Visits with old stars via the genius of PunchyPlayers

        As usual, the Nostalgic Rambler can't relate to the "celebrities" on Entertainment Tonight or on the pics at the supermarket checkout. Most of the time I say myself "WHO is THAT?" Luckily there are some who still relate to the big stars of yesteryear. My latest find for you is a team of comic geniuses named Chris and Jeff from Dallas. They call themselves PunchyPlayers and their work is on Youtube. 

Imagine if Julie Andrews appeared with Julia Child? Through the magic of Jeff's vocal impersonations and Chris's video talents, you don't have to imagine it, you can SEE and HEAR it!

 What if the lovely Audrey Hepburn was your stewardess? Can you imagine her voice on the loudspeaker?

Judy Garland is another great subject they portray, including her and daughter Liza extolling the wonders of Cream of Wheat or going grocery shopping together with Judy having to sing advertising jingles throughout the store!

 Lucy and Desi also make an appearance on their Youtube page which is highly recommended. Click here and watch ALL their videos for a lot of fun.

With all the uninspired trash on TV these days, these two are a breath of fresh air. If I were I network exec I would snap up their talent and give them a weekly TV show.  By bringing back long gone celebrities in new twisted scenes, we could soon be enjoying episodes of  the new "I Love Lucy" with special guest star Judy Garland. Maybe they could even do a Perry Como show with special guest Jeff Borger (that's me in case you forgot....). 

Of course you'd probably encounter a legal nightmare ironing out all the rights to use this stuff, but if Forrest Gump could do it, so could the PunchyPlayers.

Here's a link to their Facebook page and here's a link to another rave review about this talented duo.

Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills!

 Back in the 1970s I amassed quite a collection of what are now called "old radio shows" on cassette tape. Those old radio shows are now as much an antique as the cassettes they are recorded on! 

The hobby started when our local library introduced me to a vast archive of cassettes patrons could check out. I fell in love with the radio of the 1940s and 1950s. From the comedy shows of Jack Benny and Fred Allen to the mystery dramas of "Suspense", the talent of that time frame (before television came on the scene) will never be surpassed.

Recently I rummaged through an old box and pulled out those old cassettes. My wife has now been indoctrinated into "Radio's outstanding theater of thrills......SUSPENSE!"

"Suspense" was a radio drama where the "tale was well calculated to keep you in suspense..." in other words you were on the edge of your seat wondering what was coming next.

Many stars of the day appeared on "Suspense" including my beloved Lucille Ball.  Long before "I Love Lucy" she gets strangled in the episode entitled  "A Piece of Rope", she thinks she has witnessed a murder committed by co-star Desi Arnaz in "The Red Headed Woman" or she is so evil she is killed in "A Shroud for Sarah." 

"Suspense" was on the radio from 1942 until 1962. Quite a long run. You can easily find inexpensive access to "Suspense" shows by simply doing a search as they are readily available in mp3 format...or click on the Lucy episode titles listed above to listen via Youtube!

Sorry but today you won't find a bottle of Roma wine, "spelled are-oh-em-aye........" the then most popular wine in America and sponsor of "Suspense" for many years. Roma went the way of old time radio shows, but it is lots of fun to shut off the tv and let your mind create the picture.