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 The Story Lady is another of the very funny short radio
syndicated packages. In this case,
a "kiddy-style" story telling lady (.."today,
boys and girls, we're going to hear the story of…")
actually telling a short, bogus fairy tale. These are
goofy, twisted fairy tales. Of course, satire or lampoon
has been popular through the ages, but early radio networks
as run by gentlemen in decidedly did not enjoy self ridicule,
or off-center comedy. When Mae West played Eve (mistake
#1) in a comedy satire aired on the Edgar
Bergen and Charlie McCarthy program, the network
quietly blackballed her for decades.
Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2010 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved-Reproduction is prohibited. Of course, by the 1960's, network radio as a force was
in decline, and freedom was in the air. On The Fairy
Lady, the idea of what constituted a fairy tale was
stretched, too, since the list of tales included the Brothers
Karamasov, Mary Poppins, Pancho Villa and even "Of
Human Bondage."
The Story Lady was Joan Gerber, an LA radio comedienne
that worked with a group that included Laugh-In favorites
Artie Johnson and Gary Owens. Byron Kane is The Story
Lady's announcer. He plays it wonderfully mild-mannered,
and always has the last word (and laugh) with his final
teaser about what story is coming up next time.
Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2010 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved-Reproduction is prohibited. The theme music will be obvious to any opera or Mozart
lover…it's the Papageno aria from "The Magic
Flute."
For more satire, please see Bob and
Ray. Comedy lovers should also see the many comedy/variety
shows, including
Red Skelton, Fred
Allen, Burns and Allen,
Jack Benny and a host
of radio situation comedies.
(Please note some of these Story Lady recordings
have unfortunate digital 'glitches' or 'hiccups' in the
recordings)
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