Trav S.D.

A seriously funny look at the roots of American EntertainmentWhen Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin were born, variety entertainment had been going on for decades in America, and like Harry Houdini, Milton Berle, Mae West, and countless others, these performers got their start on the vaudeville stage. From 1881 to 1932, vaudeville was at the heart of show business in the States. Its stars were America's first stars in the modern sense, and it utterly dominated American popular culture. Writer and modern-day vaudevillian Trav S.D. chronicles vaudeville's far-reaching impact in No Applause--Just Throw Money . He explores the many ways in which vaudeville's story is the story of show business in America and documents the rich history and cultural legacy of our country's only purely indigenous theatrical form, including its influence on everything from USO shows to Ed Sullivan to The Muppet Show and The Gong Show. More than a quaint historical curiosity, vaudeville is thriving today, and Trav S.D. pulls back the curtain on the vibrant subculture that exists across the United States--a vast grassroots network of fire-eaters, human blockheads, burlesque performers, and bad comics intent on taking vaudeville into its second century.

Chain of Fools traces the art of slapstick comedy from its pre-cinema origins in the ancient pantomime through its silent movie heyday in the teens and twenties, then on to talkies, television, and the Internet. As in his first book, the critically acclaimed No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, author Trav S.D. mixes a wicked wit, a scholar's curiosity, and a keen critical appreciation for laugh-makers through the ages, from classical clowns like Joseph Grimaldi to comedy kings like Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton . . . to more recent figures, from Red Skelton, Sid Caesar and Ernie Kovacs to Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey and Steve Carell . . . all the way down to the teenagers on YouTube whose backyard antics bring us full circle to slapstick's beginnings. This valentine to the great clowns contains enough insights and surprises to open the eyes of even life-long comedy fans. Here's what critics had to say about Trav S.D.'s first book, No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous: "A book that sharpens the mind and stirs the heart . . .The writing is as snappy as these troupers and headliners deserve. And the scholarship is high-class. - Margo Jefferson, New York Times "Almost a vaudeville show unto itself...Open a single chapter of No Applause and you'll get a great snapshot of the industry at that time. . .An ode to the tenacity, the freaks, the slapstick, and yes, the art form that was responsible for entertainment today as we know it." - Rachel Shindelman, Time Out Chicago "Much has been written about the American institution of vaudeville, but readers would be hard-pressed to find an account as humorous and sharp as writer and performer Trav S.D.'s tasty chronicle . . . A well-researched, riotous book." - Publisher's Weekly (starred review) "Thorough and thoroughly entertaining . . . One of the year's best historical performing arts texts; a wonderful story wonderfully told." - Barry X. Miller, Library Journal (starred review) "Both performer and theatre historian, [Trav S.D.] knows of what he speaks. His rich, well-researched history of American vaudeville from its roots in the 1880s onward is a rare enough feat made all the more startling by the wit, zest and fresh eyes [he] brings to the subject." - Jack Helbig, Booklist (starred review)

The Marx Brothers are widely regarded as the 20th century’s greatest comedy team, a tight knit performing unit who reached their fans through a dozen films, three Broadway shows, a radio program, and a top-flight vaudeville act, as well the brothers’ own separate accomplishments as book authors, recording artists, television personalities, and entrepreneurs. Yet while it’s tempting to think so, the world’s most popular comedy act didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Groucho’s brand of verbal nonsense humor, Harpo’s silent clowning, and Chico’s “Italian” shtick were all highly popular and familiar vaudeville specialties in their day. What made the Marx Brothers original was that they packed it all into the same explosive, anarchistic act. And they were so funny, of course.Writer/ performer Trav S.D. (No Applause, Just Throw The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous) now turns his attention to the greatest of all stage and screen comedy teams in The Marx Brothers Miscellany. Adapted from a series of public lectures and over 150 articles originally published on the popular website Travalanche, The Marx Brothers Miscellany mimics its unruly subject with an irreverent style and crazy-quilt structure combining cultural history, biography, criticism, and more than a few surprises. A one of a kind ex-TRAV-aganza, The Marx Brothers Miscellany also features art by Noah Diamond and a foreword by Austin Pendleton (Skidoo, What’s Up Doc? Finding Nemo).Bette Midler called No Applause “the best book about the people who worked in vaudeville” in People magazine. Trav S.D.’s other books have included Chain of Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube (2013) and Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People of Vaudeville (2020). With Noah Diamond, he co-produced and directed the first ever revival of I’ll Say She Is, the Marx Brothers’ first Broadway show, in 2014. He has performed and lectured at such notable venues as the Museum of Modern Art, Columbia University, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Village Voice. American Theatre, Reason, and Time Out New York, and has been heard as a guest on the BBC, NPR, and The Halli Casser-Jayne Show, where he had the honor of appearing on a Marx Brothers themed panel with Dick Cavett and Bill Marx, Harpo’s son. The Marx Brothers Miscellany is the product of over 40 years of fandom.