The Three Stooges'
trademark is their physical comedy. They loved to slap faces!
Ted Healy, who started The Stooges, was the first comedian who
actually slapped his cohorts around. After The Stooges left Ted
Healy's act, Moe took over the role of leader and did most of
the belting, smacking, tweaking and slapping. You would think
that the Stooges would have been hurt in the process, but Moe
developed a technique of keeping his fingers loose so that The
Boys would not get injured. It was up to the other Stooges then
to do the follow-through and make it look as if they had really
been smacked. Below are some of the most common slaps, tweaks,
and stunts.
|
| SIGHT
GAGS:
Click the picture to hear the sound.
|
THE DOUBLE CHEEK SLAP: This was achieved by cracking both
cheeks at the same time with both hands. The sound effects crew
would provide the two-slaps-at-once sound.
|
THE NOSE TWEAK: Moe was usually behind the tweaking. He
would quickly tweak the bottom of one of the Stooges' noses; it
was painless but with the proper reaction from the receiver of
the tweak, it looked painful! |
THE FOREHEAD SLAP: Larry usually got this one. It was
a favorite to use on him because of his receding hairline. Moe
would affectionately pat him on the forehead and then when Larry
was least expecting it, Moe would whack him full force. |
THE TRIPLE SLAP: This bit began with Ted Healy, smacking all
three Stooges in one motion. When The Boys went out on their
own, Moe usually double-slapped the other two Stooges in the
same manner.
|
THE BACKHAND SLAP: Whenever Moe was standing too far away
from the Stooge to smack him with his open palm, he would use
this backhand approach. Viewers "felt" more pain
because of the perception that Moe's knuckles were hitting his
victim. |
THE POKE IN THE EYES: Shemp actually invented this gag
backstage during a card game with Larry. Moe achieved the poke
in the eye without hurting the Boys by actually landing his
fingers on the forehead right above the eyes. |
 THE
HAND-TO-HAND HEAD CLUNK: This was a popular gag with The
Stooges. Moe would hold his fist in front of him and say,
"See that?" The partner would say, "Yeah,"
and then slap Moe's hand. Moe would then swing his fist in a
circular motion above his head, landing on the head of the other
Stooge. If the other guy tried to return the clunk to Moe, he
would end up smacking himself on the head. Confused, he would
then try to figure out why his head hurt twice as much! |
| SOUND
EFFECTS: Click the gag to hear the sound effect. |
| FACIAL
SLAPS: The Stooges used a simple slapstick for this
effect. If the slapper started out with a big windup, then they
added a wind-like sound to the smack. |
| STOMACH
PUNCHES: The belly banger was used in almost all the
Stooges' movies and the sound was made with a kettledrum. |
| EYE
POKES: The sound effect was made by the plucking of a ukulele
or violin string, making the gag even sillier and funnier. |
| HAIR
RIPPING: A cloth was torn to achieve the ripping sound of
hair, usually Larry's. |
| EAR
TWISTS: Sound effects crew used a ratchet to make the
twisting sound for this gag. They also used ratchets for
twisting of arms, legs and other body parts! |
| Information
for this page is from The Stoogephile Trivia Book by
Jeffrey Forrester. Contemporary Books, Inc., Chicago, 1982. |
