Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:47 — 14.1MB)
Audio is fair. Jack jokes about Don’s generosity, character traits, and size. Mary enters to pitch in on the topic of dreams. After getting in his own joke about dreams, Don Bestor plays, and the entire number makes it into the show.
Frank Parker sings, and his song also makes it in as well. Responding to fan mail, and based on last week’s spoof of House of Rothchild, Jack gives a fictional glimpse of what it was like growing up in his childhood house in Waukegan.
Listen in to witness the birth of Jack, and about his happy childhood. Listen as he learns to play the violin. How did Jack get his start at being a Master of Ceremonies? Why didn’t he follow in his father’s career path? Join in and witness Jack’s whirlwind vaudeville career, and his brief interuption when the war broke out. What ever happened to Jack? Did he wind up as a tramp? Will his dad be happy with his radio career?
Note: A history that’s definitely loosely based on the truth. Some truth about Jack is that did learn to play the violin at an early age. He did have a long vaudeville career that was interupted by his service in World War 1. He did switch from the violin, to comedy, to being an Emcee, but not exactly as portrayed. Of course, Mary’s role in his real life was not as his sister, and she wasn’t born for the early scenes of Jack as a boy.
Very creative comedy though, and one of my favorites of this early period.
