Vaudeville
Vaudeville (/ˈvɔːdᵊvɪl/; French: [vodvil]) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. It was especially popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. A typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a "vaudevillian."
Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American burlesque. Called "the heart of American show business," vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America for several decades.
Etymology
The origin of this term is obscure, but is often explained as being derived from the French expression voix de ville ("City Voice"). A second speculation is that it comes from the fifteenth-century songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin, "Vaux de Vire." In his Connections television series, science historian James Burke claims that the term is a corruption of the French "Vau de Vire" ("Vire River Valley", in English), an area known for its bawdy drinking songs and where Basselin lived. Some, however, preferred the earlier term "variety" to what manager Tony Pastor called its "sissy and Frenchified" successor. Thus, vaudeville was marketed as "variety" well into the 20th century.
Podcasts:
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by Satellites & Sirens
Vaudevillian
by: Satellites & SirensWhat's that sound? Sounds like a train
Why's a black caped man knotting my legs?
This seems odd that my goodbye would be
The here and now while I am facing the sky
Seem like if my memory serves me right
Some dame should be here in this place of mine
No dame, what a shame
Looks like I'm the one to be saved
Caught in an old silent film
Where the chances are zero for the perilous hero
Can't win with an evil villain
So somebody page my stand in
Excuse me sir, don't mean to intrude
Could I ask something from you?
Clearly there's not too much time
If I could get free, well, don't you think that I would
Seem like if my memory serves me right
Some dame should be here in this place of mine
No dame, what a shame
Am I all alone in this game?
This is the dichotomy
That leads to the epitome
Of every continental divide
Caught in an old silent film
Where the chances are zero for the perilous hero
Can't win with an evil villain
So somebody page my stand in
Caught in an old silent film
Where the chances are zero for the perilous hero
Can't win with an evil villain
So somebody page my stand in
Could this be my
My last good bye
Facing the sky
Caught in an old silent film
Where the chances are zero for the perilous hero
Can't win with an evil villain
So somebody page my stand in
Caught in an old silent film
Where the chances are zero for the perilous hero
Can't win with an evil villain