page_title: Olsen and Johnson
section_title: Hellzapoppin
hierarchical_section_title: Olsen and Johnson / Hellzapoppin
caption_attribution_description: Photo of the comedy team of Olsen and Johnson with comedian Harry Langdon. At left is Chic Johnson, center, Harry Langdon, right Ole Olsen.
context_page_description: John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen and Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson were American comedians of vaudeville, radio, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television. Their shows were noted for their crazy blackout gags and orchestrated mayhem. Their most famous concept, Hellzapoppin, has become show-business shorthand for freewheeling, anything-goes comedy; it enjoyed a lengthy run on Broadway and spawned a movie version.
context_section_description: Although Olsen and Johnson were a leading act in vaudeville, their greatest achievement was their "legitimate theater" production of Hellzapoppin. Assembled and produced by Olsen and Johnson, Hellzapoppin opened at New York's 46th Street Theatre on September 22, 1938, and ran for 1,404 performances, transferring to the Winter Garden Theatre mid-run.
  The show had its start in a revue called Monkey Business wherein the team began developing their signature style of observing and commenting on the lunacy taking place around them. The gags and comic premises were borrowed from classic variety entertainment, but Olsen and Johnson put an original spin on the material through their inspired improvisation in live performance.
  Described as a rule-breaking exercise in hysteria, Hellzapoppin was a comic amalgam of the best—or worst—of vaudeville and burlesque. It gloried in the broadest type of comedy, with no sketch too lowbrow to be included. Technically a musical because it included a score by lyricist Charles Tobias and composer Sammy Fain, it was best known for its crazy combination of comedy acts, which included clowns, midgets, and animals. Stylistically, the show consistently broke the fourth wall, using shills, plants, and zany audience-participation gags. It also made heavy use of prop comedy, including rubber snakes, clotheslines filled with laundry, and breakaway pants, as well as electric buzzers hidden inside some of the seats.
  Olsen and Johnson's shows were so popular that the team franchised them, with road companies headlining similar vaudeville acts and comedians. (The 1942 road company of Hellzapoppin starred Jay C. Flippen and Happy Felton in the Olsen and Johnson roles. The 1949 Australian tour starred Don de Leo and George Mayo as ‘Olsen and Johnson’).
caption: Olsen and Johnson with comedian Harry Langdon (center).
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