Joe,

 >   I thought Jimmy Durante said "I've got a million of 'em".

 JM>   Berle stole that line from Durante.  :)

  [Paul Harvey voice] "And now, you know...the rest of the story". 

 JM>   Berle, who was kidded about stealing other peoples jokes.  He was
 JM> sometimes called "The Thief of Bad Gags".

  I guess he was like Jack Benny, and was too cheap to pay his writers. 

 JM>   But I think it was Berle who had a vast library of jokes, all in
 JM> topical and alphabetical order on index cards.  Of course most
 JM> comedians, or their writers, had those.

  It's hard to remember them all.

 JM>   Fred Allen said that Jack Benny was unable to ad lib a belch.  One
 JM> time appearing on Fred's show Fred was giving him a rough time and Jack
 JM> replied "You wouldn't say that to me if by writers were around".  :)

  That's pretty bad. But, Jack is still 39. 

 JM>   I loved their "feud".  In real life they were good friends.

  It sounded that way between Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, and W.C. 
Fields.

 JM>   I've been listening to their programs back to back each week and the
 JM> jokes were funnier when Benny was on Sunday and Allen on Wednesday to
 JM> hear what they would say about the other each week.

  Did they ever appear on stage together??

 JM>   When Allen was moved to Sunday following Benny's show Fred could get
 JM> in a crack but it would be a week before Jack could reply.

  I think back then, most of the shows were done "live". Now, all of them
(except the newscasts) are pre-recorded...although the stories in the
newscasts are pre-recorded.

 JM>   Almost all of Jack's radio programs were saved (he started having his
 JM> show transcribed, at his expense, early in his radio career).
 JM>   Allen's shows are often hit and miss.  Many recordings were made, but
 JM> many also lost over the years.

  Interesting.

  I was trying to think who had the cluttered closet, but I want to say it
was Fibber McGee. When the door opened, there was this huge cacophony of
sounds of things collapsing, falling out, etc. -- with a foghorn at the end.
Then, when he made a comment, it was "Not funny, McGee". 

Daryl

... Elusikey: The key that is invariably lost in the bottom of a purse.
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