Wayne and Shuster
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So fair a foul I have not seen! —Rocky in The Shakespearean Baseball Game: A Comedy of Errors, Hits, and Runs
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An early sketch comedy series that went through a number of different incarnations. Hosted by the comedy team of Johnny Wayne (28 May 1918 – 18 July 1990) and Frank Shuster (5 September 1916 – 13 January 2002). The earliest version was Shuster & Wayne, a radio program they were given as a result of their earlier radio work The Wife Preservers. The next show was The Wayne and Shuster Show created for CBC radio in 1946 after they left the army after the second world war. There was a weekly television series in the 1950s, but that gave way to the better known appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (where they appeared 67 times!) and their monthly CBC specials that ran from the early 1960s to the 1980s.
Their comedy has been referred to as literate comedy combined with a liberal amount of slapstick. They often mixed classic references, genre parodies, silly puns and bloodless violence in equal parts. A famous example being the retelling of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar as the modern, noir-ish detective story Rinse the Blood off My Toga. They also parodied and spoofed then current events and popular culture such as All in the Royal Family (Hamlet with All in The Family) and Star Schtick and even Macbeth done as an in-period Police Procedural.
While some of the sketches might be slightly dated, and the style of comedy can seem a little old fashioned, much of their work is still side-splittingly funny and should be watched when the chance is given.
An incomplete list of their shows can be found at TVarchive.ca
- Anachronism Stew: Rule of Funny prevails in most cases.
- Aside Comment, Aside Glance: frequently, especially in Noir parodies.
- A Worldwide Punomenon: They never pass up an opportunity. Ever.
- From The Shakespearean Baseball Game: A Comedy of Errors, Hits, and Runs, discussing the starting lineup:
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Manager (Shuster): Thou at the shortstop’s spot shall play. |
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- 1957's "The Brown Pumpernickel"
- 1957's "Cinderelvis" and 1976's "Cinderelton"
- 1958's "The Mark of Zero"
- 1967's "Kwai Me a River"
- 1973's "My Fair Partner", which tells how Frank turned garbageman Johnny into a comedy star.
- 1978's "The Least of the Mohicans"
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: occasionally, the boys notice the audience, the sound effects, the soundtrack...
- From The Six Hundred Dollar Man:
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General: That was just a television show! |
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- Camera Screw: A 1956 silent sketch involving the two painting the interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The camera is on an angle so that the tower looks vertical, but the pair and their equipment are constantly leaning / falling over / sliding around.
- Deal with the Devil: The feature story of one episode was about a musician selling his soul to the Devil in exchange for becoming the greatest player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Also counts as an example of Exact Words.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: 1973's "The Stratford Murder Mystery," where Johnny played a detective who wore a messy trenchcoat.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: During the "Prince John Celebrity Roast" sketch:
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"Up King Richard's banner, |
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- His Name Is--: A running joke in Rinse the Blood off My Toga.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Also a running joke in Rinse the Blood off My Toga.
- Large Ham: Oh, yes. Usually Johnny, often Frank.
- Long Runners: Wayne and Shuster's first show, The Wife Preservers, aired in 1941. If it wasn't for World War II, they would have been on the air for a half-century, not counting re-runs.
- Mind Screw: Several. A Running Gag example, from Rinse the Blood off My Toga:
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Brutus (Shuster): Are you sure we're alone? |
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- Radio: The duo started out with radio shows.
- Running Gag: Constantly, sometimes including callbacks to previous running gags.