{"id":2285,"date":"2017-08-08T17:55:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T21:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2285"},"modified":"2017-08-08T19:12:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T23:12:43","slug":"war-for-laughs-marx-brothers-strangelove-chaplin-lehrer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/08\/war-for-laughs-marx-brothers-strangelove-chaplin-lehrer.html","title":{"rendered":"War for laughs: Marx Brothers, Strangelove, Chaplin, Lehrer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My father taught me at age 8 to trust the Marx Brothers&#8217; for trenchant social commentary.\u00c2\u00a0Here&#8217;s Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/browbeat\/2016\/08\/31\/what_the_marx_brothers_duck_soup_can_teach_us_about_trump.html\">Duck Soup<\/a>.<\/em><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yyeKYQdYISg\" width=\"488\" height=\"275\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On the night of my 17th birthday I sat in a theater, alone,\u00c2\u00a0watching<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/almost-everything-in-dr-strangelove-was-true\"> the incomparable <\/a><em>Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0. . .<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FaPs8OXDrrI\" width=\"488\" height=\"275\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to\u00c2\u00a0Peter Sellers, Peter Bull (still Russian ambassador?), Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern and Peter George for a great one-sided phone call. No confidence there will be such diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Strangelove was on a double bill with\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pwatkins.mnsi.net\/warGame.htm\"><em>The War Game, <\/em>directed by Peter Watkins<em>. <\/em>Nothing funny about it.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00c2\u00a0<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Nzd_VE-bfhA\" width=\"488\" height=\"275\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Musical Interlude: &#8220;War&#8221; from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hypnoticbrassensemble\/\">the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble,<\/a> globetrotting sons of the late Chicago music visionary Celan Phil Cohran. Seems to be calling for peace.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xLEiG9W7e_E\" width=\"488\" height=\"275\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One last laugh? The <a href=\"http:\/\/Tramp becomes der Furher\">Tramp as der Fuhrer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YqyQfjDScjU\" width=\"488\" height=\"275\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ha. Ha ha ha. Ha.<\/p>\n<p>Encore: the ever pertinent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.casualhacker.net\/tom.lehrer\/jmazner\/lehrhtml.html\">Tom Lehrer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pklr0UD9eSo\" width=\"488\" height=\"275\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.howardmandel.com\/\" target=\"blank\">howardmandel.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.feedburner.com\/fb\/a\/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1102712&amp;loc=en_US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Subscribe by Email <\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/JazzBeyondJazz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Subscribe by RSS<\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Follow on Twitter <\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/archives.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> All JBJ posts <\/a> |<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My father taught me at age 8 to trust the Marx Brothers&#8217; for trenchant social commentary.\u00c2\u00a0Here&#8217;s Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo in Duck Soup. On the night of my 17th birthday I sat in a theater, alone,\u00c2\u00a0watching the incomparable Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb\u00c2\u00a0. . . Thanks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1566,1563,1355,1568,1497,1570,1561,1562,1567,1564,1569,1565,1560],"class_list":{"0":"post-2285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-charlie-chaplin","9":"tag-duck-soup","10":"tag-howard-mandel","11":"tag-hypnotic-brass-ensemble","12":"tag-jazz-beyond-jazz","13":"tag-peter-watkins","14":"tag-satire","15":"tag-strangelove","16":"tag-the-great-dictator","17":"tag-the-marx-brothers","18":"tag-the-war-game","19":"tag-tom-lehrer","20":"tag-war","21":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/download.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-AR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2007\/07\/howard_mandel.html","url_meta":{"origin":2285,"position":0},"title":"Howard Mandel","author":"djm","date":"July 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a Chicago-born (and after 30 years in NYC, repatriated in 2014) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, non-profit organization consultant and videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, specializing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;about&quot;","block_context":{"text":"about","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/about"},"img":{"alt_text":"HM2.for%20web.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/HM2.for%20web.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2007\/10\/confession_deaf_to_gospel.html","url_meta":{"origin":2285,"position":1},"title":"Confession: Deaf to Gospel","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I may burn at the stake for political incorrectness, but it's the truth: I have an intense aversion to gospel music. My distaste dates to a haunting childhood vision in which an overwhelming Mahalia Jackson is routed by a malevolent clown. As George Bernard Shaw wrote in 1894 (brought to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2781,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2020\/07\/love-movies-jazz-and-thinking-about-them-a-treat.html","url_meta":{"origin":2285,"position":2},"title":"Love movies, jazz, and thinking about them? A treat","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Movies, jazz and reading remain my favorite solitary diversions, and Fresh Air critic Kevin Whitehead enables immersion in all three with Play The Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film, his entertaining, provocative, deeply informed look at some 120 flicks and a handful of tv shows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Day at the Races\"","block_context":{"text":"A Day at the Races","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/a-day-at-the-races"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/510nt2z64YL._SX346_BO1204203200_.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":289,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/01\/jazz_benefits_for_haiti_1.html","url_meta":{"origin":2285,"position":3},"title":"Jazz benefits and fight song for Haiti","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The jazz world's response the Haitian earthquake isn't overwhelming, but every bit helps. The Groove Collective benefit\u00a0is tomorrow, Tues, Jan 19, at (le) poisson rouge in Manhattan; a Seattle community jazz fest\u00a0is at multiple venues Wed., Jan 20, and\u00a0St. Louis jazz musicians for Haiti\u00a0gather at Sheldon Concert Hall on Tuesday,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":189,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/05\/announcing_13th_annual_jja_jaz.html","url_meta":{"origin":2285,"position":4},"title":"Announcing 13th annual JJA Jazz Awards nominees and gala","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"May 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jazz Journalists Association -- of which I'm president -- has announced finalist nominees in 42 categories of excellence in jazz music, recording, presenting and journalism at a new website, www.JazzJournalists.org -- which also\u00a0 details who's playing at the Jazz Standard (NYC) cocktail barbeque where winners will be announced on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":908,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/05\/bassist-duck-dunn-deep-syncopated-bouncy-rip.html","url_meta":{"origin":2285,"position":5},"title":"Bassist Duck Dunn &#8211; deep, syncopated, bouncy &#8211; RIP","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"May 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Donald \"Duck\" Dunn, bassist for Booker T. and the MGs, most all the grits 'n' greens soul voices who emerged from Memphis' Stax Records in the 1960s, and dozens of major blues-rock-pop stars during his subsequent career as an LA-based studio musician, died in his sleep at age 70 in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}