February 16, 2010

Happy Birthday, Edgar!

If you're reading this, you're probably expecting something snide and sarcastic or complaining like I usually do, but not today. I talked with Dave and we agreed that today we need to come together. Today is Edgar Bergen's birthday.(He'd be 107, if he had lived, sheez!) Without Edgar, there'd probably be no modern ventriloquists. Edgar made the art popular and millions of introverted little wannabe comedians took up the hobby of ventriloquism and and whether they succeeded or not, they kept the fire burning for others down the road.

If you see that guy, Jeff Dunham on TV and laugh at his Walter and Dead Terrorist dudes, then you are glimpsing into that guy's "inner Edgar." And it goes with out saying, without Edgar there would have been no "Charlie McCarthy" and without that wooden kid, all us other dummies would still be in the forest with birds on our branches or holding up some dull literature as bookshelves.

So, hell yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDGAR! We miss you and Charlie and Mortimer





Artwork, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy--1938--by Dick Weston

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