Tuesday, February 14, 2006

On Your Mark...Get Set...

The hotel reservation service for this year's Comic-Con International opens tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, Pacific Time. A few weeks ago, someone inaccurately reported it as 9:00 AM, Eastern Time, and a couple of my local friends were irate because they figured that meant getting up to be ready at 6 AM.

I don't know how many rooms will be available but it would not surprise me if they're all gone by the time the late risers log in. The last few years, I've had friends calling me in despair. They didn't get in quickly and found themselves faced with the choice of staying in New Mexico and commuting...or paying a per-night figure roughly equal to the price of a near-mint Action Comics #1. I cannot help these people. You have X number of hotel rooms near the convention center and Y number of people who want one, and Y is at least ten times X, maybe twenty or thirty times. It's simple math.

But don't give up too quickly. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a lot of people, well aware of the inevitable shortage, long ago made any kind of reservation they could get — sometimes, several — and they'll be cancelling some as we get closer to the date. Some hotels (I don't mean the ones available through the con) may be holding back rooms 'til later. Last year just before the con, when everything south of Disneyland seemed booked solid with a waiting list, a friend of mine innocently called a hotel within walking distance of the convention center and got a room at a decent price. The person who took the reservation told him, "For weeks now, we've been laughing at people who call and ask what you asked, but someone just cancelled."

So don't despair. But also don't call me.

Anyway, the gold rush begins tomorrow at the Comic-Con website. Let the games commence.

• Posted at 7:10 PM · LINK

Before Anyone Writes In...

I just realized that the last two items I posted here kind of go together. I hadn't heard about the death of Rickie Layne when I posted the link this morning to the video of Rod Hull but they were both great performers who manipulated very rude and funny puppets.

Just thought I'd mention the connection before dozens of you take the time to write in and make note of it.

• Posted at 3:47 PM · LINK

Rickie Layne, R.I.P.

Ventriloquist Rickie Layne, who made 38 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show with his wooden friend Velvel, died Saturday at the age of 81. As this 2002 article in The Jewish Journal explains, Layne (born Richard Israel Cohen) owed his stardom to a recommendation from singer Nat King Cole.

Some additional details not in the article: The Sunset Strip nightclub mentioned in the piece was Ciro's, which was in the building where The Comedy Store is now housed. Cole's wife, Maria Cole, was playing there and her opening act, fresh from the Catskills and Miami hotel circuits, was Rickie Layne and Velvel. On October 23, 1955, Nat and Maria did the Sullivan show and told Ed about the wonderful Jewish comedian and his dummy with the Yiddish accent. Sullivan said he ordinarily liked to see an act before he booked it and that he wasn't travelling to the West Coast, where Layne was then working, for some time. Nat said, in effect, "Trust me on this one, Ed. Book the guy. If you don't love him, my next appearance with you is free."

Sullivan took the offer and Rickie Layne appeared on the January 1, 1956 episode of Ed's show, which was called Toast of the Town back then. Layne's lips moved more than Edgar Bergen's even but Velvel was hilarious and the act was immediately booked again, with many appearances to follow. Of all the acts that appeared on Sullivan's long-running variety series, only four others — Wayne & Shuster, Topo Gigio, Jack Carter and Myron Cohen — made more appearances than Rickie Layne and Velvel. He was one of Ed's main "go-to" guys when a given episode seemed in need of an extra comedy spot. (The Jewish Journal article says he made 48 appearances. It was actually 38.)

Alas, Layne's career did not much survive the end of the Sullivan program. He barely worked after the late seventies. His last public performance seems to have been in 1997 when there was a show/party at The Improv in Hollywood to celebrate the 100th birthday of the great Señor Wences. I should post an article I wrote at the time about that wonderful evening, but one of the things that made it special was the appearance of Velvel. Not long after, I was fortunate to attend a private party for Rickie Layne that celebrated his life and career, and to hear him tell wonderful tales of his years playing the Borscht Circuit. It was amazing how many hotel and showroom owners couldn't quite grasp the fact that the insults (and demands for better pay) that came out of Velvel's mouth actually were the views of Mr. Layne.

Oddly enough, the other day in the hospital, I watched an Ed Sullivan special on that in-house comedy TV channel I mentioned and saw a few seconds of Velvel in great form. I wish someone would assemble a special or a DVD of those acts presented in full. With so many people like this leaving us, those clips are all we have to remember the great art form represented by variety performers like Rickie Layne. And, oh yeah — Velvel, too.

• Posted at 3:42 PM · LINK

Rod Puppet

One of the most-accessed articles I have on my site here is this one about the late Rod Hull, who performed an odd but hilarious act with his creation, Emu. Richard Schultz tips me off about this brief online clip of Rod in action — not the best example of the Hull technique but it may give you some idea of what he did.

• Posted at 8:18 AM · LINK