Stoopnagle & Budd--Town Hall Tonight
Stoopnagle & Budd---Frederick Chase Taylor (a.k.a. Col. Lemuel Stoopnagle) and William Budd Hulick---were probably old-time radio's earliest pure satirists, telegraphing Fred Allen by a few years, Henry Morgan by a decade, and Bob & Ray by a couple of decades, just about. Their trademarks included poking fun at prospective (but ultimately spurned) sponsors and, especially, Taylor's knack for Spoonerisms ("This is Col. Speaknagle stoopling," "Paul Revile's rear") and for absurd inventions. ("A twenty-foot pole, for not touching a guy you wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole . . . twice"; "Eyeglasses with vertical stripes, so bank tellers can recognise their customers when they meet them outside the cage.") Shamefully little of their signature radio work has survived, probably because the duo was respected and a darling of the intelligentsia but never really broke through (as Allen would do) to enough of a mainstream audience. But this jewel---during their summer replacement work hosting Fred Allen's popular "Town Hall Tonight"---has survived, featuring much of the Allen show's regular company (including announcer Harry Von Zell, orchestra leader Peter Van Steeden). This was the duo's only turn filling in for Allen during "Town Hall Tonight's" lifetime; the partners split in 1937, and Stoopnagle stood in for Allen alone during the summer of 1938.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.