The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-03-23
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A TELEGRAM telling her that
L Aher mother was not expected
to live caused Kay Thompson,
guest star tonight or Harry
Richman's WFBM program at 7,
to leap from obscurity to radio
popularity almost overnight. The
telegram came just before one of
her early broadcasts when SuS-
pense and nervous tension al
ready were at their height. That
night Miss Thompson held back
her tears and went to the micro
phone, but almost sobbed her
songs There was something in
the emotional quality of her voice
that attracted listeners, who re-
sponded enthusiastically to her
program.
Down in Haiti, MICS Grand
pa Burton" (WEAF at 3:45 this
afternoon, who is Bill Baer in
real life, urged a girl he met in
Cape Haitien to be sure to hear
his program. She wanted to
listen, but in Cape Haitien there
is no electricity before o'clock.
She finally persuaded her fiance,
who works in the power house, to
pull the switch little early one
day. Immediately inquiries be-
gan pouring in from persons who
wanted to know how their lights
could be on in the middle of the
afternoon. The fiance fibbed that
defective lights were being test
ed-and he didn't lose his job!
A whole town upset because one
girl wanted to hear daylight
program.
NTEEKS after its dramatiza-
w ton of the predicament of
the sleepy Hindu who hadn't even
cat-napped for months, the March
of Time staff still is receiving
suggestions for his relief from
sympathetic listeners. If he only
could get to the United States,
and ride on certain railroad, we
wager he'd sleep like a kitten"
That failing, he might try a GER
tain brand of coffee that's prac-
tically guaranteed to do the trick.
Radio gag writing, like all trades,
has its tricks. In the new Writ
ers' Yearbook, Mort Lewis, sue
cessful writer, reveals some of the
secrets of the comedy clan. He
tells one not how to think up
jokes, but where to find them,
how 10 file and how to use the
files in script writing. He lists the
magazines a good gag writer
should read, and explains that
the same joke may be used over
and over with new applications.
We know, of course, that this is
done, but unless the comedian is
very clever the reaction is not al
ways what is hoped for. Take,
for instance, Ed Wynn's dressing
up of the old gag about boring
a hole in the bottom of boat to
let the water out. BY telling the
yarn in his silly way, by applying
it to characters in his script, Ed
got a big laugh from the studio
audience, but to the radio listener
who knew what was coming when
the story started, who couldn't see
the comedian, it simply was an
other tO-Often-told tale.
ID Ado FUTURES-A new Sc
IN ries of Your Hit Parade is to
be inaugurated on CHS May 2;
one, possibly both, of MICS Your
Hit Parade programs will be con-
tinued. Willie and Eugene
Howard, headliners in George
Whites Scandals are to have
their own radio programs on
NBC-WJz starting April Is.
CHS will air President Roosevelt's
address to Young Democrats of
Maryland Monday, April Is.
the Metropolitan Operas first
spring series. beginning May 16, is
to be broadcast by NBC each
Saturday afternoon; the last
NBC-Metropolitan presentation of
the regular season was broadcast
Saturday. The Fire Chief
show will be on the air again
next fall. Cantor's show is
contracted to run through May.
Ford's symphony broadcasts
will leave the air June %; the fate
Of Warnings Pennsylvanians is I'M
decided. Leslie Towards ra-
dio dramatizations will disappear
III about four weeks. NBC,
CHS and Mutual will have an
nouncerS aboard the S. S. Queen
Mary for her first crossing in
May. CBS's idea men are
A1,1 -k,.,,4 &c