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Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to YouTube Audiobook
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Chain of Fools traces the art of slapstick comedy from its pre-cinema origins in the ancient pantomime through its silent movie heyday in the teens and twenties, then on to talkies, television, and the internet. Author Trav S.D. mixes a wicked wit, a scholar’s curiosity, and a keen critical appreciation for laugh-makers through the ages, from classical clowns like Joseph Grimaldi to comedy kings like Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton … to more recent figures, from Red Skelton, Sid Caesar, and Ernie Kovacs to Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, and Steve Carell … all the way down to the teenagers on YouTube whose backyard antics bring us full circle to slapstick’s beginnings. This valentine to the great clowns contains enough insights and surprises to open the eyes of even life-long comedy fans.
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“Trav traces the arc of silent comedy back further than most film historians do in their books, and follows it further into the present as well. Chain of Fools is not just about silent comedy itself but its place in our culture and how it’s been a consistent part of it. A fun read, and accessible to both novice and seasoned historian. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
— Ben Model, The Silent Clowns and Undercrack Productions
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“Perhaps the most incisive and comprehensive account of silent comedy and the many men and women who made it…Full of surprises, delicious obscurities, and great detail that never becomes academic. Highly recommended.”
— Tim Sommer (Village Voice, MTV, VH1) -
“Reading this book is like drinking a really great cognac. It is exciting as you drink it and when it goes down it warms you up!”
— Jim R. Moore, Vaudevisuals.com
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About Trav S.D.
Trav S.D. (Travis Stewart) is best known as the author of No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous (2005), a favorite of folks ranging from Bette Midler to Marilyn Manson; and the creator of the show Travalanche, which contains (among much else) the largest online repository of original show biz biographies in the world. In addition to having been a contributor to The New York Times, The Village Voice, American Theatre, and Time Out New York, he is also known as a public speaker and theatre practitioner, most notably as co-producer and director of the first revival of the Marx Brothers first Broadway show I’ll Say She Is. His most recent book, released in 2024, is The Marx Brothers Miscellany. He studied film production and criticism at NYU.