travsd

A New Book on Fred Karno

A great day for classic comedy fans, it’s the release date of a new biography of the Guv’nor: Fred Karno: The Legend Behind the Laughter. I hope I don’t have to tell my readers of the importance of Fred Karno…the man who taught Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, and a long list of other British music hall comedians who then went on to revolutionize Hollywood screen comedy. Without Karno, movie history would have gone down a lot differently. Author David Crump is also a practicing playwright and performer with a background in panto, and the long-time mind behind the Fred Karno website Khaotic. His new book has a foreword by none other than the great Chaplin scholar David Robinson. This one is a must for all our shelves! Can’t wait to get my paws on it! Get your’n here.

ADDENDUM: I’ve now reviewed it. Check out my review here.

Published by travsd

Writer and performer Trav S.D. (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013). He has written for the NY Times, the Village Voice, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Reason, the Villager and numerous other publications. Trav has been in the vanguard of New York’s vaudeville and burlesque scenes since 1995 when he launched his company Mountebanks, presenting hundreds of acts ranging from Todd Robbins to Dirty Martini to Tammy Faye Starlite to the Flying Karamazov Brothers. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joe’s Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. In 2014 he produced and directed the smash-hit "I’ll Say She Is", the first ever revival of the Marx Brothers hit 1924 Broadway show in the NY International Fringe Festival.