Project Audion Episode 73: The Jimmy Durante Show

Summertime is a good time for lighter fare...August brings us a variety show that is super-fun and super-easy to listen to -- "The Camel Comedy Caravan with Garry Moore and Jimmy Durante." (whew - just call it the Jimmy Durante Show) Remember Jimmy Durante?  A fellow so famous for so many decades that just a caricature of his face was once enough to elicit a smile. His outsized "Schnozz" matched the outsized personality from the 1920s through the 1970s. You know him, even if you think you don't -- because even today his catchphrases and songs have endured. You can hear Durante singing in the "Joker" movie of 2019, imitated in the "Lion King," and showing up every year in beloved animated Christmas specials.  So for this Audion Original, Pete Lutz decided to revisit this unique talent, imagining a fresh 1940s episode of the Comedy Caravan with on-air partner Garry Moore, plus guest stars Sydney Greenstreet and Rose Marie. It's a half-hour of the kind of variety show that radio did so well. "Everyone wants ta' get inta de act!" and they do for a marvelous half hour of mirth and music...Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices