|
|
| Certain sayings,
comedy bits and expressions are immediately associated with The
Three Stooges. Recognize these?? |
|
| "Woo-Woo-Woo" |
Curly used this sound
whenever he was happy, scared or nervous. It is also the sound
that most people imitate when they think of Curly. Curly
patterned his act after a comedian named Hugh Herbert, who said,
"Hoo-Hoo-Hoo." In Great Movie Shorts,
Leonard Maltin stated that Herbert's familiar "hooo-hoo-hoo"
was imitated so frequently that "the copy eventually
overtook the original." |
|
| The
Curly Shuffle |
This was Curly's own
dance step that resembled the "Moon Walk." It was a
series of small steps that made him look almost as if he were
moving backward. |
|
| The
Fighter's Dance |
Shemp, who was an amateur
prize fighter in WWI, used some of the moves he learned to
formulate this quick-stepping, imitation rope-skipping,
fists-flying move. He usually used it when he was required to
bop someone who was bigger than he was. |
|
| The
Shoulder Spin |
Maybe break-dancing
evolved from this move. Curly originated it, and it involved
throwing himself to the floor and running around in a circle
while lying down, using his shoulder as a pivot. The story has
it that Curly did this move for the first time when he forgot
his lines and needed to fill in with an improvisation. |
|
| The
Quivering Lip |
Similar to Curly's
"Woo-woo-woo," this trademark Shemp-ism involved
sucking in air while letting out a loud, high-pitched noise. He
would lip-quiver when he was happy, scared or nervous. Sometimes
he worked it into his snoring! |
|
| Pie-throwing |
The tossing of
pastries was popular in almost all the slapstick comedy acts of
the 1930's, but The Three Stooges probably threw more pies than
any other team. Moe, especially, was known for his pie-tossing
accuracy. Sometimes they would hurl more than 100 pies in one sequence
that lasted only a few minutes. In one film, Pest Man Wins,
The Boys engaged in a wild pie-throwing frenzy. Then the editors
spliced in pie-tossing segments from other films to make the
scene even crazier. |
|
| The
Hair |
Ted Healy was the one
who decided that each Stooge should have a distinctive haircut
that would be his personal physical trademark. Each one suited
that particular Stooge perfectly!
 Moe
Howard called his straight-bangs cut a "bedpan"
haircut. Sometimes his hair was used for comic effect by blowing
a gust of air up under his bangs, making them stand on
end.
 Larry
Fine's curly, frizzy hair was perfect for pulling, yanking,
and tearing. He let it grow long and was given the nickname
"Porcupine."
 Curly
Howard's hair was naturally dark brown and wavy and Ted Healy
announced that it wasn't funny enough. Shemp talked Curly into
shaving his hair off, but Curly insisted on the nickname
"Curly" in return. His simple "hairstyle"
was the perfect topping for his simpleton personality.
|
| |
