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Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan’s lifelong love of comedy was kindled when they met more than 40 years ago in graduate school in Seattle. While managing family and professional work responsibilities, they hosted a one hour comedy radio program on Saturday mornings for 10 years on a small radio station in Olympia, WA and also co-authored two books on northwest popular culture – Seattle on Film (1995) and Wet and Wired (2000). Stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic with hundreds of comedy albums, cassettes and CD’s gathering dust on their shelves, they launched Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy in May 2020, a weekly mini-program featuring a different comedy icon, with biographical bits and a nice slice of the comedy that made them famous. From standup stars, to stellar sketch teams, to novelty music maestros -- they are all part of our Legends.
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Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Today we meet a man who is a true perspiration to both of us, the great Norm Crosby -- also known as the master of malaprop. Born out of the need for a shtick when he was a young comic, Norm's ability to mangle the language on command was a hit with audiences and led to a decades long career in comedy clubs, long runs in Las Vegas, and myriad appearances in film and on television. Norm was also a staple at the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts (and the much naughtier Friar's Club version), a regular on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, and an unlikely pitchman for beer. Not bad for a comic with Catskills material, but a gift for garbled gab that was top shelf all the way. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!
Want more Norm?
If you want a nice sample of what Norm was all about this clip from the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967 is a great place to start. It's a simple riff on US History, but filled with the malaprop comedy that made his career. https://youtu.be/gshTXgcyoq4?si=Z3ZkQqqSMO4JrSkl
Norm was a Vegas stalwart with headlining gigs of his own, plus a long run opening shows for the likes of Tom Jones. Here's Norm guesting on the mother of all Vegas gigs -- the Jerry Lewis Telethon (Norm appeared 27 times). https://youtu.be/KjImNhOSDac?si=Cpo3iQkVowynKAT_
Later in his career Norm found a new audience through an unlikely source -- he became a tv pitchman, most notably for the then new Natural Light Beer. Nothing like dressing up a lousy beer with some classic comedy! https://youtu.be/teUfoBNYXrY?si=VPa6k9mjestTFyj3
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