MUCH ADO ABOUT ME Paperback – September 6, 2011

With locking myself away and trying to avoid Covid 19 during this period, I watched a lot of TV.I viewed quality TV and found the old series What's My Line with Fred Allen as a panelist. I searched and found this delightful book that Allen wrote.I heard of Vaudeville but did not know much about it. I learned a tremendous amount of how it worked, the people who earned their livings in it, and a clear and detailed taste of how much of it felt to actually worked in this field. You cannot read this book and know feel what it was like to work in show business then. Amazing.I don't think you can get a better book on the subject and as a bonus, get the humor and story telling of Fred Allen.This book was the best bargain of the Past Covid Period.

I have long been a fan of Fred Allen and particularly enjoyed watching him on old reruns of "What's My Line." Knowing he came from Vaudeville, I jumped at the chance to buy this book about his early life around Boston and then when he first went into Vaudeville. It's a fascinating read, not only because of all that it reveals about Fred Allen and what it was like in Vaudeville, but also because of all the people he met and worked with in those early days that kept weaving their way through his life. It's very well written (in my opinion -- I can hear Fred reading it aloud because it's very much in his style) and is a fairly quick read. Now I just wish a Kindle version of Fred's other book about his life in radio called "Treadmill to Oblivion" would be issued!It's a fun read!

Cambridge, MA. native Fred Allen was born John Florence Sullivan on May 31st, 1894. He's fondly remembered by classic radio aficionados as the witty host of the the Linit Bath Club Revue, Town Hall Tonight, the Texaco Star Theater and his self-named Fred Allen Show. It was during the Texaco days that Fred developed one of radio's most popular features, Allen's Alley, a "theater of the mind" spot where Fred's chosen topic of the day was kicked around by such colorful characters as Mrs. Pansy Nussbaum, Titus Moody, Sen. Beauregard Claghorn and poet Falstaff Openshaw, who was played by Alan Reed, later the voice of ABC-TV's  The Flintstones .Fred was a fixture on radio for nearly two decades, but he was never as successful on TV. In 1954, Allen published a reminscence of his radio days,  TREADMILL TO OBLIVION . He spent the last two years of his life writing in chronological order his pre-radio life story, MUCH ADO ABOUT ME. When Allen died of a coronary on St. Patrick's Day 1956, this book was complete up to the year 1928. Fred's widow, Mary Portland Sullivan (aka Portland Hoffa), published it as is, where her husband left off.In well-written prose in which we always can hear his voice, Fred skillfully tells by turn the story of his childhood, taking up juggling as a hobby, and being encouraged to go on the stage after a successful turn at an employer's talent show. During his teens, Fred was a stigmatized "coast defender," that is, a local entertainer who had never played vaudeville. He made a dollar here and there shuttling between cities and talent shows, all the time polishing his act and developing a joke-filled monologue. Finding a name change necessary to climb the next Show Biz rung, Allen became Freddy St. James and had his first taste of small-time "vaud," touring only minor New England houses.After briefly appearing in New York and jumping around the country, 21-year-old Allen grabbed an opportunity for an extended Australia/New Zealand gig. By now he was Freddy James, with an added banjo and ventriloquist's dummy. Following many months overseas, Fred resumed his American vaudeville career. Over time, with sight gag gimmicks and improved monologues, the juggling was reduced and then eliminated altogether. Mostly a small time headliner, he did also play the big circuits, but not as the next-to-close act.Later came appearances in and writing for long-forgotten Schubert brothers stage productions like The Passing Show of 1922 and The Greenwich Village Follies. Fred's story ends abruptly with a two-week flop, Arthur Hammerstein's Polly.It's clear that Fred Allen the radio star was forged during his vaudeville and variety show days. This step-by-step growth is interesting reading, but more so are Allen's comments about the Show Biz folks he met along the way, mainly the peculiar vaud performers who long ago passed into obscurity, also some we still remember. As an example, Fred knew George Burns when he was a softshoe comic working with a straight man.Always however, what comes through clearest is that unique Allen humor, which was often based in absurd comparatives. To close, here's just a few examples of it from "Much Ado About Me":"Standing up, Ed was tall and emaciated. Sitting down, Ed was short and emaciated.""If (Frank) Fay's ego had been acid, he would have consumed himself... The last time I saw Fay he was walking down Lovers' Lane, holding his own hand.""Cassie (French) had an enormous bust. With her short neck and protruding bosom, Cassie always looked as though she were looking over someone else's behind.""The missionary was on his way to the Samoan Islands, where he planned to teach the natives what they were doing wrong.""If VARIETY's pronunciamentos had the power to wither an actor's future, today I would be gainfully employed as a pretzel salter."

. Mr. Allen is a wonderful writer. I learned so much about Vaudeville in an entertaining way. As I read I felt his love for his early career. I came away feeling that here was a man of integrity and generosity. Although he considered himself to be uneducated and a poor writer, this book shows that he was a man who thought deeply and had an honest core.

Fred Allen was a huge big name comedian in vaudeville and radio but never made the transition to TV or film so he is all but known today.This book is a detailed dady to day description of his life in vaudeville from the early days of the smalltime to headlining at the Palace. It's not a particularly funny book and if you don; Fred Allen you won't get a sense of him here.But its a wonderful story of the days of vadueville when travelling entertainers - singers comics acrobats toured the small towns and big cities of America pre radio pre TV almost pre movie.

Fred Allen is incredibly funny. And his life story is one for the books. He talks about the life of a vaudeville entertainer in this book and the life must have been very hard.Sometimes I listen to his radio show on the internet radio and he keeps you laughing with his super dry wit and humor.If you ever get a chance to watch him as a panel member on I've Got a Secret you will see how funny he was.

As a Performer myself, who is interested in the History of American Vaudeville, and English Music Hall, I have found Fred Allen's "Much Ado About Me" peppered with Information about the Acts (His Own Acts and those He came in Contact with) and the Circuits, Keith & Albee, Orpheum, Pantages, Morris, Small Time Circuits, etc. The Theaters, Majestic in Boston, the Palace in New York, the Academy in Chicago, and so on. This is a History that You can't find Anywhere Else ! I know this because I have read Hundreds of Books on these Subjects. Above All, Fred Allen's Sparkling Humor carries the Reader through the Whole Book, and If You want more of Fred Allen's Wit, please get a hold of his Book "Treadmill to Oblivion" as well. As for my Capitals, that's Just My Style, & it does give You something to comment On, does it Not ?

a genius wit, Mr. Allen's writings are as witty and amusing as he was. if you want to study a true comedic genius you read Fred Allen's biography.