jessel #fred allen #(I’m totally guilty of listening to the YouTube uploads of the old Friars Club roasts and laughing my ass off. both at the references. and #hearing guys like Jessel and Benny and Cantor and Jolson work blue). #((god this picture is at least 3 or 4 years old. I’ve got to figure out where that shirt is))

[carameel-mel]

All your favourite t-shirts un one place

My redbubble store

#hell friar club shirt #hellfire flame #stranger things #summer #i love him #cars #cool stuff #funny stuff #funny cats #Gifttformom

[leapingmonkeys]

The NY Friars Club Roast - Susie Essman

#Susie Essman #NY Friars Club Roast

[oldshowbiz]

Westside versus Eastside

#friars club

[travsd]

R.I.P. Freddie Roman: Last of the Borscht Belt Comics?

R.I.P. Freddie Roman: Last of the Borscht Belt Comics?

Just heard from friend and funny man Bob Greenberg that comedian Freddie Roman (Fred Kirschenbaum, 1937-2022). Though he has many great stage and screen credits, Roman was best known for being a famous Friar, serving as the Dean of that organization for many years. His grandfather and uncle owned the Crystal Spring Hotel in the Catskills, where Freddie got his first performing experience as a…

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#Alan Kirschenbaum #comedian #Comedy #comic #dead #Freddie Roman #Freddy Roman #Friar&039;s Club #obituary

[thecinamonroe]

Marilyn Monroe and Milton Berle at a Friars Club dinner in New York, 1955.

#marilyn monroe #milton berle #1950s #50s #1955 #vintage #retro #Old Hollywood glamour #old hollywood

[outoftowninac]

SOME DADDY

1918

Some Daddy is a play by Harry Allan Jacobs and James L. Campbell. It was originally produced and staged by Alexander Leftwich. It starred William Morris. 

It was billed as “an ultra modern comedy”. Both Jacobs and Leftwich were making their debuts in their respective capacity. Leftwich had been a staff director for the respected producer Daniel Frohman as well as a busy lighting designer. Jacobs was an architect, his connection to the paint and motley was designing New York’s Friar’s Club, the Monastery. 

“You are to help me select a father for your child.” ~ SOME DADDY

Before it was even produced, Leftwich briefly described the play to the Baltimore Sun: 

"The subject is eugenics. It is so daring that the audience is aghast, yet is perfectly within the bounds of probability. It revolves around a situation that might occur anywhere. There has never been anything just like it."

“I’ve never caught you in a lie, but chased you from one to the other ‘till I’m tired out.” ~ SOME DADDY

Some Daddy premiered in Atlantic City at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre on the Boardwalk on June 10, 1918. Despite its announced destination of New York, it also closed there.  

During his short stay in Atlantic City, Leftwich stayed at the Hotel Alamac (formerly Youngs Hotel, later known as the Mayflower) on the Boardwalk at Tennessee Avenue. It was the first brick hotel on the Boardwalk when it was built in 1901. It was razed in 1988. 

Co-author Harry Allan Jacobs (and family) registered at the Royal Palace Hotel. This hotel was located a bit further afield, at the end of Pacific Avenue near the Absecon Lighthouse. It is now a public park.

The play withdrawal was sudden and it was claimed that the play was ‘too short’. Daddy’s lifespan was just four performances, but the ‘short’ referred to its playing time, not the number of performances. Few, if any plays, have been withdrawn citing brevity.  

“The play has been tried out, and was considered ‘too salty’ even for the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.”  ~ DETROIT FREE PRESS

In July 1918, the play was reprieved by the much-troubled Actors’ and Authors’ Theatre company in residence at Broadway’s Fulton Theatre. Leftwich immediately started re-writing Daddy with the help of Mr. Dodge, a press agent for David Belasco. Some of the more controversial parts of the eugenics theme were removed until the piece was considered acceptable for ‘popular appeal’.  

“The Authors’ and Actors’ Theater has suspended temporarily. Two of its best one-act plays were promptly grabbed by the vaudeville interests and this left them with nothing worthwhile to play. Now they have a full-length play in rehearsal [Some Daddy] and promise to come back a week or two hence and reestablish their season at the Fulton. As a matter of fact, a lack of interest on the part of the public was probably responsible for the suspension of activities. In the present experiment they have provided some exceptionally well chosen casts, but the plays they have presented have been decidedly ordinary and quite as bad as the commercial managers' output.” ~ BURNS MANTLE

Frances Carson, famed for starring in another ‘Daddy’ play, Daddy Long Legs, was engaged.  

The now-lengthened play was a departure for the group, which generally produced one-act playlets. The group had been able to gain use of the Fulton Theatre through the generosity of its owner, Mrs. Harris, who admired their mission. As late as July 21st, newspapers reported that their opening was slated for July 22nd - “or sometime soon.” 

“It will be seen sometime next week - probably on Monday night - haply at the Fulton, and haply not.” ~ THE NEW YORK TIMES, July 14, 1918

The words “haply” “soon” “sometime” and “probably” indicate that no one was at all certain what - if anything - would happy with Daddy. The opening night came and went and the Fulton stayed dark. A month later, this: 

“For the present, al least, it appears that the Actors’ and Authors' Theater has passed. ‘Some Daddy,’ a farce which had been in rehearsal, is not to reach production after all, and so the rather halting and leaderless enterprise comes now to a definite stop.” ~  DETROIT FREE PRESS, September 18, 1918

Finally something ‘definite’ about Daddy - his eulogy.  

#Some Daddy #Atlantic City #Eugenics #Boardwalk #Nixon's Apollo Theatre #Harry A. Jacobs #Friar's Club #James L. Campbell #Fulton Theatre #Broadway #Royal Palace Theatre #Hotel Alamac #William Morris #Alexander Leftwich #1918 #Theatre #Stage

[stylecouncil]

Live at the Friars Club, Aylesbury. January 1972

📸: Michael Putland.

#david bowie

[infinitemarilynmonroe]

Marilyn Monroe at the Friars Club Testimonial Dinner, 1955.

#marilyn monroe #monroedit #new york #1950s #vintage #old hollywood #hollywood #classic hollywood #golden age of hollywood #edit #my edit #50s #1955

[harrisonarchive]

In Florida, November 1970. Photos via Meet The Beatles For Real.

“We were really determined to find him. From various sources, we had learned that George Harrison was somewhere in the Deerfield area. We cordoned off a five-block area and patiently began our search. Claudette Cyr, Beatle fan Club president for Florida, went over to the area to investigate personally while I was on the phone. She got several leads, many bad answers and enough suspicion for us to know the rumor was true. We drove to the place later at night and went about looking at all the places she had selected as likely spots. No luck in any of them. Disappointed, we decided on one more sweep by the beach. Standing on the beach we saw four long-haired figures and I figured they must have been looking for Harrison too. We asked them and got negative responses and strangely, no interest. Once in the car, I told Claudette I thought one of those people was indeed George. She thought I was crazy. Back we went and this time we saw them walking through a parking lot. I aimed the car lights on them. George and Patti[e] Harrison and two aides. I jumped out of the car and told him, ‘George Harrison, nice thing to do. We have been searching for you for almost two days and you are dodge us.’ He smiled and our conversation began. We asked him about the breakup of the Beatles and about Paul McCartney’s departure. He replied in a non-committal sort of way. He compared the Beatles after so many years to four guys in jail, trapped in an image and trying to break out. The new album was also a topic. He expects it to be released within the next few days. Included in the album are 25 songs.[…] About the fans (us included) he was grateful but worried the place where he was staying might be discovered. ‘I am not famous anymore. I am not Beatle George anymore. If I wanted to hear screaming I would play Shea Stadium. But I don’t. I am George Harrison, a musician. That’s all.’ George was in Florida to rest and relax. He plans to come back. His wife, Patti[e], was with him. She remained silent all throughout our conversation. She wore no makeup at all. Patti[e] used to be a top model before marrying Harrison, and her face has a way of lighting up when George says something. She smiles a lot. I have talked to pop people before in my position as entertainment editor for The Phoenix Broward Community College’s newspaper. Harrison’s honesty struck me as being out of this world. Here we were, intruding in his private life, and he took the time to talk to us, sign his autograph, and make some memories we will never forget.” - "BCC Editor 'Traps' A Beatle - George Harrison Stops To Chat," by Ruben Betancourt, Fort Lauderdale News, November 21, 1970

“[George] told [Adria, Tom Petty’s daughter] something that he had never mentioned to me, which is that he had a cousin from Florida who reminded him of me. Before George was really settled at Friar Park, he and this Florida cousin would sleep in every room in this, well, this castle, trying to figure out which one had the best vibe and ought to be the bedroom.” - Tom Petty, Runnin’ Down A Dream (2007) (x)

More about these photos, via the comments section of the Meet The Beatles For Real post:

"A friend of the family pulled up in a station wagon with the mountain lion that day. I was living at the apt. complex owned by George'd uncle (Gregg Apts.). We all had a fun picnic that day." - anonymous [x]

#George Harrison #Pattie Boyd #quote #quotes about George #quotes by George #George and Pattie #All Things Must Pass #The Beatles #George and fame #fan recollections #fan recollections: 1970s #Tom Petty #et al. #The Traveling Wilburys #George and Tom Petty #fits queue like a glove