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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.
Episodes
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
A chance meeting in 1950s Orange County, California led Bill Skiles and Pete Henderson to create a comedy team that lasted all the way until 2010. Henderson was a singer and pianist who played the straight man, and Skiles was a sound effects madman who could punctuate (and puncture) anything Pete was trying to say or sing. The boys got their start at Disneyland as a song and dance team, then got their first Vegas break in 1960 at the Golden Nugget. Serving as regular openers for musicians such as Andy Williams and The Carpenters, Skiles and Henderson worked clean, making them regulars on tv variety and talk shows in the 1960s and 70s. In their later years they worked the showroom and corporate circuit, including stints in Branson, Missouri. As Pete Henderson described their act, "it was ad-libbing, very visual, and Bill was like something someone had left running." As always find extra cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows!
Want more Skiles and Henderson?
Many stars got their show business start at Disneyland -- Steve Martin worked in the magic store for example -- and Skiles and Henderson were no exception, being hired as a song and dance team back in 1958https://youtu.be/6R7HahXz1Bw?si=AA2L6v1AEur_3zFD.
kiles and Henderson were all over TV variety shows in the 70s and 80s -- here's what those spots looked like. https://youtu.be/eiF8CIqPiWo?si=drwm2pi3vvUDB7Bv
Bill Skiles was a sound effects master but he also was a superb impressionist including this bit which places John Wayne on the Mayflower.https://youtu.be/izjURzLAqKU?si=1UQPb-sFH8tLVAGp
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