Well, it was bound to happen. The Three Stooges. Legends in their own time. I never met a chick, liked the Stooges. That speaks to the Stooges' validity in my opinion. I'm talking about the originals, not the wretched remake recently released.
Erleichda, erleichda, is my message for today. The curious among you will google it up. You may cross-reference Einstein if you wish.
The Three Stooges started in 1925 as part of a raucous vaudeville act called 'Ted Healy and His Stooges' (a.k.a. 'Ted Healy and His Southern Gentlemen', 'Ted Healy and His Three Lost Souls' and 'Ted Healy and His Racketeers' - the moniker 'Three Stooges' was never used during their tenure with Healy). In the act, lead comedian Healy would attempt to sing or tell jokes while his noisy assistants would keep "interrupting" him. Healy would respond by verbally and physically abusing his stooges. Brothers Moe and Shemp were joined later that year by violinist-comedian Larry Fine. Soon they broke with Healy and a short time later Shemp left the trio, to be replaced with Curly.
Larry, Curly, and Moe is the combination I like best.
In 1934, the trio – now officially christened "The Three Stooges" – signed on to appear in two-reel comedy short subjects for Columbia Pictures. In Moe's autobiography, he said they each got $600 per week on a one-year contract with a renewable option; in the Ted Okuda–Edward Watz book The Columbia Comedy Shorts, the Stooges are said to have received $1,000 among them for their first Columbia effort, Woman Haters, and then signed a term contract for $7,500 per film (equal to $130,299 today), to be divided among the trio.
Film critics and stooge fans alike have cited Curly as the most popular member of the team. His childlike mannerisms and natural comedic charm (he had no previous acting experience) made him a hit with audiences, particularly children and women (the latter usually finding the trio's humor juvenile and uncouth yeah, so?).
I like the Stooges because they are decidedly masculine and represent males accurately, if perhaps a bit exaggerated. All us guys take ourselves oh so seriously but really we can be so effing goofy in some of the things we do. Look at yourself honestly and consider how you appear to others. When I laugh at the Stooges antics, and they are pretty funny, I am laughing at myself. Which is not a bad thing.
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