S’awright
If you’re of a certain age, you may remember Señor Wences from the Ed Sullivan Show. I loved him, and would watch the show every Sunday night, always hoping he’d be on:
Wences (real name: Wenceslao Moreno) had a pretty amazing attitude to go with his amazing skills, a continuing example of “Life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” And he lived to be 103:
At age 15, Moreno became a bullfighter, but he had to give up the sport after a serious injury. Doctors advised him to exercise his injured arm, so he learned to juggle and joined a circus act of some friends…
The inspiration for Johnny came from his school days when the teacher punished him for imitating classmates and answering “present” when they were absent. His punishment was to clean the inkwells and he smeared some of the ink on his hand, then clenched his fist to create the face…
Another popular Señor Wences character was the gruff-voiced Pedro, a disembodied head in a box. Wences was forced to suddenly invent the character when his regular, full-sized dummy was destroyed during a 1936 train accident en route to Chicago. Pedro would either “speak” from within the closed box, or speak with moving lips – simply growling, “s’awright” (“it’s all right”) – when the performer opened the box’s front panel with his free hand.
I loved this guy, too, and kept waiting for his appearances, but he didn’t seem to come on Ed Sullivan quite as often. I had forgotten his name, but he was easy enough to find on YouTube, that great aid to memory and nostalgia:
And then, watching that dance reminds me of something else. I saw this performed by the Moiseyev folk dance company as a child in 1958 when the Russian company first came to the US during the Khrushchev “thaw.” They’ve been performing the dance ever since – same costumes, same shtick, same everything. I think the dancing musicians at the end are fake-playing their instruments, but I’m not sure: :
Some of the dances the Moiseyev did – Partisans, Gopak – were the most thrilling things I’d ever seen on stage till then, and they remain that way in memory.
Here’s Gopak, a dance of Ukrainian origin. Imagine being a young child who’s never been exposed to a particle of Russian dancing before, and then seeing this in person. The music, the costumes, the energy, the athleticism, the sheer theatricality of it all, transported me. And I very badly wanted a pair of red boots like these, and flowers and flowing ribbons in my hair.
When I saw that performance in 1958, I noticed that during the ovations there were a number of grown men standing and screaming and clapping, with tears pouring down their faces. Even then, I sensed that they were people who many years earlier had left areas that were now part of the USSR. For them, the performance was a harbinger of hope that things would get better:
I saw the Bolshoi Opera Company perform at the Met at Lincoln Center around 1970 or early 70’s. I got the cheap tickets for standing room which was a bit grueling for 4 or 5 hours. I think I saw 2 or 3 performances and the one I remember was Boris Godunov.
If I recollect correctly, the Bolshoi was famous for including some Russian folk dancers, but especially for including massed choral sections. Operas often have choruses but the Bolshoi would bring a huge choir out on stage and really raise the rafters.
neo: I missed Senor Wences entirely. I do remember a “voice-in-a-box” which would say, “S’awright,” from a cartoon show — “Quickdraw McGraw”? But didn’t realize it was a reference.
If you are ever inclined to do a post on Israeli folk dancing, I would love it.
OOooh, my knees.
I think I saw Señor Wences twice when I was young. We didn’t have TV, so if I was lucky to be at a friend’s house on the right Sunday nights, I got to see the Ed Sullivan show. It must have been two of those nights. I loved him! With the merest of commentary, he’d get the audience to break out in a roar. And I’d be laughing with them.
I guess its about the same these days. All a comedian has to do to be funny is say “f*ck Trump” and the audience roars. Not me, though. We are all poorer for it.
I remember Sr. Wences fondly, as well as several other acts that could not be performed in these hyper-sensitive days, but knew nothing about his background. Thanks for featuring it — it brought back memories of my childhood. So too did your reference to Ukranian folk performances. I had a similar feeling watching Duquesne University’s “Tamburitzens” (which in those mid-century days did mostly Ukrainian dances). Things like this make Neo one of my favorite sites on the web.
I remember as a kid seeing on TV a dance like, and perhaps actually, Gopak, and WHO KNEW THERE WAS SO MUCH COLOR.
Thanks, neo.
This is great. Thanks.
I saw Senior Wences live, at the Chicago Theater which used to have vaudeville acts between movies. What I remember of him was his clever use of his hand as a puppet. He would put lipstick on his thumb and index finger to form a mouth. That would have been in the 50s as I went off to college in 1956.
I had never seen Senor Wences until now. Like huxley, I grew up seeing many, many references to him by other performers, often imitating his, “s’awright” for a quick laugh, so I knew who he was, and had an idea of what his act was, but this is my first time actually seeing him.
He was really good! He comes across as sincerely nice. I imagine that is a difficult thing for performers to convey, especially with an act with as many moving parts and misdirections as his. It must take tremendous rehearsal to do something so complex and make it look so casual.
I don’t know if anyone here has ever heard of radio personality, Phil Hendrie, but he has a similarly amazing mind; able to keep multiple thoughts and voices in his head at once. Although, being on the radio Phil doesn’t have to deal with mannerisms. However, for years Phil did his work while fielding calls from listeners not in on the gag, so he had to be quick and able to ad-lib. I love stuff like that. The show, “What’s my Line” features (featured?) comedians extremely talented at thinking on their feet and doing multiple characters in real time. Amazing minds!
Although I never saw “Ed Sullivan*” the folk dancers in costume remind me of “The Lawrence Welk Show.” It seemed he often featured stuff like that.
A friend’s mother was from Poland and it seemed like whenever I was at their home, no matter the time of day, Lawrence Welk was on. This was before there was cable or video recorders. I don’t know how she managed it, but with only 6 channels his mom seemed to find a continuous broadcast of Lawrence Welk!
With the limited choices we had most Americans were exposed to culture, including kids like me, or adults like my dad, who would likely never seek it out. Stations aired a variety of stuff, so most folks (I believe) were familiar with a fair amount of sophisticated cultural references to share a common cultural language. If a stand up comedian made a joke incorporating a line from Shakespeare, or Bizet’s “Carmen” or Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” or Homer, or Cubism, or Impressionism… how many people under the age of 50 would get the reference?
*The Internet says Sullivan aired through 1971, so I almost did certainly see it, or some of it, but I have no memory of ever seeing it. Maybe it was on past my bedtime? I remember seeing “The Honeymooners.” I think as part of “The Jackie Gleason Show” where the characters would do segments within the show. I’m pretty sure the first show I saw in color in our home was, “The Beverly Hillbillies.” My sister and I were home from school when my folks got a color set (maybe it was Christmas break) and I remember watching the serviceman set it up and turning it on.
Regarding neo’s folks talking her to live performances like this in NY; I feel very fortunate to have a mother who was very independent and always up for adventure. Things like ballets and stage plays were likely outside of our budget, but I also don’t think my mother is particularly interested in such things, however, my mother always knew what free events were going on in Chicago and would take me and my sister (and often allow us to invite friends). The museums and zoos were free on Tuesdays. We would get on the El to go see the department store windows at Christmas. Summers had many different neighborhood ethnic festivals.
My mother was also very trusting of us (or, perhaps, just not that concerned about danger) and would drop us at the beach, or simply in parts of town that had stores my sister and I were interested in, while she (my mother) ran errands. There was a music store (I can’t believe I don’t remember the name) that sold instruments and sheet music, and did repairs. It was one of those great, big city institutions that could no longer exist (or, if it does, it’s on-line with a spartan store front). Floors and floors of instruments and sheet music. I think they even had sound proofed rooms where students would come for lessons.
And the department stores! Floor after floor of amazing things. When I got tired I would head to the furniture department and lie on one of the couches or beds as my mother continued to shop. No cell phones back then. We’d just have a pre-arranged time and location to meet.
Although I did not see costumes and dancing like this at the ballet, I did see them in the neighborhood street festivals, where there was always a makeshift stage with dance troupes exhibiting the ethnic dances of the immigrants centered in that area.
And regarding my mother’s trust of me and my sister… That was fairly common back then. Kids were “free range” to use the term of the day.
My wife was off somewhere with our youngest on a work day and our two oldest were about 13 and 10 and had the day off school. So I dropped them at the zoo for the day. They didn’t have cell phones, so I told them to meet me at one of the exits at the time I got off work. Worked out great!
But when my wife told her friends what I had done… You would have thought I dropped them off at a prison, or in a pit of vipers. It was simply shocking to most of her acquaintances that I would think it safe to leave an unattended 13 and 10 year old in a fenced zoo that they had been to 100+ times, staffed with hundreds of employees, and full of moms who would help a kid in an instant.
Thank you Neo for Senor Wences. He was lovely!!!
Senor Wences still makes me smile and laugh. True comedy will do that through the years. Thanks for that.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Starting around when I was 5 and my brother 8, my mother would drop us off at the movies alone for the Saturday matinee on some days when the weather was inclement. The theater was huge filled with unattended kids, and there was an elderly “matron” in a uniform like a nurse who patrolled with a flashlight and chastised kids who misbehaved. One offense I recall was to put your feet up on the back of the seat in front of you. I think the movie cost a quarter.
Although I never saw “Ed Sullivan*” the folk dancers in costume remind me of “The Lawrence Welk Show.” It seemed he often featured stuff like that.
Rufus T. Firefly: My grand-uncle, Art Coates, was on Lawrence Welk several times as a world-class whistler. Here he is whistling the Welk theme music:
–Art Coates, “Bubbles in the Wine”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySFL7v31He4
He was also a friend of Harry Truman’s and you can find his name in the White House logs as meeting with Truman for drinks or dinner after work.
There was a rift between Art and my grandfather, so I never met him.
Rufus, I’m very surprised that you can recall Lawrence Welk and Beverly Hillbillies but not Ed Sullivan, whose show aired on CBS 8-9PM Sunday nights. The show was an institution even long before the Beatles appeared in 1964, heralding the onset of Beatlemania in the US. Sullivan had done the same for Elvis Presley earlier and there are tons of YouTubes of 50s/60s rock acts appearing on his show including Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, the Doors and James Brown in addition just to name a few. But rock was only a small portion of the offering from Sullivan who in the spirit of vaudeville presented a wide variety of acts designed to appeal to all tastes and ages from ballet to Senor Wences.
Re: Saturday afternoon matinees….
Rufust T. Firefly, neo:
I remember those too. Legions of parents dropping their tykes off at the downtown cinema for westerns, scifi or horror. Inside the seats were packed with hundreds of yakking, screaming, running up and down the aisles, children. It’s a miracle anyone got out alive!
There was one film I saw that I never forgot — “The Mask” (1961) — in which a psychiatrist obtains a mysterious tribal mask that when worn the wearer enters a weird world of terrifying visions. It was a 3D movie in that world, so when the psychiatrist hears a voice commanding him to put on the mask, the audience knows to put on the red/green mask they were given upon entering the theater.
____________________________________
Put the mask on … now!
–“The Mask (1961) Original theatrical trailer”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJigBoo4DxY
________________________________
Yes. Put the mask on … now! Words to live by.
huxley, Wow! Your grand uncle sounds amazingly avian. Quite a talent!
Regarding, “The Mask,” I wonder if that was the impetus for the Jim Carrey movie of the same name. I think the Carrey movie was based on a comic book, but maybe the comic book author saw the movie you did.
neo,
We were within a short-ish walk of three movie theaters and a fourth wasn’t too far of a walk. And, when I was about 11 another with 2 screens opened, also within walking distance. I have many fond memories of going to the movies on weekends with my sister, and later with friends, but Mom never had to drop us off. I was fortunate that my older sister was quite bright and interested in the arts so she dragged me to lots of film festivals where we saw foreign films, series of films from a single director… When people who know my folks and where I grew up inquire into how I became somewhat erudite I always explain, “I won the sister lottery!”
When I was old enough to date and run around with co-ed groups on weekends I quickly learned how unique my mom was. Most of the kids in my High School had not done many of the urban adventures I had; their families might go to a museum or zoo once every few years. Many had never even been to a beach on Chicago’s lakefront, yet it was only about 7 miles away. I was riding my bicycle to it on my own in summers. Also, many of my friends lacked my knowledge of the public transportation system. By the age of 8, or so, I was riding it with no adult supervision.
This really helped with my popularity. My classmates caught on quickly that Rufus always knew what was going on around town, and how to get there. I would take dates to comedy and blues clubs. Although I tended to be liked by the parents (I had an Eddie Haskell ability to talk to grownups and I was also the top scorer on our football team and in all the honors classes {Thanks, Sister!}) more than once a girl was forbidden to go on a second date with me after she told her parents where we went. Again, most moms were not as adventurous as mine, and so going to a downtown comedy club or blues club was scandalous to some of the mothers.
I’ve tried to instill that same sense of adventure and urban navigation into my kids.
huxley, Wow! Your grand uncle sounds amazingly avian. Quite a talent!
Rufus T. Firefly: I never could figure out how he could whistle like that….
As to “The Mask” with Jim Carrey, I assume it likely that the original writers had been influenced by the 1961 film. It was schlock, but the wacky nightmare-world 3D parts were done by an experimental filmmaker from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and it has since become a cult film.
I’ve got a copy and some 3D glasses. Next time you’re in Albuquerque, stop by!
I am wondering if it is a trick of memory that the Jean Reno movie, “The Professional” had a scene where he imitated Senor Wences. Maybe he used a puppet.
Talk about free range, when in the third grade, we would walk about a mile to the matinee theater, and in the fifth and on, having moved to a rural area, ride two miles on our bikes. Disappear all day, fishing, exploring, whatever and come home for dinner.
To some degree, I treated my own kids that way.
Great memories, of being 7 – 9 and walking to a movie theater for a double feature. Usually cost 35 cents, so I could buy 15 cents worth of Fire Sticks or something that lasted a while with my two quarters. I’m sure my dad and stepmom were literally excited when the 5 kids were all out of the house for a few hours.
The folk dancing is great to do, and fine to see in person. I learned tap dance in college, but just one set of lessons – lovely teacher, great girls taking the course and only 2 or 3 guys (1 often missed). Plus it was fun. The folk dance stomping to the music is something I still often do to some songs when the balls turn into DJ pop music after midnight during ball season.
Free range kids – most boomers were. Riding bikes, no helmets, often riding double. Not so many banana seats today. It was interesting to see in Rwanda how many adults were riding bikes and riding double with the woman often carrying a load on her head as she sat on the back of the bike rack. Normal in Rwanda today is probably illegal in most US cities.
“Danger” is probabilistic. Humans have great difficulty in knowing the difference between 1 in 100; 1 in 1,000; 1 in 100,000. The huge publicity on missing kids made most boomers think, as they became parents, that kid abuse was a lot more common and thus free range a lot more dangerous. We don’t have good language to discuss danger differences.
When Kennedy was shot, we still only had a medium sized B&W TV – but we would go to our grandparents place to watch Wizard of Oz (at Easter?). We did that at least twice, maybe 3 or 4 times. While I remember seeing a bit of Sullivan, it was not a regular thing for me to watch; not like Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeanie, or Gilligan’s Island. And then Star Trek, of course.
I don’t recall ever seeing live ballet or dance when young in theater. Neither with stepmother nor mother with visitation rights, but with 4 or 5 kids (stepsister) it was understandable to go twice a year to Disneyland, There were fun colorful shows there, a bit, but it’s quite different.
Tom Grey: Being a free range kid was great!
The real danger was usually inside the castle walls.
–Pat Benatar, “Hell is for Children”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxYsi5Y-xOQ
Tom Grey,
When the Wizard of Oz was on (once a year) we’d go to one of my mom’s sister’s houses, as she and my uncle owned a color TV.
Tom Grey,
I believe we evolved to live in small, social groups so an exaggerated sense of danger was probably beneficial. We did not, however, evolve to process danger from all worldwide data and extrapolate it to our local environment. We see a news item about a child abduction 1,000 miles away and we feel like it happened in our backyard. If we have knowledge of it, our brains tell us it must be a threat.
My father played football before face masks were common. He swears they lead to injury because people are more cavalier when wearing them.
Free range kids, yes we were and I loved it. Saturday afternoon at the movies, all the kids were there. I vividly remember seeing the Sean Connery 007 movies on the town’s new widescreen. Then as I got older I could ride my bike five miles to the beach in summer.* Let’s not even get into the hijinks that went on when we started to drive! Lordy, our parents were clueless.
However, I think as much a factor in the change as the ‘missing kids’ publicity (many of which were actually custody issues) was the lack of moms at home keeping an eye out. I don’t think we were running as loose as we thought we were.
*And I did not have ‘permissive’ parents. eg. I didn’t see the Beatles debut as I wasn’t allowed to stay up that late. 3rd grade too!
The thing I don’t miss – the yearly death toll from auto accidents. All hail seat belts, airbags and antilock brakes!
I’ve wondered if all the missing kids stuff wasn’t a displacement activity for the far more common problem of child abuse within the family.
I sure don’t have a solution for that and I don’t believe anyone else does.
Mr Pastry looks a bit like John Bolton
Mike K – your memory is not tricking you, – from The Professional
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMzTMC3Gotk
Molly+Brown,
I also thought my parents were clueless until I became a parent of teens. Teens think they are more clandestine than they actually are and parents often turn a blind eye to avoid conflict or because they know being a teen-ager is an awkward stage and kids have to stumble through some things to get to the other side.
Seat belts happened during my youth. When I was very young most cars had them but almost no adult used them. I don’t think States started making them mandatory until I was in my late teens or twenties, and most of my male friends refused to wear them. I have no idea why. I don’t remember my parents making a big deal out of them, or if they asked me to wear one when they drove, but from the time I got my permit and got behind the wheel I have always worn one. It just made sense. Even when driving with my macho, male friends who refused to wear them I was never shy about putting one on. The law of inertia is binding everywhere.
Kevin, he was using a hand puppet while Wences created his own from his hand.
My father played football before face masks were common. He swears they lead to injury because people are more cavalier when wearing them.
I have seen semi-serious proposals to ban helmets. Same reason. Personally, I would have weight limits. The CTE numbers have to be related to the impact forces from those 300 pound linemen.
Richard Libertini, playing a Central American dictator, used a hand puppet to kiss Alan Arkin in the original “In Laws.” Very funny movie.
I loved Senor Wences…. it took genius to create a ventriloquist act that minimalized the dummy – or did away with it altogether. He had already planted the character in your mind…
Mike+K,
I’m of a similar mind, F=MA. The best method for shrinking F is to shrink M. I think the best way to do that is reduce roster sizes, or limit substitutions. A 300+ pound guy can’t play 20, 30, 40 minutes. I like that idea best. A true football player ought to be able to play on both sides of the ball. I like reducing roster sizes more than limiting substitutions as the method, since it doesn’t alter the strategy from current play.
I used to play hockey with some other middle-aged guys. Most of the time we barely had two sides, maybe one or two subs, so we had to play for a full hour. It’s a completely different game when you have to conserve energy to last that long, and you’re almost always fatigued. One of the few things I like about soccer. Most of the time the players that start the game stay on the field for the entire time. It’s an additional level of strategy when players have to choose when to pace themselves and can’t go full out whenever they are on the field.
In a similar fashion, I wonder why basketball teams don’t platoon with lines like in hockey. There is unlimited substitution in basketball. It’s hard for me to believe the sixth guy rested coming of the bench isn’t better than the fifth guy, playing continuously for 60 minutes. Take your top ten to fifteen guys and swap them in and out the whole game. Then, in the fourth quarter you can press while the other team is gassed and likely to make mistakes under the pressure.
Why is there a Wanda Sykes video embedded in this post?
” there were a number of grown men standing and screaming and clapping, with tears pouring down their faces.”
I remember watching Vladimir Horowitz’ 1986 concert on his return to Russia after so many years, He played Traumerei as an encore; as an older gentleman, very Russian in appearance, listened, a tear leaked from the corner of his eye. It was a very emotional time.
It’s a very emotional time now. I just saw that General McInerney said today that five special forces soldiers, along with an opposing CIA paramilitary, were killed in the raid to seize the Dominion servers at the CIA server farm in Germany. He is reported to have said this during a joint interview with General Flynn. Hard to believe, but then so’s been a lot of other things in this crazy year 2020.
jackokie,
Here’s the most detailed account I could find regarding your final paragraph: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/11/new_reports_about_election_manipulation_read_like_a_tom_clancy_novel.html
Just a note to myself:
Senor Wences was one of the best ventriloquists in an era of many astounding artists. We kids tried to make “Johnny” talk with our own fists, with little success. Pedro-in-the-box was my favorite, however.
“Who’s on First?” is a classic – two of my boys did the routine for a talent show as middle-schoolers and were a complete hit.
Mr. Pastry was new to me, and, although I haven’t danced “Lancers,” I have done enough Welsh folk dancing to recognize most of the figures. At our group meeting last year, in fact, I “danced” one of our own three couple routines as a soloist pretending to practice.
“Partisans” combines the “floating” steps under huge cloaks morphing into wild Cossack exhibition acrobatic dancing.
“Gopack” – outstanding.