Vaudeville, one of America’s great traditions in our pre-politically correct, post modern society, served both entry level and accomplished performers as a venue allowing those with both the guts and the talent to take their act directly to the people. But in spite of all the gaudiness associated with performers, their troupes and their lifestyles hurriedly packed in worn suitcases and satchels, there was a basic honesty about that aspect of our earlier leisure time fixation.
There was always a challenge in “taking your act on the road,” and showcasing your talents and abilities to a live audience. Whether as a pickpocket or a vaudeville comedian, knowing how to “work the crowd” was not only paramount to fitting in, it was necessary to make a buck to put an infrequent meal on the table. There was a “sink or swim” honesty about that mode of entertainment.
Vaudeville audiences were generally a “tough crowd;” they didn’t appreciate paying good money for a lousy act. If you didn’t have what it took in those days, you didn’t last long and you didn’t eat. Framed against the backdrop of the speakeasy “roaring twenties,” replete with gangsters and their WWI surplus “Tommy guns,” right through the soup line era of the Great Depression, vaudeville was every bit as much a part of our founding traditions as were those catastrophic upheavals.
Audiences were mature, and understood the bawdiness, humor and cheap magic of the tinsel and glitter; they weren’t easily fooled. They enjoyed the efforts made by the entertainers and were ready to reward the better performances and acts with resonating applause and sometimes standing ovations.
Many a famous movie house was formerly a theater that was, in its heyday, a fixture in the vaudeville entertainment circuit. And many great Hollywood entertainers, comedians and musicians got their start in the limelight and glitter in that genre. Success, therefore, was richly dependent upon a rock solid performance and knowing how to relate to the audience. It is this aspect of vaudeville that hinged upon honesty; there was something honest about putting on a good show.
Vaudeville is gone, replaced by the great song and dance musicals, comedy and celluloid slapstick of Hollywood, not to mention the great dramas and “on location” filming that displaced the suitcase showmanship. The same old movie houses that were home to vaudeville acts gave way to movies, and they in turn were displaced by television starting with the vaudeville-type shows and antics of “Uncle Miltie” and the like. Time marches on, but people still like to be entertained. Unfortunately, entertainment has taken a turn for the worse.
Entertaining, and working the crowd is now a primary requirement for success in politics. Mediocre or poor performing politicians, which includes virtually all politicians from both parties in Washington as well as in the state houses and governors’ mansions across the country, are forgiven for their bald-faced lies, fraud and bribe-taking. The latter, referred to as “lobbying,” provides wealth beyond that dreamed of for the average taxpayer, just as long as politicians can take it to the people and put on a good act. It’s déjà vu and vaudeville all over again, except without any modicum or semblance of honesty.
Those longing to distract Americans from the reality of our society-destroying political fraud choose to ascribe any unfavorable outcome of our nation’s political prostitution as being all the fault of Democrats, or all the fault of Republicans, or of “lefties,” or a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” as they obstruct you from seeing the hand all politicians have in your pocket as they lift your wallet.
Americans haven’t changed much since the days of vaudeville. We still enjoy a good show, even if there isn’t much substance to it. But what has happened to our desire to get our money’s worth? It seems we are increasingly subscribing to another familiar adage concerning fools and their money.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”